The first post of the new year and it regards a little project that kept me busy over the holidays which is detailed below. But first, over the last couple of weeks I am yet again having issues with Facebook – my Nemesis. I created a second business page which is a couple of years old now, as my original page was hacked. That page is still up, but I can’t access it because they have blocked ME from it. The replacement page has NOTHING on it that differs from the original, apart from the heading picture and email address. The one man and his mustang Facebook page is only there for an exposure on Social Media – that’s it.
I have challenged Facebook about their decision and I’m waiting to see what utter garbage they come back with.
If they decide to uphold their ‘decision’ then they can go and do one. I will remove myself from Facebook as an individual as well. When I actually think about it – what does the platform do for me? Honestly, nothing. I just shows me what other people are posting. I hardly get any referrals to this website as a result, so I don’t need to be on it. Besides, I’m not that interested in seeing what people are eating, where they just checked into or what they just liked by somebody else. It would be nice to keep it running, but I’m certainly not going to miss it.
Rant over and apologies, but Facebook really does wind me up.
Back to sensible stuff now, what I got up to wasn’t much so I decided to pad it out a little with some hopefully useful information.
The key to an engines performance is the air fuel mixture. To much fuel and the engine runs ‘rich’. Not enough fuel and the engine runs ‘lean’. There are various things that can cause these problems, so I will try to highlight the symptoms of each. There are many sensors on new cars that can become faulty all of which will give the same symptoms. I will focus on the classic car scenario of a carburettor, as you don’t need a degree in computer science to tune an engine with a laptop on these cars. Instead you need to understand the dark art of engine tuning with a carburettor, screw driver, a good ear and how the car feels when driving. Of the two scenarios a rich running engine better than a lean running engine.
A ‘Rich’ running engine.
Possible causes; a clogged air filter will not allow sufficient air to get through to the carb. this will result in poor engine performance and leaving extra unburnt fuel behind. As the air filter can become clogged over time, the subtle loss of power may not be noticeable at first. Mixture levels on the carburettor need adjusting. Quality of fuel not burning correctly. The carb jets becoming clogged due to debris in the fuel or maybe the choke not opening fully.
The symptoms of a rich engine:
Smell: One of the common symptoms of a rich engine is a strong smell of fuel as the unburn gas is left lingering in the exhaust pipe(s).
Poor engine performance: this could be a series of problems which could be lean vs rich spark plug, ineffective combustion chamber, or inappropriate air-fuel mixture. If the compression and spark plugs are fine, then the problem is surely an inadequate air-fuel mixture.
Engine rough idling: improper air-fuel mixture could be responsible for engine stalling and vibrations. Rough idling indicates the engine running rich.
Less mileage: if you keep getting less fuel mileage on your vehicle regularly, it shows your engine is running rich and burning a higher amount of fuel.
Fouled spark plugs: when your engine is running rich, there will be black carbon deposits on the lower edge of the spark plugs, leading to low engine performance. It is an indication of unburnt fuel in the exhaust pipe.
Dangers of a rich fuel mixture.
Running excessive fuel into the cylinders is ‘bore wash’. This is where the fuel washes the lubrication from the chambers. You will notice increase use of oil. This can cause excessive wear on the pistons and cylinder walls.
This is bore wash is more common where an oversized carb is pumping in two much fuel to burn efficiently. The calculation for the correct sized carburettor to be used is as follows:
Carburettor size = engine size1 × max rpm2 × efficiency3 ÷ 3456
- The engine size is the displacement in cubic inches.
- The max RPM is the maximum speed of the engine in revolutions per minute.
- The efficiency is the volumetric efficiency of the motor. Most engines have a volumetric efficiency of about 85%, or .85. It’s common to see standard engine efficiency values of 70-80%. Race engines can be 95-110% efficient.
So for a good engine you can use this calculation for this example:
Calculation = 302 × 7,500 × .8 ÷ 3456
Carburettor size = 524.31 CFM (Cubic Feet Minute)
A ‘Lean’ Running Engine.
The symptoms of a lean running engine.
Heat: the engine will tend to run hotter as not much fuel in the chambers. An overheating engine can cause all sorts of problems.
