Why does my car shoot out so much carbon soot?

[AF22]

Hey,

I've always noticed that my car shoots out alot of carbon dust/particles. When my car was BONE stock, i noticed that i was always getting a bunch of black spots all over my bumper and some on teh license plate. Stock exhaust tip was always half black... Now i have intake/header/exhaust at 18k miles, and it's getting ridiculouse, the top of my spoiler is getting carbon, all over my rear lights, bumper.... None of my other friends with other honda cars have this problem. Any ideas on why it does this?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[blue2kSi]

what kind of gas are u using?

[AF22]

the highest at whatever gas station i'm at, 93!

[eg8b20turbo]

either you need to reset your ecu or your piston rings might need replacing i dunno thats what i heard educate me people.............

[05 tC]

It sound like you are running real rich, although that should cause a CEL. I always had soot on my exhaust tip, but never on the bumper or tail lights. If you are running rich, it could be any number of things; bad FPR, fuel return line cloged, injector problem, problem with cat, bad ECU (rare, but it happens). If your car is still under warranty, I would go back to the dealership and have them check it out. Don't forget to return it back to stock if they are not mod friendly.

[PupaScoopa]

f your rings are bad, you'd be blowing bluish smoke from the oil burning. Excess carbon is a sign of running rich.

[Johnny Tran]

If the smoke is black, that means your running rich. The b16a runs slightly rich, thats normal. I noticed that mine does it if the engine is cold, but after i get on it, and blow it out, there is no visable smoke. However, it sounds to me like your running a little too rich. Like 2000 EBP Si said, if it is infact a problem, you should have thrown a cel. When I thought I was running too rich, I took it to Honda, and they said it was normal.

You can try a few different things:

Try using a different gas company

Get a carbon cleaner (I used the one that they sell at the lube centers, it sprays a tiny mist into a a vaccume line, and cleans the carbon build up out. This helped mine a lot)

Next oil change, use an oil systme cleaner.

Finally...You do have I/H/E these mods may just be causeing you to run rich. You may need some slight tuning to lean you out a tad.

Just remember, running rich is better then running too lean.

[AF22]

thanks for the help,

i remember back when i had like 10k miles bone stock, i had horrible gas millage. i got like 18 mpg, until i used some of the stp power restorer thing you pour into yoru gas tank. that greatly pushed my mpg back up to more normal numbers, like 25-27. Now with i/h/e, if i red line all the time i get like 18, and 22-25 moderately driving.

I have never thrown a cel or seen any smoke pour out.

Now would a VAFC make me more lean? And does running rich effect the performance of my car?

also can anyone explain how to shoot carbon cleaner into a vacume line?

[Johnny Tran]

Originally posted by AF22
thanks for the help,

i remember back when i had like 10k miles bone stock, i had horrible gas millage. i got like 18 mpg, until i used some of the stp power restorer thing you pour into yoru gas tank. that greatly pushed my mpg back up to more normal numbers, like 25-27. Now with i/h/e, if i red line all the time i get like 18, and 22-25 moderately driving.

I have never thrown a cel or seen any smoke pour out.

Now would a VAFC make me more lean? And does running rich effect the performance of my car?

also can anyone explain how to shoot carbon cleaner into a vacume line?

If tuned correctly, you can lean your car out where its needed with the VAFC. However, you will need to have it dyno tuned, or you'll end up doing more harm then good.

As far as the carbon cleaner, it was part of a fuel system cleaner that we have at the lube center. It connects into a vaccume line (I used the brake master cylnder) and hangs up side down from the hood. It takes about 15-20 minutes to completely empty. Basically it sprays a mist into the intake, and it cleans everything out.

[Maniac]

I agree that this is excessive. Aside from your exhaust tip you should not see any carbon deposits anywhere else on your car.

You car will run rich on start up and warm up for a couple of reasons. First of all, rich fuel mixtures combust better, so this makes cold starting easier. The second reason is to super heat your catalytic converter. The Civic is an ULEV rated vehicle which means it has Ultra Low Emissions. To do this you need a functional Catalytic converter. The Cat burns excess gases and impurities off as they travel out thru your exhaust.

In order for the Cat to work right it needs to be heated up to a specific operating temperature. Honda enriches the startup fuel mixture so that it helps your Cat heat up quicker. In the end, it helps to reduce emissions.

Another possiblity for your rich fuel mixture is that there is a problem with your temp. sensor. If it's faulty it might be reading cold all the time and keeping your mixture rich.

In any case, I think I would take you car in for diagnostics. They can easily check all your sensors for good operation. The cold startup is the main reason why all of us have carbon on our exhaust tips.

[05 tC]

Originally posted by Maniac
Another possiblity for your rich fuel mixture is that there is a problem with your temp. sensor. If it's faulty it might be reading cold all the time and keeping your mixture rich.

Good call, Maniac. I forgot about the temp. sensor