Am I running rich?

[disillusions]

Okay, I did a good deal of searching, but have so far come up empty. I think this may deal with my horrid mpg problem as well, but one step at a time. I just got my car back the other day, after a good 3-month stint at my mechanic, and I noticed yet another issue. Now when I brought it there initially, it was due to having several holes in the flex pipe portion of my exhaust. I decided to just replace the whole thing with a Megan unit, since the cost of repairing just the flex pipe was ridiculous. Previous to the install of the Megan system, I had noticed a strong scent of fuel coming from my exhaust, but I associated it with the leak at the time.

Now that I have my car back it's feeling much stronger, but I'm still getting a strong smell of gas, especially after a hard acceleration. I haven't done any fuel system mods, so the entire thing is bone-stock; same holds true for the ignition system, minus some replacement NGK plugs that were 1 degree colder than stock. As far as power adders go, I've got hard pipes for the intercooler, an intake, downpipe, and catback.

I'm just curious as to what could be causing that fuel smell; but more importantly, I'm wondering if that smell is a sign of me running rich, and therefore the reason why I get about 11mpg(city/highway). As always, any help would be greatly appreciated guys.

 

[anchew02]

i would say thats a big yes, smells like raw unburned fuel is entering your exhaust, it may be one of your injectors is stuck open, or something of that sort.

 

[disillusions]

i would say thats a big yes, smells like raw unburned fuel is entering your exhaust, it may be one of your injectors is stuck open, or something of that sort.

How would I be able to check that? Aside from simply replacing them?

 

[DOHCTA]

Do you have a check engine light on?

O2 sensors?

 

[disillusions]

Do you have a check engine light on?

O2 sensors?

No CEL, both o2 sensors were replaced recently.

 

[Jon91TSi]

Borrow a friends wideband, or buy your own.. You'll need it down the road when you decide to do fuel system and/or turbo upgrades. A Wideband is a must to get your setup dialed in.

 

[disillusions]

Borrow a friends wideband, or buy your own.. You'll need it down the road when you decide to do fuel system and/or turbo upgrades. A Wideband is a must to get your setup dialed in.

I've already purchased one for future modifications, but since things are so near a stock level, I didn't see a reason to put it in yet. I was waiting for when I upgraded the turbo and put a FMIC in.

 

[CrawlinZX14]

first start with a noid tester. That will test your injectors. Then you can take and connect power to your injectors with the clips off. I normally test them to hear them by taking a spare battery, and connecting some leads to it and attaching them to probes from a multimeter. That way I dont worry about missing and grounding out the battery. Ground the injector then tap the power to the other post. U should hear a faint clicking sound. If you have a mechanics stethescope U can also hear this with the car running by touching the probe to the body of the injector. To me it sounds like you may be running rich, but you said you have an aftermarket intake? Are you sure its sealed properly? Maybe a leak where it mates to the head? I would suggest starting with the things you have replaced. The exhaust should not have that kinda smell at all, so start in your intake, then check your injectors. you could have a bad O ring in the injector even.

 

[LandoAWD]

Stock? Put the 6's back in.

 

[disillusions]

first start with a noid tester. That will test your injectors. Then you can take and connect power to your injectors with the clips off. I normally test them to hear them by taking a spare battery, and connecting some leads to it and attaching them to probes from a multimeter. That way I dont worry about missing and grounding out the battery. Ground the injector then tap the power to the other post. U should hear a faint clicking sound. If you have a mechanics stethescope U can also hear this with the car running by touching the probe to the body of the injector. To me it sounds like you may be running rich, but you said you have an aftermarket intake? Are you sure its sealed properly? Maybe a leak where it mates to the head? I would suggest starting with the things you have replaced. The exhaust should not have that kinda smell at all, so start in your intake, then check your injectors. you could have a bad O ring in the injector even.

For the part of your post that I can actually answer. I will check the intake when I get a chance, but I've checked and double checked it when I installed it, or did my fluid checks. Everything is tight on it, but it connects to the turbo inlet, not the head. I can check the intercooler pipe that mates to the throttle body, but those are tightened down with bolts/nuts. Perhaps a bad gasket?

Stock? Put the 6's back in.

Well the original plugs were trashed, so my shop had recommended 1 degree down. Will going back make a noticeable difference?

 

[Calan]

... it connects to the turbo inlet, not the head.

CrawlinZX14 is referring to the intake manifold; you are talking about the air intake pipe.

 

[DOHCTA]

Intake leaks usually make a hissing or whistling sound. It's doubtful you have one. Are you using a catalytic converter or no?

 

[LandoAWD]

If you can audibly hear your piping leaking...it's big. Not once have I heard a boost leak, but I've sure had 'em.

 

[disillusions]

CrawlinZX14 is referring to the intake manifold; you are talking about the air intake pipe.

Okay, was just making sure. I had a feeling that's what he meant after I finished replying.

Intake leaks usually make a hissing or whistling sound. It's doubtful you have one. Are you using a catalytic converter or no?

As of now, the cat has been deleted; but, as I said in the post, the smell predates the exhaust change. I'm sure the loss of the cat only accentuates the smell, but still.

If you can audibly hear your piping leaking...it's big. Not once have I heard a boost leak, but I've sure had 'em.

No, I definitely can't audibly hear anything leaking. It's also hard to tell because I have an auto, so I can't just rev and spool in neutral. I will say this, my spooling is quite loud. I've only ever driven one other GSX, and that was a long time ago; so I'm not sure if that's normal. Of course, it could be louder due to the rubber pipes not being there to absorb the sound anymore.