why is my car acting up and what is causing it

[dvdreith]

HI I have a b6t and it has been giving me troubles, for starters at idle it randomly stalls so I thought it was because of the line that goes from the stock intake to the valve cover-wasn't put in to the new intake the right way. so I did so. ( I think it is the pcv valve??) but i fixed it, and it didn't help too much. then I noticed when I got home that it had smoke comming from the tail pipe. the oil is clean but the aroma of gas is highly present. (edited)= I was also running out of gas the needle was below E, would running rich allow for the whit-ish smoke.(edited)=or is it because I was low on gas. Also if it was running lean would it cause it, and does running lean produce an aromatic gas smell.??? i dont htink it does but I only have less than a year with actually learning and working on them. I did recently do an intercooler upgrade with way too large of piping would the extra air comming in cause the ecu to supply more fule. in other words what could be possibly making it run rich. it does okay at running, but idle is off and what would cause these things to happen, the smoke, the smell, and the stalling. I am doing a custom 2.5" no cat exhaust w/ flowmaster muffeler in the begining of oct. plus the ecu, plus I have 2" IC plumbing on its way with in the next week. So I should see a huge difference in the way it spools and runs. pics will be up soon I have soooo much insight on how to make power for cheap. it is just hard to do with out a good tune. we will see. I am looking for another capri for motor parts, and a festy...so I am in the market . but any insight on my issues. I want this motor to last so I can swap it but we will see. NH isn't good for cars in the winter.lol

[dvdreith]

any help?

[25Horseplay]

Might be better to post in the turbo section.

[ls1_se7en]

sounds like a MAF problem/tune. if the mass airflow meter is unhooked or there is a leak somewhere between the meter and the throttle body, it will act this way. It usually wont run worth anything either though. Could be worth double checking. most of the time its hard to just see leaks. check thoroughly. find a way to pressurize your piping. I made a pipe that had an air hose connector on it to put in place of one of my pipes. found the leak pretty quick when it wouldnt hold air. This was on my rx-7 back in the day, but the same holds true for any turbocharged car.

[dvdreith]

what about the smoke from the tail pipe. would it smoke if I was running lean? and would it smoke if I was running rich. the smoke doesn't really smell of gas any more, but rather something slightly burning. what am I going to do...??? I really need help

[MTBOX]

I would try a compression check on each cylinder to see if there was a drastic difference
in compression in any one of the cylinders.

[dvdreith]

and then if there was???

[MTBOX]

Then you could have valve problems or even ring problems.

[dvdreith]

what would determint this. if the rings wee going then would it cause smoke??? the car stalls when first starting, but when it "warms" it just studders every once in a while. it is really hard to explain. I will try to post a video

[ls1_se7en]

video would help. both lean and rich conditions will cause smoke if severe enough. rich would smell of fuel. lean would be somewhat fumy and doesnt really smell like fuel. if its oil, it would be from the valve stem seals and wouldnt (shouldnt anyways) cause this much of a headache. a bad ring or two could cause significant loss of compression. Maybe enough to still run, but with issues.

Have you checked the timing? How about vacuum?

[dvdreith]

I was told on another forum to check the compression then dump a tablespoon of oil then check the compression again. if it went up then I probably have bad rings. if not it is probably a head gasket. the smoke only shows up when the car is warm. how would things lean out though, what would cause it to go lean/rich. right after I did the 3' intercooler piping my friends dad said I was running rich. which I could clearly smell the gas. but when it is smoaking it is hard to tell as to what it really smells like. What would burning antifreeze and runnig rich smell like????

[ls1_se7en]

both smells like sweet fuel. coolant smells kinda sweet coming out of the exhaust. When did this start? i.e. Did you do something/mod and this problem presented?

[dvdreith]

I noticed I was runnig rich (strong gas vapors) a bit ago then when I did the 3' intercooler piping it started stalling at idle. the longer the car runs the less frequent it stalls. for example when I first start it it will usually stall. I take it for a quick spinn and let it sit at idle and it does fine and then it studders and rises and then it does it again and sone times it still stalls. then a week or two later, this being 2-3 days ago it started to smoke when it warmed up. I have yet to do the compression check but I will be likely doing this in a day or so. I also have 2' intercooler piping on the way it will be here on tuesday. if this solvs the issue I will be soo happy but I really don't think it will. I still havn't checked the bypass valve there is a kink in the hose but not a bad one. it would still allow air to pass through, even though at idle you don't want it to. but until then I am not really driving it.

[ls1_se7en]

I noticed I was runnig rich (strong gas vapors) a bit ago then when I did the 3' intercooler piping it started stalling at idle.

Sounds like it's loading up on fuel.

the longer the car runs the less frequent it stalls. for example when I first start it it will usually stall. I take it for a quick spinn and let it sit at idle and it does fine and then it studders and rises and then it does it again and sone times it still stalls.

Rises? idle? what rises? Or do you mean the idle fluctuates consistently (somewhat) up and down?

then a week or two later, this being 2-3 days ago it started to smoke when it warmed up. I have yet to do the compression check but I will be likely doing this in a day or so.

Probably should have done this before the 2" pipe. as it shouldn't make a single bit of difference for your issue what size pipe you have.

I also have 2' intercooler piping on the way it will be here on tuesday. if this solvs the issue I will be soo happy but I really don't think it will.

Unless you have a hole in your current piping, I don't foresee this fixing anything other than getting you a proper sized pipe for your application.

I still havn't checked the bypass valve there is a kink in the hose but not a bad one. it would still allow air to pass through, even though at idle you don't want it to. but until then I am not really driving it.

The bypass valve is a very simple device. All it does it release manifold pressure once it sees vacuum from the engine. And, again, this shouldn't cause your problem unless it has a sizable leak.


Currently without results from a compression test, I would say that you have a considerable leak somewhere after the MAF and before the TB. The MAF tells the ECU how much fuel to dump in based on the density and amount of air flow going through it. If you have a leak, the metered air will not make it to the engine causing a rich condition.

Just my $0.02.

[dvdreith]

I checked the plugs today and the results suck.
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what should be my next move???