Moparts

Pistons soaked?

Posted By: 1mean340

Pistons soaked? - 12/08/18 11:43 PM

Hey guys, still trying to knock out some of the issues with my procharged 340 before spring.

A lot of the issues have been with tuning on E85 using the FITECH 1200. I have been running into a ton of problems from loading up badly at idle/rich tip ins and all sorts of other AFR problems.

One thing I noticed is that the plugs keep coming out fuel fouled, which is expected with the AFR issues I've been having with the FITECH. a couple have a shiny, glazed black crust on them that seems like oil deposits though.

Anyway, I took a bore scope to the pistons and the tops of all the pistons are soaked in wet, black sludge.

I put the borescope down the manifold and the manifold is bone dry. The intake ports are also dry.

This a new motor (maybe 1500 miles) with total seal gapless rings. I'm running about 7PSI of boost and don't have a PCV or vacuum pump. I do have both valve covers plumbed to a vented catch can. Theres NO oil residue in either of the hoses from the valve covers and I never have any oil in the catch can. Not even a misting inside the fittings coming off the valve covers.

I really don't think I have been burning a significant amount of oil either, but it has been hard to say because I had a stubborn leak from the 90 degree adapter for a little while so I did have to top it off a couple of times.

Just wondering what you guys think about a PCV or vacuum pump system, if I should need one for this setup? What else should I check for? I just found it weird that I could be getting that much oil but none in the catch can.

Also what are your guesses on what may be causing the wet piston tops?
Posted By: TRENDZ

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/09/18 12:00 AM

My guess... The poor fuel control on a new engine destroyed the rings. I suggest you get the fuel control in order, then have the engine honed. Put a set of hellfire rings in it.
That system is heavily dependant on the wideband. If you have ANY exhaust leaks, you will never get the fueling right.
Posted By: Mopar_Rich

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/09/18 12:19 AM

Your tune is obviously way off. This usually happens around idle if you have an aggressive cam with a lot of overlap or long durations. Higher end systems allow the tuner to adjust those low RPM areas manually. You may not be able to get there with that system.
Posted By: dOrk !

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/09/18 08:39 AM

Fuel fouled ? Black crust !!.., eek .... you better check the leak down on that motor ! ...,you might have washed-the-rings ..., aka - ruined them
Posted By: fbs63

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/09/18 04:33 PM

E85 needs a stout ignition also. What are you running?
Posted By: jwb123

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/09/18 06:55 PM

I have a FiTech on a procharged gas 410 small block in my cuda. I had some issues with poor starting, over fueling, and the tech help was not much help. But the root cause of the proble was too much fuel pressure. The regulator in the FiTech is sourced from a 1.8 VW engine, it could not return enough fuel, the drivers in the computer start shutting down becausae they become overheated, trying to lift the pintels against the pressure, it sets some wierd codes that they had me chasing poor grounds and voltage supply. I kind of did a shade tree fix, by removing one of the O-rings on the stem of the regulator causing an internal leak that let it return more fuel. It works great now. Just something for you to check.
Posted By: FastmOp

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/09/18 07:03 PM

Leak down is where I would be next.
Posted By: 1mean340

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/09/18 08:54 PM

Washing out the rings is exactly what I've been afraid of. On pump gas things seemed to work better (not great, but better) but on E85 I was always fouling out plugs.

No exhaust leaks I can detect. I leak tested my exhaust welds and 02 bung weld to 20PSI and not a pinhole leak. It's all painted silver and don't see nothing around the collector/header flange and hear/feel nothing as far as leaks go.

As far as ignition, I just have an MSD 6AL box, Pro Billet distributor and FITECH controls the timing curve. Plugs were always gapped at around .24

Fuel pressure reg in the fitch is blocked and I have a bypass regulator (Aeromotive 13101). I wondered if maybe it couldn't keep up with the massive Magnafuel MP4303 pump, I have been meaning to GOPRO it under load.


It's not that it was constantly running rich, it definitely wasn't and sometimes it would pull super clean and hard for a brief moment if you leaned into it just right. I was definitely having some weird/sporadic fueling issues though.

I did many compression tests and they were within 8 or so PSI on all cyls. I did a cold leak down test a few months ago on the passenger side bank and all cyls were in acceptable range and close (I forgot to write it down). I'm not sure if a cold leak down test really tells me anything though so I'm going to do a hot one on all 8 holes as soon as I can.


I'm actually switching it over to pump gas for the winter. I'm a little worried about WOT pulls on 93 octane with 7psi but I at least want to see if I can get this system to cruise without fouling plugs and overfueling. I know the last time I was on pump gas it seemed to a big improvement in drivability over E85

I've talked to multiple pro tuners in the area hoping I could just have one of them figure it out but nobody wants to touch the FITECH and they tell me they don't think the system is going to work for what I'm using it for. The guys on the FITECH board insist otherwise though as there are other boosted/big cam/E85 guys that apparently don't have issues.

