Sooty Exhaust
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Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 99
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From: Bossier City Louisiana
Sooty Exhaust
Does a sooty exhaust always mean oil burning or can it mean a rich mixture or a combination of both. The engine is a crate engine with about 5,000 miles and has continued to use a little oil even after breakin. There is occasional blue smoke from the exhaust but the exhaust also smells extremely rich. The plugs are black w/carbon and wet but i'm not sure if its oil or fuel or both. I could live with the slight oil blowby since I am unable to rebuild at this time but the soot collecting on the rear quarter panels and bumper area is a real aggravation. I am running Hooker sidepipes so even after a short drive, I have to wipe the rear of the car down to remove the soot. Will oil burning alone cause this sort of soot in the exhaust gases??
I plan to do a leakdown test to check ring blowby but am wondering if I may have additional problems, i.e., rich fuel mixture, weak spark, etc. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
I plan to do a leakdown test to check ring blowby but am wondering if I may have additional problems, i.e., rich fuel mixture, weak spark, etc. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Racer
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 332
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From: Watkins Glen New York
That much black soot sounds like it's running very rich to me.
To produce lots of soot from burning oil, you'd see lots of smoke all the time and so would everyone else...not just a puff here and there.
To produce lots of soot from burning oil, you'd see lots of smoke all the time and so would everyone else...not just a puff here and there.
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Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 99
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From: Bossier City Louisiana
It is dry soot that wipes off very easily. The exhaust smells very rich and burns your eyes. I am running an 600cfm Edelbrock 1406 w/electric choke. Choke is working fine, and have tuned the idle jets according to the manual. What can be adjusted to lean the fuel mixture when engine is above idle and the choke is fully open??
