i pulled the head off my d16 tonight to change the head gasket
and found that the bottom of the exhaust valves were burnt white (running lean) but one of the cylinders was black. black im is ok im guessing but why would only three be lean???

this pic came out lookin green but thats not really there

 

Maybe a leaking valve seal on that cylinder. Do the valves or ports for that cylinder seem more oily than the others?

 

it all looks normal, could it be that those 3 injectors are dirty? And the head gasket didnt look messed up besides the layers coming apart, could it still be leaking or bad even if it look ok to the naked eye????

 

It's far more likely that there's a problem with the third cylinder than the other three. For example, if your entire fuel system is running lean and a problem with the third injector is making that cylinder richer than the others. It would make sense that the richness of cylinder 3 caused the ECU to lean out the A/F ratio of the whole engine, making the other cylinders too lean.

 

so i guess i could start be getting the injectors cleaned.

 

Getting them flow tested is more important but, of course, cleaning is a good idea also. It would be a little strange to have one injector that much dirtier than the other three.

 

Whether you end up needing new injectors or not, you'll want to replace the o-rings, seal rings and cushion rings while the old ones are out.

 

sounds good im doing the head gasket and valve seals so ill go ahead and get the seals for the injectors also. thanks