Posted By: 1mean340

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/09/18 08:57 PM

This entire engine setup has been a nightmare for me lol you guys have to help me before I swap it out for a boosted LSX like I have in my 96 Impala LOL
The one part of the build I thought was going to cause me headaches, the home built procharger brackets/tensioner setup, has worked fine lol
Posted By: TRENDZ

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/09/18 11:02 PM

7 psi on 93 shouldn’t be any problem at all.

Tough love... get that fitech off of your car and go with a true efi system.

The fact that you camera’d the intake, with no signs of oil, tells you all you need to know about the condition of the rings.
Pull the engine, get it honed, install new rings.
Posted By: hemi-itis

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/10/18 03:06 AM

[quote=TRENDZ]7 psi on 93 shouldn’t be any problem at all."

That depends on the static compression up

https://theblowershop.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Effective_Compression.pdf
Posted By: 1mean340

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/14/18 07:18 PM

I know it's probably a long shot, but the crosshatching looked very pronounced still on the bore scope and the motor definitely doesn't have a lot of miles on it, so maybe if I get the tune right and beat on it a bit the rings will seat?

Either way, I guess I still need to get these fueling issues worked out before I can fix that problem.


I'm going to give the FITECH one more shot on pump gas before I pull it off and upgrade it to a better MPI system. I never seemed to have the overfueling issues on pump gas so I'm wondering if maybe it'll work.

What do you guys think about AFR targets at idle/cruise/WOT? What about timing? I have an idea of what I think will work but I'd really like to hear from guys more experienced with tuning as to what I should be shooting for as a baseline.


Most of the specs are in the signature. It's an intercooled procharged setup at 7PSI. MSD 6AL, FITECH controlling the timing curve


Hemi itis, interesting chart! I wonder how they come up with that as how can you really say "X total compression" is the limit of a particular fuel without taking into consideration timing and intake air temps?
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/14/18 07:54 PM

I know this sounds nuts but...
I see so many post about washed out rings and I wonder---
I had a stroker big block six pack engine on the dyno--custom set new carbs with max mods and build--Fired it up all good ran for about 10 minutes--sounded weird--took about 10-15 minutes of looking everything over until I pulled carb bowls--NO JETS! OK well there is the problem--next we drain the oil--filled a bucket with oil and raw fuel--Ok so rings and who knows what else ruined! So I said why not? Filled with fresh oil--added some jets--swapped plugs--fired it back up--ran normal break in and when dyno day was over it made exactly what it should have to start with--
That was about 2010 and it is still melting tires and making smiles so
If one was going to "wash out" the rings it was that unit
I think that some do for sure but they are tougher than we might think and many that are suspected have not done that at all.

Fix the issue change oil and plugs, set timing and let her rip
Posted By: TRENDZ

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/14/18 08:47 PM

Problem is, you describe oil in the combustion chamber. Adding boost, even with a perfect tune, combined with oil in the chamber elevates the temps and torches out ringlands. Doesnt matter if you see cross hatch pattern. The second ring is supposed to scrape oil. It isnt doing that anymore. The ring face has worn into the wrong shape. Pistons will be the next expense in the cost of denial.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/14/18 09:13 PM

Originally Posted By TRENDZ
Problem is, you describe oil in the combustion chamber. Adding boost, even with a perfect tune, combined with oil in the chamber elevates the temps and torches out ringlands. Doesnt matter if you see cross hatch pattern. The second ring is supposed to scrape oil. It isnt doing that anymore. The ring face has worn into the wrong shape. Pistons will be the next expense in the cost of denial.



Agree! Oil has zero octane
Oil on piston tops is always time to stop--start over
Posted By: madscientist

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/15/18 02:13 AM

Originally Posted By crabman173
I know this sounds nuts but...
I see so many post about washed out rings and I wonder---
I had a stroker big block six pack engine on the dyno--custom set new carbs with max mods and build--Fired it up all good ran for about 10 minutes--sounded weird--took about 10-15 minutes of looking everything over until I pulled carb bowls--NO JETS! OK well there is the problem--next we drain the oil--filled a bucket with oil and raw fuel--Ok so rings and who knows what else ruined! So I said why not? Filled with fresh oil--added some jets--swapped plugs--fired it back up--ran normal break in and when dyno day was over it made exactly what it should have to start with--
That was about 2010 and it is still melting tires and making smiles so
If one was going to "wash out" the rings it was that unit
I think that some do for sure but they are tougher than we might think and many that are suspected have not done that at all.

Fix the issue change oil and plugs, set timing and let her rip



Sounds like you caught it pretty quick and took care of it and then put some load to it.

When I see a fuel wash thing it's usually when you have an issue over time...like a choke being stuck on. The continuous long term fuel wash (long term is relative...I've seen it done in a few days of being not corrected) kills the rings. Once they are toast, you can't get it back without new rings.
Posted By: FastmOp

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/15/18 03:48 AM

If the leak down says its hurt ain't nothing fixing it but new rings and a hone
Posted By: RAMM

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/15/18 03:48 PM

Originally Posted By 1mean340
Hey guys, still trying to knock out some of the issues with my procharged 340 before spring.


