how to tell if my car is running rich?

[johnny5]

Your stock water temp gauge should move around. If it does move, you thermostat is definately NOT broken. Who told you that man?

If you were to look at a Water temperature gauge, it would go up when sitting in traffic up to around 90 degrees (in DC2R), and then when your driving depending on temperature, it will go down to sayd 75-80 degrees. Same thing applies with the stock guage on the clutser. Depending if it's summer or winter, the water temp can vary alot, and the needle will move.

Also VTEC is not a mechanism for dumping fuel into the engine.
And, not all VTEC engines burn oil... only screwed ones. My DC2R on 105,000km's doesn't burn a drop of oil - even on track days. If your burning oil, it's either PCV system, piston rings or leaky oil filter/sump plug/ sump gasket. Take the car to Honda man.

Generally if you are running VERY rich, you can tell. It's normal to blow a bit of black smoke out of the exhaust in VTEC. Not Blue or White though.

Ok, this confirms that water temp gauge is not broken as it does go up when i'm sitting at the lights and goes back down again once i start crusing again. Also, i've been closely monitoring my engine oil levels and i'm NOT losing any. I have been putting cardboard lining beneath my entire car in my garage after every drive and not a sign of oil leak anywhere. THATS A HUGE RELIEF!

I got a OEM Map Sensor over the weekend [THANKS DAVID! ] Shouldnt be too hard since its just a matter of screws? I have been told to be careful when installing it as the lining or something beneath the map sensor breaks easily or something like that? Will update you all again once i've replaced it. *fingers crossed*

[VTECMACHINE]

Ok, this confirms that water temp gauge is not broken as it does go up when i'm sitting at the lights and goes back down again once i start crusing again. Also, i've been closely monitoring my engine oil levels and i'm NOT losing any. I have been putting cardboard lining beneath my entire car in my garage after every drive and not a sign of oil leak anywhere. THATS A HUGE RELIEF!

If the water temp guage was broken it would just sit at the bottom. ir it would be stuck somewhere. If it's moving that's good... it's working. If the thermostat is screwed the engine will either over heat, or over cool. Over cooling isn't a real bad thing IMHO.

[bfeboi]

u idiot of course over cooling is bad
the whole point of a thermostat is to raise the engine temperature to Normal Operating Temperature as fast as possible and maintain it at that temperature till the car is truned off. the reason why manufacturers make it so that car warm up faster is to make the engine more fuel efficient. wen a car is cold it use more fuel than a hot car.

running rich will cause black smoke cos of all the "unburnt" fuel coming out the back causing all the black residue on your bumpers and tailpipes.

burning oil is not a good thing either esp if ur topping up 1L each time.

if you have these problems get a scan tool and check the parameters of the engine. maybe you have a dodgey O2 sensor or dying map. no point throwing random suggestion around the net

[VTECMACHINE]

u idiot of course over cooling is bad

Running cool isn't a BAD thing. Yeah you use more fuel running a stock ECU, but if you're playing with cars and worry so much about fuel enonomy you shouldn't play with cars. ha ha.

What I meant was running cooler than a factory car isn't bad. My water temp sits at 68-70 degrees. If you have an aftermarket ECU, fuel on cold start etc can be varied.

[Spoon SiRG]

Imho,I suggest you get your thermostat changed. Once your engine warms up (the needle just touching the thermometer icon on your gauge cluster) it should stay there whether your sitting in traffic,driving in 60zones, or cruising on the highway.

I recently replaced mine because I noticed my temp drop on the highway & go back up to normal when I got into the city. I've had my DC2 for the past 4 years & its never done that. Now that it has been changed the temp just stays there regardless.

And yes the black sooty stuff on the rear bar has lessened considerably (just getting black dots now,lol),which means that the engine is now running at its optimum temperature.

Regarding MAP & o2 sensors,are you getting a C.E.L. code telling you its faulty? So why change it?

Try to go to a dyno shop with a wideband o2 sensor (the one they stick in your tailpipe) to determine how rich your car is running,the tuner should be able to make you run as stoich as possible with your VAFC.

[woteva82]

the smell and if you know how your car goes and if it dosent run the same then yea.

[johnny5]

i'll get the thermostat replaced soon. pretty sure that would fix up the "cooling" problem. is there like a specific thermostat or can i get one from supercheap auto?

i replaced the map sensor over the weekend. will monitor my oil levels more closely now to see if it goes down anymore.