running rich?
 

i have heard alot of people say there car is running rich what exactly is running rich and how will i be able to tell if my car is running rich
thanks

Running rich means the engine is getting more fuel than it needs. This results in poor gas mileage, diluted oil, premature engine wear, and clogged cats. It is easily detected by a strong gasoline smell and black smoke from the exhaust.

Take care,
~Chris

Ideally an engine will run 14 parts air for 1 part gasoline. If you have fuel injection, dirty clogged injectors make your engine run rich.

With a carburated engine, most people WAY over carburate their engines, then they run every which jet size to get the thing to run right and they end up with black soot and smoke, and poor performance.

I recommend you find a tune up shop in town that specializes on the fast running crowd. Talk with them. Find out what they charge. Before going in you should have new properly gapped high performance spark plugs, new spiral core ignition wires, a fresh cap and rotor, and inspect your ignition set up to make sure the coil is delivering proper voltage to the plugs. Then the shop can hook up some sensors and dial you in quickly. I like using a shop with a chassis dyno, so all the testing is done with power to the rear wheels under load. That way, you know you will end up with a good tune up.

Man I miss Dyno Don. When I moved to Portland, I left behind a lot of really great tuners.

Lots of luck, and feel free to give me a shout if I can be of further help.