This a new motor (maybe 1500 miles) with total seal gapless rings. [b][/b]I really don't think I have been burning a significant amount of oil either, but it has been hard to say Also what are your guesses on what may be causing the wet piston tops?


Look I'm only going to say this once because most people using these rings and there are many,will not want to hear this.

It's your rings. They are probably not washed out or glazed or whatever. It is the gapless design that causes the abnormal oil consumption under high vacuum conditions. Most people in general do not like feeling embarrassed and this applies to car guys that shell out big $$$$ on the trick of the week. When the trick of the week is a dud, NOBODY wants to admit they have been had. I have been down this road with those stupid , expensive rings three times personally and several more as a third party.

OP please dingle ball hone your cylinders if they are straight and round and install a conventional gap ring. All of your oil consumption problems will go away and your tune up will more than likely come around (coincidence? not likely) My favourites are Hastings, Sealed Power, Mahle (PC), Grant etc...

I could write a chapter on my experience with rings with documentation (proof) , compression tests, leak down tests, dyno tests and REAL world driving and use.

Before certain ostriches jump on me--Yes I know how to hone a cylinder and file rings to the correct gap. I've never and I mean NEVER built or machined an engine that consumed abnormal (copius) amounts of oil UNTIL I tried THOSE rings. I was dumb enough to try them three times (see afore mentioned ostrich syndrome) which in my books is a fair shot. Never again.

Oh you can call them and tell them and they will tell you its the oil youre using, its your honing, its the pistons, its the crank causing to much piston rock ('cuz no ones ever built a stroker that didn't burn too much oil-lol), its too much windage, its Trump's fault < OK that last one I made up. I even had a certain SALESMAN there tell me his new GM truck used a quart a week and when he complained the service rep told him it was completely normal and to piss off. Sorry I cannot and will not tell my customer that. Sorry for the long post but it is your rings--I'd put a large sum of $$$ on it. Pile on. J.Rob
Posted By: 1mean340

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/15/18 07:07 PM

Originally Posted By RAMM
Originally Posted By 1mean340
Hey guys, still trying to knock out some of the issues with my procharged 340 before spring.


This a new motor (maybe 1500 miles) with total seal gapless rings. [b][/b]I really don't think I have been burning a significant amount of oil either, but it has been hard to say Also what are your guesses on what may be causing the wet piston tops?


Look I'm only going to say this once because most people using these rings and there are many,will not want to hear this.

It's your rings. They are probably not washed out or glazed or whatever. It is the gapless design that causes the abnormal oil consumption under high vacuum conditions. Most people in general do not like feeling embarrassed and this applies to car guys that shell out big $$$$ on the trick of the week. When the trick of the week is a dud, NOBODY wants to admit they have been had. I have been down this road with those stupid , expensive rings three times personally and several more as a third party.

OP please dingle ball hone your cylinders if they are straight and round and install a conventional gap ring. All of your oil consumption problems will go away and your tune up will more than likely come around (coincidence? not likely) My favourites are Hastings, Sealed Power, Mahle (PC), Grant etc...

I could write a chapter on my experience with rings with documentation (proof) , compression tests, leak down tests, dyno tests and REAL world driving and use.

Before certain ostriches jump on me--Yes I know how to hone a cylinder and file rings to the correct gap. I've never and I mean NEVER built or machined an engine that consumed abnormal (copius) amounts of oil UNTIL I tried THOSE rings. I was dumb enough to try them three times (see afore mentioned ostrich syndrome) which in my books is a fair shot. Never again.

Oh you can call them and tell them and they will tell you its the oil youre using, its your honing, its the pistons, its the crank causing to much piston rock ('cuz no ones ever built a stroker that didn't burn too much oil-lol), its too much windage, its Trump's fault < OK that last one I made up. I even had a certain SALESMAN there tell me his new GM truck used a quart a week and when he complained the service rep told him it was completely normal and to piss off. Sorry I cannot and will not tell my customer that. Sorry for the long post but it is your rings--I'd put a large sum of $$$ on it. Pile on. J.Rob


Thanks RAMM and to all others who replied. It definitely sounds like you are right. I'm going to check a few more things first, I want to do the leak down test hot just to check (cold everything looked good, but I know that's no way to do a leak down test).

The only thing I am wondering though if maybe it isn't oil and it's just wet carbon. I'll figure that out quickly with a q tip sent down there though, it was hard to tell on my somewhat crappy borescope, I just assumed it wasn't carbon because the motor only has 800 miles on it, I didn't think it could build up so much so fast.

