ian_d

hi guys. cfi 3 speed ea. when starts it spits a black sooty liquid from the rear. doesnt smell overly like fuel. and once started and running for a bit will stop. any suggestions on what it is/should i be concerned? i thought itd be liquid accumulated in the exhaust so drilled the odd hole expecting water to drain what didn't happen. cheers, ian

SiX_iN_a_RoW

its usually condensation mixed with the normal soot in an exhaust. if its excessive it may be your cat convertor breaking up

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MustangNicko

Keep an eye on your coolant levels.

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clevo400

The old XD 351C ute spat water out the exhaust when first started. Most new cars do it as well. Drilling holes in your exhaust may not be such a good idea.

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Stephen

ian_d

ok cheers guys.

Bidju

Or could it be that it's running rich and during warmup the catalytic converter is converting the hydrocarbons (unburnt fuel) to H2O (steam) but because the exhaust is still cold towards the back of the car the steam is condensing into water?

I've heard this before but I've never seen a new car spray black crap everywhere... maybe if it's a brand new cat??

IMO the problem goes back to it running rich. How to fix that problem? Throw parts at it until it stops. I've commonly heard "I replaced everything twice on an EA once and it still ran rich"... I think this problem is caused by people replacing the HEGO sensor while the problem is still causing a rich condition, which will damage the new HEGO very quickly.

ian_d

ive always wondered if it runs rich. gets around 400km out of a tank city stop/start driving. i'll muck around with it a tad more when ive got some time over christmas. i think it might just be condensed steam like you say Bidju. cheers

Bidju

Just remember the cat converts hydrocarbons to water among other things, so if you've got excessive water coming out the exhaust you could be running rich.

You should get about 520k's in city driving with 65 litres (8km/L) and 650k's highway (10km/L).

I currently get about 270ks city driving from 65 litres which is very bad.

ian_d

so Bidju hows your ea been running anyway? i reckon in this tech section there should be a folder dedicated to eas! have you done any interesting mods? got any pics?
its funny how people slam them. no one seems to consider they are fairly old now... but i love them. why would you want a car that always runs perfectly. ive learnt so much about mine through small problems it has had. anyway ill get off my soapbox. have a good one