Clogged Fuel filter: Your fuel filter handles all the dirty particles within the fuel. Over time, all the deposits and dirt start building up and preventing adequate fuel passage to the engine. This can be a real issue in classic cars and E10 fuel attacking parts of the fuel delivery system.
Inefficient fuel pump or clogged strainer: lean vs rich engine issues starts from the fuel pump. Not enough fuel is getting into the chambers to be burnt.
Leaking fuel lines: Obviously this cause the engine to run lean as the fuel pump, mechanical or electric can provide enough fuel. Highly dangerous as it could cause a fire that could result loss of vehicle or in the loss of lives.
Vacuum leak: One of the problems happens when unaccounted air enters the system, creating an unbalanced air-fuel mixture.
Trouble starting your car: Many factors can cause your engine not to start as a result of little or no fuel getting into the combustion chamber. That’s why one of the most common symptoms of a lean engine is hard starting.
Poor performance and low power out: If you manage to start your car, you will have low power output and poor performance. Less fuel in the chamber means poor detonation of the mixture which is unable to push the pistons down on the power stroke.
White or Clean spark plugs: when everything is working at the optimum operating level, things get dirty. If you pull out your spark plugs and notice it looks brand new or white, you probably have a problem. there should be an element of dirt on the spark plugs as they are burning a fuel.
Stalling Engine: One of the common symptoms of an engine running lean is keeping it running. In some cases, it’ll continuously cough and splutter until the engine stops. When you’re exporting more gas into the system by accelerating the car, it should keep running easily but with reduced power output.
Dangers of lean fuel mixture.
Heat: As I mentioned before the overheating can cause all sorts of issues like, fluid leaks, burning smells, unexpected engine sounds, cracked engine block, warped cylinder heads, blown head gasket, exhaust damage to name just a few.
Hard seizure: This is where the chambers and pistons have heated up more than the engine can cope with. The Pistons may typically grind against the cylinder walls if you fail to fix the cause. The connecting rod can bend, or the crankshaft arm can snap or bend. The effect is a catastrophic engine failure and will require you to either replace or rebuild the engine.
Soft seize: Similar to the hard seizure which causes a dry spot between the cylinder wall and piston and excessive wear. Even with a correct air-fuel mixture the cylinder and pistons will work fine, but the damages will still be there.
With this in mind I noticed that I was getting a little uneven idling, especially after a sudden stop, which I try and avoid at all costs. I have been noticing the air filter was dirty and decided that perhaps it was time for a new one. I has been on the car for a few years but only done six thousand odd miles, but it was time for new one regardless.
There are arguments that my style of air filter is a restriction to airflow. Many of the higher performance filters are the large round styles, often with a top opening as well. Having a clogged or dirty air filter will make fuel mixtures matters worse. I was speaking to Mustang Maniac and they said to try their ‘Tall’ filters made by S&B. The height is now 2 1/4″ compared to the 1 3/4″ that I previously had. These tall filters are just like the K&N brand which are reusable and washable filters. So the initial outlay is quite a bit more expensive, but in the long run it will be cheaper. Saying that you will need air filter cleaning kit which consists of a cleaner which is flushed out with water. Then once the air filter is fully dried, a spray of air filter oil which will give the filter its ‘redness’ back.
The ‘tall’ filter on the right side by side with the original doesn’t look a like a lot of difference, but the extra half an inch will increase air filters potential air intake.
The material of the S&B filter is a much better quality and again this improve the airflow through the filter itself. A double advantage of more air flow capacity and better air flow throughput. That in turn means a few more horses let out to play when I want them. I may need to slightly tweak the air fuel mixtures but i would need to run the car for a while to find out.
As this is a tall filter you will need to make sure there is room under the hood. If you don’t you will have an air filter knocking the paint and causing a racket. I measured the gap clearance and made sure all was clear. The filter was a tight fit in the air filter casing itself which was a good thing.
Once fitted I really like the look of the filter as a contrast to everything else under the hood.
I hope that helps explain in very simple terms what goes on with air fuel mixtures, and that’s why you need to change your air filters on a regular basis.