I just thought it was weird because the the plugs never showed any signs of serious oil issues. One or two had a slight black glaze to them (but no ash), mostly they were just a sooted with fuel. Not terribly sooty, just definitely on the rich side. Under most driving conditions the car never ran rich, it's not like the car was dumping fuel all the time. It only had a weird load up problem after coming to a stop which would cause it to buck and stumble bad when trying to get moving again. If I let it idle for a few seconds before getting going again the AFR would normalize and then it would accelerate great. It would also get lean tip ins going into WOT causing it to overcorrect rich and then correct out of it again. This would happen briefly at the gear changes too. It wasn't as if it was dumping fuel all the time, but there were definitely times where it would stumble from dumping fuel.

I know it is probably the rings, but I figure it can't hurt just trying to smooth out the tune on gas, do a leak down test and maybe drive it a bit out of boost to see if the pistons clean up? I'm not going to get into boost if they don't, but as a last resort I figure I could try this.

I'll be honest, if I pull this motor out I'm probably not going to want to put it back in LOL Been wanting to go late hemi ever since I started this and realized I boogered my old, simple, reliable setup all up with FITECH and the procharger lol
Posted By: dizuster

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/15/18 09:13 PM

If it leaks good, I wouldn't worry about the rings too much. I have a hard time believing it could wipe out the 2nd ring for oil control, but not the top rings for sealing. But if someone has seen that before, it'd would be an education for me.

When you say it won't work on the E85, what exactly is it doing. If it's running rich, you mean the wideband is showing rich, or you have some other perception of it being rich?

I'm not super familiar with the FiTech, but most EFI systems when the wideband is a ton off, will self correct. If you're not seeing it correct the AFR, then my guess is there is some sort of setting in the FiTech that's preventing it from doing so.

When you switch from gas to E85, what settings are you changing in the FiTech?
Posted By: madscientist

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/16/18 06:06 AM

Originally Posted By 1mean340
Originally Posted By RAMM
Originally Posted By 1mean340
Hey guys, still trying to knock out some of the issues with my procharged 340 before spring.


This a new motor (maybe 1500 miles) with total seal gapless rings. [b][/b]I really don't think I have been burning a significant amount of oil either, but it has been hard to say Also what are your guesses on what may be causing the wet piston tops?


Look I'm only going to say this once because most people using these rings and there are many,will not want to hear this.

It's your rings. They are probably not washed out or glazed or whatever. It is the gapless design that causes the abnormal oil consumption under high vacuum conditions. Most people in general do not like feeling embarrassed and this applies to car guys that shell out big $$$$ on the trick of the week. When the trick of the week is a dud, NOBODY wants to admit they have been had. I have been down this road with those stupid , expensive rings three times personally and several more as a third party.

OP please dingle ball hone your cylinders if they are straight and round and install a conventional gap ring. All of your oil consumption problems will go away and your tune up will more than likely come around (coincidence? not likely) My favourites are Hastings, Sealed Power, Mahle (PC), Grant etc...

I could write a chapter on my experience with rings with documentation (proof) , compression tests, leak down tests, dyno tests and REAL world driving and use.

Before certain ostriches jump on me--Yes I know how to hone a cylinder and file rings to the correct gap. I've never and I mean NEVER built or machined an engine that consumed abnormal (copius) amounts of oil UNTIL I tried THOSE rings. I was dumb enough to try them three times (see afore mentioned ostrich syndrome) which in my books is a fair shot. Never again.

Oh you can call them and tell them and they will tell you its the oil youre using, its your honing, its the pistons, its the crank causing to much piston rock ('cuz no ones ever built a stroker that didn't burn too much oil-lol), its too much windage, its Trump's fault < OK that last one I made up. I even had a certain SALESMAN there tell me his new GM truck used a quart a week and when he complained the service rep told him it was completely normal and to piss off. Sorry I cannot and will not tell my customer that. Sorry for the long post but it is your rings--I'd put a large sum of $$$ on it. Pile on. J.Rob


Thanks RAMM and to all others who replied. It definitely sounds like you are right. I'm going to check a few more things first, I want to do the leak down test hot just to check (cold everything looked good, but I know that's no way to do a leak down test).

The only thing I am wondering though if maybe it isn't oil and it's just wet carbon. I'll figure that out quickly with a q tip sent down there though, it was hard to tell on my somewhat crappy borescope, I just assumed it wasn't carbon because the motor only has 800 miles on it, I didn't think it could build up so much so fast.

I just thought it was weird because the the plugs never showed any signs of serious oil issues. One or two had a slight black glaze to them (but no ash), mostly they were just a sooted with fuel. Not terribly sooty, just definitely on the rich side. Under most driving conditions the car never ran rich, it's not like the car was dumping fuel all the time. It only had a weird load up problem after coming to a stop which would cause it to buck and stumble bad when trying to get moving again. If I let it idle for a few seconds before getting going again the AFR would normalize and then it would accelerate great. It would also get lean tip ins going into WOT causing it to overcorrect rich and then correct out of it again. This would happen briefly at the gear changes too. It wasn't as if it was dumping fuel all the time, but there were definitely times where it would stumble from dumping fuel.

