i have done a search and havent come up with any plausible explainations to my problem. so my car is running extremely rich at the moment. i have the LE1 head/cam package and today i finally got the valves adjusted right (set them with engine running) and got enoughvacuum (16"). when the valves werent adjusted i had anywhere from 5-10" of vacuum and the car was running way rich and i thought it might be due to the lack of vacuum. now since that is fixed i am stumped. i have a new opti (installed correctly, after one shop install it incorrectly) so i dont think that is the issue. i need some direction, please help

 

Since you have a madz28 tune (what your sig says), I'd contact him for any tuning problems.

 

Are you throwing any SES codes?

 

no codes have been thrown.

 

When you have heads/cam it's better for a dyno tune. Ion just made a thread about heads/cam making your car run rich in the lower RPM's, and leaning it out will lower the life of your engine.

 

Isn't your cam on a 107 LSA?
How old are you o2 sensors?

When you say way rich, do you smell gas or does it shoot gas out of the tailpipes? What RPM range?

 

yes, my cam is 107 lsa. o2 sensors are the same ones that were in the car when i got it almost2years ago and it is possible that they are the originals. when i say rich i mean enough gas shooting out the tailpipes to leave a trail on the ground. it is rich basically through most of the rpm range, but the problem seems to lessen in the higher rpms (when it gets there). can oxygen sensors just fail or do they gradually fade? what is the cause of o2 sensor failure? i will definantly look into it. any other ideas?

the car was running ok a few weeks ago after i got my opti issues straight, but the valves were terribly noisy so i thought they were loose, so i tightened them and lost vacuum. the car ran terrible and after that i never could get the valves right after that until the other day and i adjusted the valves with the car running. given that is it likel;y that the o2 sensors would have just suddenly failed, or could the lack of vacuum caused the car to run poorly and somehow damaged the o2 sensors?

sorry for all of the rambling, but im still new to all of this. im learning everyday though, so all comments are welcome.

i just want to give an extra thanks to ion for his tech support and the extra help he gave me when i was having ignition issues. he really went above and beyond.

 

if my o2 sensors were bad would they throw a code causeing the ses light to come on, on not necessarily?

 

I don't think they'll trip an SES light but they will have a code because it's an OBDI? Not sure.

 

thanks , ill check em this weekend

 

12 years old! Yikes! Yeah, you need new ones regardless....generally you replace them every 20 to 30K or so. You may notice a smoother drive/idle. Not sure how that would affect your richness, if at all.

 

My car tends to spray some black crap ou the exhaust when you first start it up, does that indicate running rich and does anyone else have thi problem?

 

Its just condensation mixed with the soot in your exhaust, my car used to do it on start-up sometimes.

 

that is your o2 sensors...mine did the same thing...it will eventually get so bad..your car will have a terrible miss

 

The O2s won't really throw a code until there is either an open or a short.