ok...pulled idle jet and the marking is 50. i 'm told, and it would seem i'm running VERY rich. when she starts up there is what appears moisture (maybe fuel) that spits out the tail pipes when rev'd. also smokey (equally) out both exhausts. i'll run around the block a few times until hot and when i return the smoke is gone and no more moisture out pipes.

i assumed the 50 was on the smaller end of the scale based on other post so why am i running so rich? can i/should i go smaller than 50? what else would cause her to run rich?

other than the above she does seem to be running well however i did notice the jet appeared partially clogged already (just blew them all out). I assume i need to change/add fuel filter or something.


FYI - 74' 2.0 w/ weber 40's

The moisture could be water. It condenses in the exhaust when cool air is sucked in on cool down. Stick your finger in it and smell it.

If the smoke is pure white, it could be raw fuel and you would SMELL it. Generally, rich puts out a dark black smoke. Bluish white .. you're burning off oil. Pure white can also be coolant burning, but I doubt you would have that problem.

My Six spits water for a period of time on cold start up. My four did also. My cars are in somewhat humid conditions.

I had originally thought it was fuel however today i checked further and it didn't have a strong fuel smell. so if its water its nothing to worry about?

the smoke is greyish/white - doesn't appear to be unusual in color. curious why it goes away after engine warms up. is this simply buring off water?

i guess i need to check plugs again. last week they were black after little use. curious what they look like now. it was suggested here based on pic of my plugs that i was running rich. really need to get comfirtable with this if i'm going to make hershey.

coolant on a 914?

I believe he was simply suggesting that coolant will burn off white. He goes on to say "but i doubt you would have that problem" - clearly understanding that its not the case here.

I had an issue simillar gto yours, what kind of carbs do u have, are the single, etc

weber dual 40's

ok, first make sure that the linkage are well adjusted, meaning pulling both at the same time. then start the engine and do a test to see if all the cylenders are running. you can do this by removing the plug wire one after the other and see if it affect the idle. if it does not, then that cyllender is dead, maybe not getting air or gas. if all of them are fine, then ypu can proceed by adjusting the air mixture and idlestart by turning the air screw clockwise slowlyu until you feel the enine starts to shake. stop, then turn it counterclockwise,slowly when you feel the engine chenge stop.

there are other way to adjust them with a carb sync tool that gives more accuracy. but you can start with this for now.

Just a little "tongue in cheek" humor.

Oh, the water is responsible for rusting out systems, but there is little you could do save plugging your tail pipe after shutting the engine down. SS is the solution, but not cheap.

During the combustion reaction, the hydrocarbon molecules are converted to carbon dioxide and water.

Until your exhaust system gets hot enough to flash the water to steam you'll have water dripping out of your tailpipe.

Water is a natural byproduct of combustion. At the ECC last year I took a picture of tails spitting water as our cars warmed up at the hotel.

I figure the best thing you could do to confirm whether you are actually way too rich is test with a wideband A/F meter. I'm not a Webermeister myself but mine were dialed-in with the aid of (IIRC) an LMA-2 and someone with a clue what he was doing with it. Much more precise than 'reading' plugs or going by the color of the crud on the tailpipe.

If it was enough gas to make it out the back the fumes would be so strong that you wouldn't be able to stay in the garage with it.
Water out the back is normal upon warmup and it's a good thing, it's a sign that you have decent combustion going on, not way too rich or way too lean.
Better than the last 2 new engines I started up. Both had had their mufflers stored outside for awhile. One spit out a whole mouse nest with leaves and dog food, the other spit out tons of rust and rat shit and acorns.

thanks for the feedback...no time to work on her today but i took her out again and she ran GREAT...man what a fun car to drive especially where i live - farms and twisy roads only mid 50's today but sun felt great with the top off.

strange. maybe she's dialed in closer than i thought. she's running better than she ever has. i'd really be interested in another opinion - maybe someone take a test spin in hershey?

My 914 spit sunflower seeds out the muffer a year or 2 ago - and it had been stored inside (but so had the sunflower seeds....)
Zach