I know it is probably the rings, but I figure it can't hurt just trying to smooth out the tune on gas, do a leak down test and maybe drive it a bit out of boost to see if the pistons clean up? I'm not going to get into boost if they don't, but as a last resort I figure I could try this.

I'll be honest, if I pull this motor out I'm probably not going to want to put it back in LOL Been wanting to go late hemi ever since I started this and realized I boogered my old, simple, reliable setup all up with FITECH and the procharger lol




I'll say it once.

It isn't the rings. FACT.
Posted By: Cab_Burge

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/16/18 08:43 AM

When you use a gapless ring on the top position it make shte 2nd ring flutter which can and may cause excessive oil consumption at WOT shruggy work
Been there, done that once a long time ago puke No gapless rings since tsk twocents
I've also learn the lesson on to tight of ring gaps runaway Drag race motors run better with looser clearances almost everywhere up
Posted By: madscientist

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/16/18 09:50 AM

Originally Posted By Cab_Burge
When you use a gapless ring on the top position it make shte 2nd ring flutter which can and may cause excessive oil consumption at WOT shruggy work
Been there, done that once a long time ago puke No gapless rings since tsk twocents
I've also learn the lesson on to tight of ring gaps runaway Drag race motors run better with looser clearances almost everywhere up


No, a gapless top will not make the second ring flutter. If you used a gapless second ring, you could have made that ring unsettle the top ring, but a gapless top ring won't make a second ring flutter..
Posted By: RAMM

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/16/18 04:38 PM

Originally Posted By madscientist


No, a gapless top will not make the second ring flutter. If you used a gapless second ring, you could have made that ring unsettle the top ring, but a gapless top ring won't make a second ring flutter..


Your inexperience is showing. J.Rob
Posted By: RAMM

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/16/18 04:47 PM

Originally Posted By madscientist


Before certain ostriches jump on me Like I said, go and stick your head back in the sand Tim.


I'll say it once.

It isn't the rings. FACT.


Just because you write the word FACT in all capitals doesn't a fact make-internet dipstick.

Look OP and whoever is using the gapless ring design--Use them don't use them, believe in them , don't believe in them, etc....

I DON'T CARE, not my money, not me driving around with an engine that consumes oil. J.Rob
Posted By: RAMM

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/16/18 04:57 PM

Originally Posted By 1mean340


The only thing I am wondering though if maybe it isn't oil and it's just wet carbon.


Whenever I have taken apart an engine that ran really rich the carbon was so dry it would flake off in sheets about the size of 1" x 1" . Wet is oil , fuel is dry 'cuz it evaporates. J.Rob
Posted By: RAMM

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/16/18 05:01 PM

Originally Posted By Cab_Burge
When you use a gapless ring on the top position it make shte 2nd ring flutter which can and may cause excessive oil consumption at WOT shruggy work
Been there, done that once a long time ago puke No gapless rings since tsk twocents
I've also learn the lesson on to tight of ring gaps runaway Drag race motors run better with looser clearances almost everywhere up



Totally agree Cab although I admit I don't really know what happens to the ring. I believe it seals TOO well which just sucks oil up and past the entire ring pack. Grumpy Jenkins tried the gapless ring thing in both positions many times and wrote in his book that they lost power AND lost oil control. J.Rob
Posted By: madscientist

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/16/18 06:17 PM

Geeesus, feeling a little insecure?

Blame the rings all you want.

And while you're at it, bite me. I didn't say [censored] to you or about you. Keep poking the bear and I'll say what I think of you.
Posted By: madscientist

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/16/18 06:19 PM

BTW, let me reiterate for the illiterate...


IT ISNT THE RINGS. IT NOT A RING ISSUE. FACT.
Posted By: Cab_Burge

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/16/18 07:15 PM

OP, are you using a synthetic oil?
Posted By: justinp61

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/16/18 09:21 PM

Darn I love winter on Moparts!
Posted By: 1mean340

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/23/18 11:11 PM

Alright guys, I'm completely confused here. I couldn't resist taking it out for a drive after converting it back over to pump gas. Risky, I know, but I think a part of me is tired of this 2 year battle and maybe wants to blow it up so I can start from scratch lol

Anyway, I set my targets in the FITECH and took her for a drive. She ran great. The computer was obviously still learning and had a hiccup here and there, but the first time I leaned into it she ran like a raped king kong. Hit boost and blew the drag radials off the car in first and second at part throttle, pulled in third clean and hard like it hasn't done since I first fired her up. I drove it around for about another 30 minutes, beat on it a little more and took it home. Took it out again today and it still pulled hard, but started running a little rougher, misfiring a bit more and just didn't seem to have the power it had yesterday in boost.

Took the plugs out and this is what I see. These are the plugs with less than 45 min run time, a mix of local cruising and some 1/2-3/4 throttle pulls. Click for bigger pics
611EB52D-1AD9-481F-9FBA-100B6F816547 by Kris A, on Flickr
Look at cylinder 1. In person it look dry and sooty to me, no shine to it at all and not wet.

