rich or lean?

kamikazemkiii

Active Member
Mar 21, 2009
1,219
0
36
North Carolina
my 7m is freshly rebuilt and before the first start i would like to know how i am running. ive heard lean=white smoke, rich=black smoke does anyone know how else to tell. I dont have a WB for now, but will once i have my garrett installed

here are the modds if needed
.40 oversized wiseco pistons
eagle h-beam rods
full 3' exhaust
fidanza 11lb flywheel
RPS max clutch
oil pump
waterpump
thermostat
FMIC & hardpipes
Garrett turbo not installed
MHG
ARP head studs
stock head assembly
gates timing belt
ebay oil cooler kit
intake
stock fuel system
street fire rev limiter
new bearings & gaskets
(maybe leaving something out)

thanx,
 

hottscennessey

DONT BE A BITCH!
Jun 3, 2005
3,137
0
36
37
Richmond, VA
Seeing as though you're running on the factory fuel system, and I'm not seeing any mods that would put more air into the head. I can only assume you're right where you need to be "OEM rich".

Judging your AFR by 'smoke' doesn't really work in my experience. There can be too many variables.

That WB will definitely come in handy with an upgrade turbo. I highly recommend you don't push your car on the new turbo without the WB.
 

Nick M

Black Rifles Matter
Sep 9, 2005
8,882
38
48
U.S.
www.ebay.com
In general, black smoke without a load is rich. But that isn't how you tune, as has been pointed out.

White can be a few things, including unburned fuel.
 

james_9876

Rehabilitation time...
Aug 1, 2007
183
0
0
Spartanburg, SC
oem rich is right... when i drove my 89 7mgte jdm 3.0L home my fiance said she could smell fuel bad. only way to adjust AFR is with a WB and an fuel pressure regulator right? may be the best way to tune the AFR. always wanna run a lil rich on a fresh motor until you can tune it.