another running rich quesiton

[TheSparo]

i have an 89 5speed, and if my car was running rich, wouldnt a check engine light or something come on? or would it not b/c of the age, is there a way to check the codes to see if there is a problem, the reason i suspect it running rich is because it smokes seemingly only at higher rpm... and i hear small pops when going downhillw/o applying accell, i was just curious
thanks
-Jeff

[Bill Roberts]

I don't profess to be an expert on this but running rich usually gives out black smoke during low RPM's and if their is any tinge of blue, it is oil being burned. On my car, if I baby it around town for a while, when I do get on it, some black soot comes out of the tailpipes. If I drive it aggressively, it goes away. It is normal for some soot to come out under high acceleration. This is simply carbon buildup. Our emission controls do not do anything about that. Mine also has the popping during deacceleration. Not bad but it does it. (actually sounds cool)


Since we both have the same year cars, it seems like what you are experiencing, I am too. Does not affect its running or driveability at all. If your oil stays really clean for the first 1000 to 2000 miles of driving after an oil change, chances are that the bottom end is tight and it is just soot. I do have leaky injectors and I need to take the time to actually reseat them with new O-Rings. This might help on the "popping" some.

Remember, if it is blue smoke, that is not good.

[Bill Roberts]

...Ooopps, PS:

Our car does not have a check engine light. Mine don't anyway.