MIchael---I think you're going the right direction with the hotter
thermostat. Internal combustion motors are said to run their best at
around 200 deg. but we need a window of confidence here, so a 'stat that
opens at 180 is a good compromise. Check the coolant at the top of the
radiator, to see what a thermometer shows.
Be sure that you have (hot) water flowing thru the tube in your intake
manifold. (Feel the out-going hose)
I'm with Kai on the exhaust gas analyzers and/or 02 sensors with
attendant air/fuel monitors, as they do give a good picture of the
air/fuel mix. Such instruments aren't usually necessary tho, unless you
have some sort of performance mods that require changes to the factory
setup.
You might also try lowering the needles, after the engine is up to
running temp and at idle speeds. Do them at 1/4 turn each, and keep
going down incrementally till the engine starts to falter, then raise
them up again to the last place the engine was happy. By counting the
1/4 turns from where you started, you can't get into too much trouble.
Road speed performance is rarely affected by "leaning out" the idle mix.
This assumes that there are B1AF factory needles being used.
Dick
From:
SamuelsMA@aol.com
I have posted a few times in the past that I have problems with plug
fouling with low-speed running (in traffic, or if I do some short
trips). I tried hotter plugs with no change. Always, the plugs look
great with highway use, but foul quickly around town.
I got a very useful reply from Kai indicating that dyno runs with an A/F
meter could provide useful information and might lead to my selecting
different carburetor needles with less richness at low rpm. I may do
this in the future.
Anyway, the point of this post is that I have been running a 62 degree
thermostat, which was in the car when I purchased it. The temp gauge
rarely gets above 1/3 from cold, even in the Miami summer. I have a
replacement thermostat from Stant, and noticed that it reads 80 degrees.
I just replaced the old one with the new one today, but haven't run the
car yet (blue RTV needs to set).
What temp thermostat do you folks use? Could this be related to the
fouling problem? FWIW, the radiator seems pretty new. I run a 50:50
coolant and water mix.
Michael
'76 Tahiti blue
CF 57044U
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