Car burning very rich, Help.

[Mike 99ACR]

My Viper is burning very rich. The fumes are so bad that your eyes start to water if your standing behind it. What needs to be done to correct this?

The only mods I have are: Headers and 3" exhaust (no cats)

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[ACR Joe]

I have the same setup and same condition, plus a CE light. Certainly a function of the mods. I intend to visit the dealer to have the ECU diagnosed and cleared. This condition does not seem detrimental to performance; environmental impact is a whole different issue.

 

[Mike 99ACR]

About the O2 sensors. They seem to be fine and check engine light is not coming on.

 

[JonB]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Mike 99ACR:
My Viper is burning very rich. The fumes are so bad that your eyes start to water if your standing behind it. What needs to be done to correct this? The only mods I have are: Headers and 3" exhaust (no cats)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


Q - "what needs to be done to correct this?"
A - Hi-flow cats. With only a header mod, you may lose 5HP.
If you were so inclined to search posts dating back years to C+D VCA board, R+T VCA board, and archives here, the "eyes watering" warning was frequent, esp with sidepipe cars spewing 24" from your eyes! It may not be "burning rich" at all.......

 

[LTHL VPR]

The reason your eyes water is because you have no cats. You can solve this problem by getting a pair of cats. You will probably loose some (5-7hp) by doing this. We have done dozens of dyno runs at Apex Motorsports to prove this. We do offer hi-flow cats for you car. E-mail me privately or call me at 408.562.1000 and I can help.

If you are also experiencing that surging problem that everyone does at light throttle speeds w/ no cats, we can cure this too.

Hope this helps!
-Wayne

 

[Mike 99ACR]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by JonB - PartsRack:

It may not be "burning rich" at all.......


<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


JonB

What would be some signs that the car is burning rich? When I was at the track I was told that there were small black puffs of smoke coming from the exhaust when I would make my shifts. I don't know if that would be a sign of it burning rich or not. Even with all of that the car runs and performs very good.

Before I got the ACR I had a '99 GTS with almost the identical mods. Headers and 3" exhaust with no cats. This problem was never an issue. It didn't put out the eye-watering fumes that this one does.

I know I should have some cats on there, but given the fact that I only drive the car once a week and take it to the track, I feel that I don't drive it enough to need them. I appreciate yours and everyone's help. Thanks.

 

[JonB]

Puffs of black when going to WOT are very common in catless Vipers, and even to some degree OE-cat or hi-flow cat Vipers. "Puffs when shifting" is caused by the 2-step idle lag programmed in...idle hang... CATLESS cars often backfire when shifting, esp if running rich, due to this unburned fuel dump.
Sometimes, FLAMES shoot out, esp in sidepipers !

Check Your Spark Plugs! Are they nice, lean-burn tan? Or dark, rich-burn plugs. Also, you being in Tampa are very close access to a "rich vs. lean wizard" in Sean Roe. www.roeracing.com.

Sean can probably diagnose and if needed alter your mixture.....I do not know about any warranty issues, but it can't be any worse than being catless!