White Plugs

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straightlinespeed

straightlinespeed

Sometimes I pretend to be normal
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Ok, so once again Im trying to narrow down issues with my car.

Pulled my plugs to look at them and they are white in color on the electrod. If Im right that means running lean.

I have a LA 360 with magnum heads, xe268 cam, street avenger 670 carb stock jets. Im not sure if you need any other info but what do I do to get this to clear up and burn the correct color? Also will a lean mixture cause it to run hot?
 
you may have to go up a size or two in the jets, you want a tan color on the plugs, without a a/f gauge it'll be trial and error, and yes being lean will cause it to run hot.
 
'Tellya............You really need to consider a wideband O2 setup. These days they are cheap enough and accurate enough that setting up an engine with one is much much more sure

"Reading plugs" has never been the "sure indicator" that some people think, because.........

the engine can be overheating---and the plugs seem lean

the plugs could be too hot, or even installed wrong (loose, wrong gasket, wrong plug, etc)---and the plugs seem lean

and of course it could just plain be too lean, and this might be jetting, or a manifold leak

This is a pretty good read

http://www.wallaceracing.com/plug-reading-lm.html
 
67Dart brings up a good point. In my rookie mechanic days I learned how to tune a car with a Sunscope equipped with the tail pipe sniffer. It showed everything at once and allowed for optimum tuning as well as easier diagnostic when trouble shooting a problem.
 
Im thinking I may just find a reputable tune up shop bring it to them. Especially since its getting that time to put it away for the year. I dont have a whole lot of time right now to do the trial and error stuff. Thank you guys for the input.
 
67Dart273 said:
'Tellya............You really need to consider a wideband O2 setup. These days they are cheap enough and accurate enough that setting up an engine with one is much much more sure

"Reading plugs" has never been the "sure indicator" that some people think, because.........

the engine can be overheating---and the plugs seem lean

the plugs could be too hot, or even installed wrong (loose, wrong gasket, wrong plug, etc)---and the plugs seem lean

and of course it could just plain be too lean, and this might be jetting, or a manifold leak

This is a pretty good read

http://www.wallaceracing.com/plug-reading-lm.html
Click to expand...


Good point Del.
 
straightlinespeed said:
Im thinking I may just find a reputable tune up shop bring it to them. Especially since its getting that time to put it away for the year. I dont have a whole lot of time right now to do the trial and error stuff. Thank you guys for the input.
Click to expand...


A wideband setup will cost you one heck of a lot less than a tune up shop, and if you want you can plug the bung, and put the system away in a cabinet for the next round, so it's not money down the tube

Some time ago (and there certainly are others) I bought a combo innovate setup with dash gage for under 140. The bungs are same thread as an 18mm (Ford) spark plug, so you can easily plug them if you want to pull the sensor out.

Most the wideband setups have a logging feature that you can retrieve with a USB or serial cable, so you can make a run and log the results.
 
67Dart273 said:
A wideband setup will cost you one heck of a lot less than a tune up shop, and if you want you can plug the bung, and put the system away in a cabinet for the next round, so it's not money down the tube

Some time ago (and there certainly are others) I bought a combo innovate setup with dash gage for under 140. The bungs are same thread as an 18mm (Ford) spark plug, so you can easily plug them if you want to pull the sensor out.

Most the wideband setups have a logging feature that you can retrieve with a USB or serial cable, so you can make a run and log the results.
Click to expand...

You have a point about it costing a bit. This gives me something to think about and may consider doing. Thanks for the lead on it.
 
The A/F system is pretty high up on my list of things to get soon also.

I have the Bosch wide band o2 sensor, just need a guage.
 
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