hey guys just asking for wisdom again i was wandering if running a motor too rich does any damage?

_________________
1964 smooth roof panel van
1967 Mk 1 X-Police cooper s
1970 mini k
1975 leyland

The petrol can wash oil off the bores causing them to glaze and end up burning oil.

It can cause hot spots and detonation.

It will carbon up the exhaust valves reducing power.

It can foul plugs and cause rough running.

_________________
Dean Hutton's first car was a Mini.

Not very environemtally friendly as the car will just use bulk fuel and send all the emission into the atmosphere. Not good.

_________________
DID I MENTION THAT I AM THE BEST SUPPLIER FOR MINI ELECTRICAL PARTS AND REPAIRS?
"Let us remove your "SHORTS"

If you're too rich you can try to fix that by throwing some cash my way!

lol ok thanks guys.

_________________
1964 smooth roof panel van
1967 Mk 1 X-Police cooper s
1970 mini k
1975 leyland

yeh, mines running too rich atm... fouling the plugs and running like a dog... gotta get it rejetted next week or so...

ok kool. whats a jet set ya back these days?

_________________
1964 smooth roof panel van
1967 Mk 1 X-Police cooper s
1970 mini k
1975 leyland

When bigtimmyp mentioned rejetting, i think he is talking about a webber or similar. If your running and SU carb it could just be an adjustment issue, or it could be several other things which someone with more knowledge could talk about

Carter - why do you think its running rich? How do you know?
Running slightly rich isnt going to do too much damage - running WAY too rich will... as will running too lean. Too lean is probably worse IMHO... but both are not good and a good tune improves both economy and power.

Rich will show up by blowing some smoke when giving it a good stab, it will also show by using a bit more fuel and pretty fuelly smell when driving (but some mini's do that anyway) mainly you can tell if the spark plugs are quite black and sooty. They should be a golden brown or honey colour.

But really - what makes you think its running rich?

Pete

_________________

Click here for the Turbo Conversion Thread!

running rich also dilutes your oil with petrol which f*cks the bearings

_________________
did I tell you that I won a trophy?

Carter,,, there is such a word called "Stoichiometric"

Now that word is what is Known as the "theoreticaly" Perfect mixture

Fuel & air mixed together in certain amounts to creat that "Theoretical" particular "perfect" mixture ratio, to suit any given engines needs

One engine will differ in it`s needs in regards to the mixture ratio to another,,, depending on a whole pile of goodies

However,,, we don`t live i a "Perfect" world & as it happens, In the real world< we find that the "stoichiometric" mixture is "Too" lean & usually a tad more fuel in the mix will work far better,,, so ,,, a tad richer than the "theoreticaly perfect" mixture is just right

But ,,, if you were to be "TOO" rich, then yes there is a certain amount of long term damage that "CAN" occur,,, & obviously "TOO" Lean can cause damage too

In saying all that, it is often better to error on the rich side when setting up fuel/air mixture ratios simply because a SLIGHTLY LEAN mixture can often cause running problems , cughing, spluttering, running hot etc etc etc , "Compared" to a Slightly rich mixture

so,,, (as a rule of thumb) a guide if you will---> There are a few simple ways to determine how rich or lean your engine is running--> you can take the spark plugs out & check their colour,,, Black sooty is too rich ,,, white is too lean,,, as stated above it`s best to run a honey brown colour,,, you can also see the colour in the end of the exhaust pipe , white-ish is too lean,,, black is too rich,,, grey is nice

But,,, the fuels we now use (as compared to about 10 years ago) do tend to burn a darker colour & it`s become a little more difficult to make a mixture reading purely from a plug & pipe check,,, so there are "Gas Annalysers" in most (some) workshops these days which plug into the tail pipe & they take a reading which helps the tuner to set a nice fuel/air mixture

Have that done & you should be sweet

The amount of Damage from "Over-rich" situation depends on how rich it is & for how long it`s been running too rich & if the oil has been changed in the mean time

hope all that helps,,, if it doesn`t then sorry for the long dribble

_________________
No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.

I am, his bro and the reason we think it is running rich cause even with the carbie adjuster bolt thing is turned all the way up it still fouls the plugs when sitting there running and u can't back the carbie off any more then it is so we think that's some one has put a 1 3/4 jet in the 1.5 jet ?? Can u do that ???

yep, sure can & it`s pretty common actually

but, the self centering needle type carbs do tend to wear the needle & jet too

so,,, what i do is rip the bell & piston out, & look,,, i have 100thou needles here that i can drop into the jet & if it drops right down completely in the jet, then it`s a 100thou (1 & 3/4 carby) jet

if it jams about a cm from bottom then it`s a 90thou (1&1/2 , & 1&1/4 carby jet)

otherwise you can check the float level ,,, or even check the float valve for crap being stuck in there or really badly worn,,, all thost things will cause it to P!$$ fuel in, making it run rich too

_________________
No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.

well i bought a 90 thou jet and had a look side by side with the new one and the one that was on my car and there is definetly a difference the one on my car being bigger so that problem is all good now thanks for all ya help again fellas.

_________________
1964 smooth roof panel van
1967 Mk 1 X-Police cooper s
1970 mini k
1975 leyland