Still trying to figure this out , black plugs

[Nervouswreck]

On my brand new engine , I'm finding out previous tune was way off . I pulled my plugs today ( I will post pic) , and they were black and a little wet . I sent a pic to my engine builder and he said black is fuel and tune is rich . He also said I could have washed my cylinder walls . Now I'm freaking out .

Ok , now I only maybe put about 5-6 miles on the car , lugging it on hills to seat rings and doing easy driving to make sure nothing leaks . Didn't even come close to WOT . My question is , can I have washed cylinder walls down enough to cause damage only driving the car that little and not going into WOT ? If I screwed up my 10k new motor I'm gonna be sick . Any info is appreciated

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[Coosawjack]

Probably no damage....does the oil smell like gasoline??

Get it re-tuned and see what happens.....Good Luck!!

 

[whitedevil95]

I dont understand? Why not at least have your tuner send you a base tune so you can drive it right?

 

[Nervouswreck]

I dont understand? Why not at least have your tuner send you a base tune so you can drive it right?

You can do that ? With what the itsx stuff from SCT


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[whitedevil95]

You can do that ? With what the itsx stuff from SCT


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Well im not sure what all you changed from this new engine to your old engine. But my tuner has always emailed me a base tune to load up that matches whatever my new combo is.

 

[hotcobra03]

Without going back to see what mods and changes you did..

I was under the impression after pcm reset ,

A drive cycle must be performed..

I thought it runs at a pre set setting untill it relearns the fuel trim..

Not sure if tune takes that away..

But a normal drive cycle could take 50miles or so to complete..

You only went under 10

 

[Four Door SVT]

Don’t let it idle for long periods, go drive it, a base tune is rich, stay out of boost, get the rings seated, change oil already replace with 20w40. Get it on the dyno after about 1000 miles,

 

[speedoflife]

Who is tuning the engine? Seriously man, $10k on an engine, you're running it, and you don't have a tuner?!

 

[Nervouswreck]

Who is tuning the engine? Seriously man, $10k on an engine, you're running it, and you don't have a tuner?!

Yes I have a tuner . I'm just asking if you guys think the first start , and first AND ONLY 5 miles that I put on the engine was enough to hurt the motor while it was rich .


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[Four Door SVT]

Yes I have a tuner . I'm just asking if you guys think the first start , and first AND ONLY 5 miles that I put on the engine was enough to hurt the motor while it was rich .


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No, he’s just protecting his ass, but when it comes to start up I have oil and filters handy and will change the oil after first heat cycle at elevated rpm, not idle. Then change again by 500 mi.

Make sure you have a tune for your set up for a start up tune change oil again

 

[speedoflife]

Yes I have a tuner . I'm just asking if you guys think the first start , and first AND ONLY 5 miles that I put on the engine was enough to hurt the motor while it was rich .


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In short, it's very unlikely that anything you did caused damage. The tune would have to be SO far off.

 

[smashedheadcat]

There’s no chance you hurt the motor being rich provided you weren’t beating on it. Contact your tuner, get a base file, change your plugs, and enjoy. Give your oil a sniff while you’re at it. If it really stinks like fuel, change it.

 

[Nervouswreck]

There’s no chance you hurt the motor being rich provided you weren’t beating on it. Contact your tuner, get a base file, change your plugs, and enjoy. Give your oil a sniff while you’re at it. If it really stinks like fuel, change it.

Was not beating on it . Thank you bud


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[P49Y-CY]

i am not an expert, but based on what you described i think you can rest easy about permanent damage to your engine.

once i lost a spark plug (blowout) about 135 miles from home and limped home on it. i should have pulled the wire to the injector, but didn't know enough to do it. fixed the head, changed the oil, and the car's still running strong as ever

 

[Coosawjack]

When you first start a PCM controlled car the system is in "Open Loop" until the O2's heat up and provide feedback to the PCM.......this is kinda like running with the choke on and I suspect that's why your plugs are sooted up!!

You need a tune that at least accounts for certain parameters concerning your new engine since it sounds like you don't?? Like I said before you probably won't hurt your new engine running it easy unless it's so rich you dilute the oil!!

What did your engine builder have to offer??

 

[smashedheadcat]

Was not beating on it . Thank you bud

No worries. Engines are pretty tough when you're not beating on them.

I run my car much richer than just about anyone you'll see on here (10.3 afr). I've heard all the warnings of washing down the cylinders and hurting the engine over the years (from guys that burnt their shit up by getting aggressive) I've played with this number some, but it's pretty much been this way since 2005. Granted, I don't let it idle like that, but fuel in the oil is fuel in the oil.

Think about this for a minute:

Stoich for E10 is 14.1 ish
Stoich for E85 is 9.76 ish

That's a lot of fuel going into a cylinder on e85 right? You don't see it washing down cylinder walls do you?

Now, you want to get your car to run as close to stoich as you can, but more importantly, also want it to run well. O2 sensors suck at idle. Tune idle by feel. If the car feels smooth, it is good. Use the electronics when the o2 sensors have some airflow to them, but don't waste your time getting them perfect at idle.

 

[04turbomustang]

Change the oil, get a base tune loaded into the pcm and put 1k or so miles on it. Once you have done this, get it dyno tuned. That short amount of time did not hurt the engine one bit, and like was said earlier was only to cover his ass by the builder. You will need to pickup an SCT tuner and have someone reputable build a tune for you and email it to you so you can load it into the pcm.