Basic Engine Questions, Firing Order and Water Out the Tailpipe Options

[Highland]

Wondering what the firing order isn't 1-4-2-3 instead of the actual 1-4-3-2. Wouldn't it make more sense to go back and forth between opposing sides? Would the engine sound smoother with 1-4-2-3?

I happen to be by my tailpipe when my engine transitioned from cold idle (~1800 rpm) to warm idle (~1000 rpm). When the rpm dropped water sputtered out the tail pipe and continued compared to dry exhaust while cold idle. I know water is a product of combustion, but does this tell me anything about running to rich or lean at these idle conditions?

[Dave_Darling]

I can only speculate about the firing order--but I think that it was chosen to give the best balance to the running motor. They had a fairly long time to work that out, since the layout and firing order of the 914 motor is shared with the VW Type I. Depending on how you break up the cycle, the motor either fires each diagonal in turn, or each side in turn. (1 and 4 are diagonal from each other; 3 and 2 are diagonal from each other. But if you start counting the cycle at 4 instead of 1, you'll see that 4 and 3 are on one side of the motor and 2 and 1 are on the other side of the motor.)

Inline-4 engines have a different firing order to keep them relatively balanced, as their layout is pretty different from a boxer-4.

The water is normal, and probably not indicative of anything specific.

--DD