I checked all the bores again with the scope and looking at it now, they actually don't look wet (to me at least). It looks more like dry carbon.

How the HELL am I getting such a rich hole in a throttle body injection setup? Could the fuel distribution really be THAT bad?

Here is a close up of bank 2 where the wideband 02 reads from
360814F0-C306-4154-B5D2-0CF4777777AF by Kris A, on Flickr

And bank 1:

0B1B1EED-F16E-47B3-BC19-249B552301F5 by Kris A, on Flickr




I tried to do a leak down test but found my gauge cracked in the case. Getting dark and cold out now so that'll probably have to wait.


I don't know what to think anymore. Here is my FLIKR account where you guys can see some more detailed pictures of the plugs and pictures I took of the borescope screen for each cylinder. The borescope is pretty grainy to begin with so the pictures of the screen aren't the greatest, but maybe someone will notice something I'm not understanding.

FLIKR picture account
Posted By: 1mean340

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/23/18 11:20 PM

Kind of at a crossroads here. I want to ditch the FITECH but if the motor was hurt, rings or whatever, I don't think I'd bother. I don't really care to dump more money in a better fuel injection setup AND go through all the time/trouble of setting it up and replacing the rings when I have been wanting to do a late model hemi in this car for a while.

If the motor turns out to be OK though, I might still be willing to keep the 340 and work on swapping to an MPI setup.
Posted By: CSK

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/23/18 11:25 PM

bad plug wire on #1
Posted By: 1mean340

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/23/18 11:43 PM

Funny you say that, because I was just putting the wires back on and this practically new set of MSD wires feel like they are turning to goo. They felt like garbage from day 1 and just now, while popping cyl 8 back in, I tore the boot completely open just by pushing on it. They feel like rubber if you soak it in ethanol for a week.

It would be pretty funny if all this time it was just a garbage set of MSD wires. They really went down hill in quality. I remember when the boots used to feel rigid and sturdy, now it feels like you can pull them and rip them in half; like they're made from soft/stretchy silicon.


Would that really cause it to be sooty though? I figured wet from unburned fuel but I figured sooty would mean a rich mixture was being burned by adequate spark.
Posted By: madscientist

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/24/18 12:34 AM

It's very hard to tell what is going on from those pictures. I mean, sometimes guys post pictures and they are far enough off that Ray Charles could see it, but for your deal, you need more pictures with much closer shots.

If you don't already have a spark plug read light, GET ONE. Mine is from 1980 and came in a Champion box. I've used it so long that it's like a baseball glove I've used forever. Soon, I'm going to buy a new one, and it will most likely be one of those tools that a doc looks in your ears and up your nose with.

Then spend some time learning to read plugs. It's worth every cent. I don't know a single tuner who doesn't read plugs. With that, and an O2 sensor you can tune stuff up.

BTW, I trust my plug reading before I trust a WB. I've seen them have issues. So in a crunch, I trust the plugs and if I'm still not feeling good about what I'm seeing, I pull the headers and look in the ports and drop a camer in the spark plug hole to see the piston tops.
Posted By: BigBlockMopar

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/24/18 12:37 AM

Swap the no.1 wire with another one.
Test again and see if the other plug will turn black instead now.
Posted By: madscientist

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/24/18 12:39 AM

BTW, what plug is that? It looks like a ton of timing and the plug looks cold, especially if it's an NGK.

And I forgot to mention to swap the plug wire like mentioned above. I was thinking about other stuff and forgot.
Posted By: 1mean340

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/24/18 12:52 AM

Mad, i’m going to order a plug reading light now. From what I have heard you are 100% right about the wideband. The guys over on the FITECH. page sometimes get pretty varied readings between their FITECH wide and aftermarket wide bands using to moniter. Every tuner has told me the only thing you can trust are the plugs.

I am actually going to pick up a whole new set of wires as it seems like these falling apart one by one anyway. Definitely not going with MSD this time.

The plugs are bkr7e’s, it’s what NGK recommended for pump gas.

Timing, I can’t say for sure as it takes some trial and error after reading the data logs since the FITECH diesn’t Allow you to set X timing for X boost. Instead it lets you plug in a timing value for WOT at zero boost and another value for I believe 14 psi IIRC. It ramps it up as a curve and you have to play around a little to get it where you want it at your peak PSI (mine being about 7.5). I was shooting for about 22 total with this latest tune but I won’t know till I upload the log.

From those bore scope pics, does it look like an oil control issue to you though? To me, it looks like carbon and not oil but i’m no expert and the borecope isn’t the greatest.
Posted By: FastmOp

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/24/18 12:55 AM

Get some Firecore wires
Posted By: 1mean340

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/24/18 12:56 AM

Here’s a close up shot of that #1 cylinders piston...as good as it gets with the cheap bore scope.

