black spark plugs

[boyzey]

hi guys

just after a few ideas reli, i have noticed inside my exhaust is black and have wiped my plugs out wich have only done like 3ooo mile and they ar also black, am i right in thinking i may be running a little rich,

any help cheers boyzey

[lance]

exhaust will be black but the plugs shouldnt be, yea sounds to be rich

[jez1272gt]

do you have a haynes manual? Inside the back cover their is normally a spark plug break-down diagnosis.. black normally does mean rich though..

[boyzey]

ye i no it shuld be black lol bt its like sutty black and it wasent wen i put it back together afrter like a year of being in bits, does any one now wat sort off test i could try to see if i am running rich

cheers boyzey

[ereeiz]

Does it run rough and use a shit load of fuel?

[Jezza-7]

VW charge £75 to fix a air fuel mix but i dint know what they would charge to see what its like.

Could always get a air fuel ratio gauge?

Expensive though.

Heres the pics from haynes if it helps?

[boyzey]

hi guys thanx for replys, but no it runs sweet as and doesent use silly amount of fuel no dont think haha, and thanx jezza by looks of that yes i am over fueling  , i am fitting 65mm pulley n chip tomorrow so might just see if this makes any difference to fueling, then dizzy timing next i think lol

wot you recon

[ereeiz]

I know it's tempting to make it go quicker :p

but it's best to try and sort out problems before making it go quicker, else you may well mask the problem by doing an "upgrade" if you see what I mean?

It should be something fairly simple I'd have thought, guessing it's the original map its running? If not then it could be its been mapped for some bits that aren't on it anymore so the mix it's putting in is wrong. I'd check the timing etc first.

Is there any smoke coming from it? Is there a puff on start up or anything under acceleration on and off boost? May be best to gt a mate to follow closely (if they can keep up  ) and watch.

Or you can get your hand and put it over the tail pipe whilst it's revved a bit, see if it spits oil onto your hand. A little condensation/ black water is normal when it's cold (the exhaust cools, sucks air in and the water in the air contracts into the can causing it to pool in there, hence the water that pisses out the exhaust from cold). Rub your fingers together to feel if its oily or just water mixed with carbon out the exhaust.

How much oil does it use over say, 1k miles?

I'm trying to figure out if it's a set-up problem or something such as valve stem oil seals. If it's them then oil will seep from the head into the cylinders when turned off, then when you start the car it chucks it out the exhaust as unburnt oil or partially burnt (hence the 1 off puff of smoke).

[ereeiz]

Ah, I misread it as wet plugs, haha, I should wake up a bit before replying. Ah well I'll leave that there for reference anyway

Still check the timing first if I were you. The new pulley prob wouldn't make much difference as the engine would just increase the fuel to match the increased air accordingly, and it's out at the mo, it'll be out by the same % with the increased air theoretically.

[boyzey]

oryt mate taaaa for dt but ye its just dry and black lol, and yes am guna go for ignision timing next weekend and check that, it dosent smoke atal not even wen cold  , so think i will start off with dizzy timing, but would like it pluging in too just to check for codes, iv bin told you need vag cam is it, and a leed frome ebay to plug in to car that sound atal right lol cheers