Subject: LRO: Tuning by eye

From: "A. P. (Sandy) Grice" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 25 May 2001 16:51:41 -0400

Faure, Marin" <[email-masked]> wrote:

>A good quick-and-dirty way to check your mixture and ignition burn is to
look at the 
>inside of the exhaust pipe after a drive.  Not a short drive to the store,
but one 
>of ten miles or more after you've pushed the choke off.  The inside of the
pipe 
>should be light gray or brown.  If it's black, your mixture is too rich,
or you 
>are not getting proper ignition and burning of the mixture in the cylinders.

Such "tuning by eye" used to be a good reference.  Indeed, I could judge
the health of any engine by how the tailpipe looked.  However, since the
introduction of oxygenated fuels, particularly that evil substance methyl
tetrabutyl ether, a "healthy" engine no longer has a grayish-brown exhaust.
 Designed to leave residual oxygen in the exhaust stream (where it will eat
your valves - hence the need for stellite), the only positive benefit of
MTBE is obscene profits for a few corporations.

Cheers