Attached picture 71C95290-3951-414C-A347-3201AA08F818.jpeg
Attached picture DA28F99D-C9F9-41BB-A783-FD3081C7A18D.jpeg
Posted By: CSK

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/24/18 02:04 AM

yes a bad plug wire can cause a dirty sooty spark plug, also a wide band o2, will tell the computer that the AFR is lean when there is a misfiring cylinder
Posted By: fast68plymouth

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/24/18 02:41 AM

My response will get scoffed at by many........ but that thing woulda had a carb on it two years ago if it were mine.

At least until I could have been able to finance a “real” EFI system.
Posted By: pittsburghracer

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/24/18 03:26 AM

Originally Posted By fast68plymouth
My response will get scoffed at by many........ but that thing woulda had a carb on it two years if it were mine.

At least until I could have been able to finance a “real” EFI system.




But but butt, EFI is the savior of Racing and going fast. Install it and hook up the computer and go Racing. Lol 😂
Posted By: AndyF

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/24/18 10:05 PM

I think you have something wrong with that FiTech unit. Could be a plugged injector or one of the injectors might have a leak or something along those lines. Which side of the engine is the wide band in? Do you have a second wide band in the other side or is the other side of the engine not monitored? If you are running a close looped EFI system but only checking one side of the engine then there is a possibility that a problem on one side will drive the ECU nuts.

Have you been checking the learn tables and watching the data logs to see what the FiTech is doing? Those plugs tell me that the mixture is way off which means you have something pretty funky going on with your setup.
Posted By: CSK

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/24/18 10:46 PM

Originally Posted By AndyF
I think you have something wrong with that FiTech unit. Could be a plugged injector or one of the injectors might have a leak or something along those lines. Which side of the engine is the wide band in? Do you have a second wide band in the other side or is the other side of the engine not monitored? If you are running a close looped EFI system but only checking one side of the engine then there is a possibility that a problem on one side will drive the ECU nuts.

Have you been checking the learn tables and watching the data logs to see what the FiTech is doing? Those plugs tell me that the mixture is way off which means you have something pretty funky going on with your setup.


a random misfire can cause this.
Posted By: Blusmbl

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/24/18 11:41 PM

Agreed. Fix the ignition issues first as any normal aftermarket EFI system won't be robust to misfires. Misfiring on one cylinder (or more) will throw the self learning portion of the tune way out into left field if it's on the same side as the wideband O2 sensor.
Posted By: AndyF

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/25/18 01:22 AM

He would've seen a misfire if he is looking at his data logs. A misfire shows up as big spikes in the air fuel ratio.
Posted By: CSK

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/25/18 02:44 AM

Originally Posted By AndyF
He would've seen a misfire if he is looking at his data logs. A misfire shows up as big spikes in the air fuel ratio.


This is true, but it would seem that most people that install these so called self tuning T body efi systems know very little about reading AFR data logging, NOT TO put down the OP, but the problems he is have are VERY common with ALL of these self tuners. NO OFFENSE TO 1mean340, the problem is the way these KITS are promoted as bolt on & go, that is NOT the case on most installs.
Posted By: 1mean340

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/26/18 01:43 AM

I'll try to answer as much as I can here, it may be a lot to write lol. I am NO pro tuner, I am somewhat familiar with fuel injection and have been getting better with learning how to tune and read logs. I have extensively data logged this setup, probably 50+ logs over the past two years. I've had guys who know more than me look at it and the opinion ranges from "there's something wrong" to "the system is working as it should". I attribute a lot of the mess to E85, as there are many people who don't have good luck with this system on E. I'm hoping now on pump gas it'll be easier to figure out what's wrong.


I can actually post the data logs from the two drivers on these plugs in spreadsheet form if anybody here is willing to take a look. From what I have seen on previous logs, the ECU seems to be adjusting as it should. It had its weird moments and swings I couldn't figure out, but under throttle it wasn't maxing out learns or anything. I have yet to check these most recent logs.

As far as how it runs, I noticed no misfires at idle or with any decent amount of throttle. I have always noticed misfires when under VERY light throttle while cruising under load though. That's the only time I've ever felt/heard noticeable misfires.


The only spikes in the AFR's I have seen on pump gas were lean tip in issues which are common with FITECH and can be worked with by adding accelerator pump shot, and then the car seems to go EXTREMELY lean on deceleration. I know the FITECH has a DAFCO setting that I can shut off, but I almost feel like I'm going way leaner than I should even go with DAFCO when slowing down.

I guess I can talk about a lot of this stuff a lot, but if any of you guys are good at reading data logs I'm sure that will enlighten you a lot more than I can.


FYI, the bank my wideband is on is the 2/4/6/8 side where the plugs looked much more consistent. No exhaust crossover, so whatever is going on with that #2 plug in particular isn't going to affect the tune at all. I've never hooked a wideband up to that side to monitor. I've also never ran a wideband in the exhaust to see if the readings are anywhere close to what the FITECH is picking up, I'd love to do that soon.


