Date: Mon, 5 Jul 2004 19:12:19 -0400
Reply-To: Michael Rule <mikerule@UFL.EDU>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Michael Rule <mikerule@UFL.EDU>
Subject: Re: Hmmm... sparkplug conditions for the beginner
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset=us-ascii
Hi Stan,
For the sake of discussion- can you please define the look of a
"lean-burn" sparkie?
And really, no joke- does someone have this simple stuff posted?
Or- if I find a photo, does someone have a spot where I can post a
pic of sparkplug appearances/conditions/symptoms after being run
in an engine?
Cheers,
MIker
On Tue Jul 06 06:53:33 EDT 2004, Stan Wilder
<wilden1-1@SBCGLOBAL.NET> wrote:
> You may have done exactly the thing that your van needed but by
> the same
> token the AFM automatically changes its settings through the CPU
> processor
> as the engine warms up and when it reaches full temperatures.
> I'd suggest that you read at least one of your spark plugs after
> a few
> hundred miles to be sure that you're not getting lean burn that
> will cause
> detonation, lean burn and crack your cylinder heads or cause
> valve seats to
> drop from being overheated.
>
> Stan Wilder
> www.engineceramics.com
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Aerowolf" <aerowolf@GMAIL.COM>
> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> Sent: Monday, July 05, 2004 5:44 PM
> Subject: Hmmm...
>
>
>> As I was futzing around with my van today (doing an oil change
>> -- a
>> friend suggested using a heavier oil with my power-loss problem,
>> and I
>> put 20W50 in, which is perfect for my move to Arizona), I
>> realized
>> that one of the things that my friend and I had done was to open
>> the
>> AFM and change the rotation on the spring-carrier. Since we did
>> that,
>> the thing was slightly stuttering and hesitating.
>>
>> I decided to crack it back open and reset it to what it was --
>> and it
>> started running better, but the exhaust scent was off (it
>> smelled like
>> it wasn't burning all the fuel properly). On a hunch, I cracked
>> it
>> back open, and moved it another prong toward loosening it up.
>>
>> Now, the exhaust smells a bit more 'normal' (less rich, more
>> carbony).
>>
>> I know that "the designers seal the AFM for a reason", and that
>> you
>> really shouldn't mess with it without knowing what you're
>> doing... but
>> this trial seems to suggest that the spring on the AFM was
>> preventing
>> my engine from getting as much air as it needed to combust the
>> fuel?
>>
>> Is there anything wrong with this line of reasoning?
>>
>> I'm driving from Chicago to Madison tonight, going to see if the
>> throttle cleaning and AFM spring resets help at all with the
>> "loses
>> power after 30 minutes on open highway" problem I've been having.
>> Wish me luck. :)
>>
>> Thanks again for all your help!
>>
>> -Kyle
>
>
--------- <:3~ ---------
Michael Rule
UFL / UFSCC
Transgenic Core Facility
CB-033
352.392.4210
http://transgenics.ufscc.ufl.edu
The trick is to listen to what the experiments tell you -
and to not be fooled by the myths of authorities --
Constantine Spyropoulos (1928-1984)
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