I'm definitely doing the wires first. I just ordered Firecore wires from Mancini, hopefully I'll get them soon. As for ignition, I have a 6AL box that was on the car before, can't confirm it's good but it passes the bench test. Brand new MSD blaster coil, brand new MSD pro billet, phased rotor. Fitech controls the timing curve.


CSK, I totally agree. I found out very fast the "self learning" thing is a load of crap. There are hundreds of guys on the FITECH Facebook page constantly discussing tuning parameters. Turning the self learning off after a certain point is also very common. With that said, I realized a long time ago that this setup was going to take a significant amount of tuning to get right. I've learned/attempted a lot and I feel like I haven't made made much progress. It stood to reason that there may have been something else wrong, as no advice I have been given regarding the tune ever really helped. I even tried to bring the car to pro tuners but nobody wants to touch the FITECH setup which sucks.
Posted By: AndyF

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/26/18 02:58 AM

You might try moving the wideband sensor over to the other bank just to see what happens. Replacing the plugs and plug wires seems like a good thing to do. I've never tried to run E85 with a FiTech or tried boost so I can't help much. You're outside the normal use for a FiTech so you'll just have to keep plugging away at it.
Posted By: 1mean340

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/26/18 04:32 AM

Thanks Andy, but no more E85 for me. I like it because I figured it would be much safer to hone my tuning skills on but the system had way too many problems with it and did too much weird stuff that even the FITECH tuning gurus couldn’t explain .

Right off the bat it runs much better on pump gas, seems to be more predictable when making changes and it’s much easier for me not having to find e85 gas stations.
Posted By: AndyF

Re: Pistons soaked? - 12/26/18 06:11 AM

If it was my car I'd build it like a cake. Start off with the first layer which is pump gas and no boost. Get that combo tuned and then add the boost layer. Once you get that layer figured out add the next layer of E85 or nitrous or whatever you want. Be careful to document each layer so you can always return to the previous tune if you get lost.
Posted By: 1mean340

Re: Pistons soaked? - 01/15/19 04:48 PM

So I have an update for everyone, and the issue is still just as baffling as before.

I swapped the plugs out and swapped the wires over to new Firecore wires. I did notice the car felt a bit better, idled smoother and better at part throttle. I took it for a short trip with some regular driving and some into-boost pulls and pulled the plugs.

What I am seeing is just about every plug actually looks decent except for cyl #1 which was black as night with dry fuel soot. I swapped that plug out and took it for a ride again with the same result. #1 blackened up right away and the rest stayed about the same with some minor inconsistencies but nothing that seems like it couldn't be addressed by tuning for the leanest hole.

I checked the cap and rotor and pickup and there was nothing bad to note there. It's a new ignition wire now so I know that's not the issue. Still have to do a leak down but the compression test on that hole looked fine.

How the heck could I be getting one SUPER rich hole on throttle body injection? The only two things I am thinking of now is possibly one of the 8 injectors built into the fitch is leaking and trickling straight down into that cylinder. The cylinder next to it which shares in intake port actually looks slightly LEAN compared to the others though, so it's a bit bizarre.

The second possibility is I did buy this top end used from a forum member who had it on his race car and the intake is worked a bit. I'm guessing he really didn't care about idle/cruising fuel distribution, and maybe he massaged the manifold to equalize fuel distribution at WOT in such a way that is wreaking havoc on my street car setup. I just can't imagine how a big single plane could ever flood one cylinder that badly while keeping the cylinder next to it, in the same runner, lean to this extreme though. I'm leaning towards the injector is trickling fuel in such a way that it is finding its way into cyl #1.
Posted By: 1mean340

Re: Pistons soaked? - 01/15/19 05:09 PM

The one other thing I was thinking of was I drilled a hole directly over cylinder 1 in the distributor cap to phase the rotor. I meant to buy another cap but never got around to it, I couldn't find a grommet that would stay. I figure spark would follow the path of least resistance but it's coincidental that cylinder 1 is my issue. The contact on cyl int the cap looks like all the others and no signs of tracking in the cap or on rotor.
Posted By: Cab_Burge

Re: Pistons soaked? - 01/15/19 08:16 PM

Can you move the suspected bad injectors to another location?
If so do so and see if it is bad or not scope up
Posted By: TRENDZ

Re: Pistons soaked? - 01/15/19 08:34 PM

Check valve lash. You may find issues at that cyl.
Posted By: CSK

Re: Pistons soaked? - 01/15/19 09:17 PM

Originally Posted By TRENDZ
Check valve lash. You may find issues at that cyl.


While you are there look for a broken valve spring.
Posted By: 1mean340

Re: Pistons soaked? - 01/16/19 07:35 AM

Haven’t had any lash issues with that particular hole, I just checked them all a few weeks back. Spring wasn’t broken. As far as moving the Injector, there are 8 injectors in the fitech that spray into the throttle body. Not exactly sure how to even access them but i’ll Look into it.
Posted By: sunroofgtx

Re: Pistons soaked? - 01/17/19 04:01 AM

Love to know what was found. Thank you for the trust and opportunity to be on your sweet-ride.
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