DHLA 40 question. Running pig rich!

[spoolin4life]

I recently jetted my triple dhla 40s for a standard N42 L28 and the car felt like it was running great. Basically no hesitations and clean acceleration throughout the the rev range. Carbs are all in sync more less and very responsive.

I wanted to do some fine tuning and put on a wideband o2 sensor. The car according to my gauge is running absolutely rich as it gets. I can set it to idle around 14-15afr but as soon as I touch the gas it goes right to 7-9 afr and cruises at 9. The jets/chokes I know are around the proper size. 32 mm chokes, 130 mains, 35 pumps, 7772.5 emulsion. 50 idles, 195 air correctors. 

What would possibly be the cause of it running super rich?? I'm still very new to this so any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!!

Edited May 22, 2020 by spoolin4life

[jonbill]

I don't think it can run well at afr 7-9. my experience is it'll bog down once your down to 10 and lower.
what do the spark plugs look like?

[spoolin4life]

7 hours ago, jonbill said:

I don't think it can run well at afr 7-9. my experience is it'll bog down once your down to 10 and lower.
what do the spark plugs look like?

They look a little darker than the regular brownish colour. I'm kinda stumped unless my wideband is reading off. Would you check fuel pressure next or look to the float level? I haven't touched the float needle valve yet. 

Edited May 22, 2020 by spoolin4life

[jonbill]

they'd be very black I think if it was running 7-9. what kind of afr kit is it?
fuel pressure is probably not relevant as long as its not overcoming the inlet valves. 2-5 psi should be fine.

[spoolin4life]

10 hours ago, jonbill said:

they'd be very black I think if it was running 7-9. what kind of afr kit is it?
fuel pressure is probably not relevant as long as its not overcoming the inlet valves. 2-5 psi should be fine.

I checked again today and they were much darker. It's an innovate mtx-l. Also the oil stank of fuel so that's scary. Don't wanna wash my cylinders. Could it be the floats? 

[jonbill]

mtx-l I think should be accurate. How do the AFR values change as you drive around?
what do you get cruising on steady throttle below 2500 rpm?
and what is it at full throttle above 3000?
when you're just off idle and it goes rich, it's on the progression holes and I'm not sure the float level is influential there. I'd guess its just the combination of idle jets and idle jet holder is too rich.
unless the choke is on of course. have you got a choke cable connected? is it definitely all the way off?

[jonbill]

just a comment on that choke size. I know that there's lots of advice around to use chokes that small, but I think that's mainly driven by ease of setup. if you want to use all the rev range then those chokes will be limiting it's performance. changing the choke sizes however invalidates all your jet choices so if you do want to get the most out of the engine ever, best to change the chokes first.

[spoolin4life]

15 hours ago, jonbill said:

mtx-l I think should be accurate. How do the AFR values change as you drive around?
what do you get cruising on steady throttle below 2500 rpm?
and what is it at full throttle above 3000?
when you're just off idle and it goes rich, it's on the progression holes and I'm not sure the float level is influential there. I'd guess its just the combination of idle jets and idle jet holder is too rich.
unless the choke is on of course. have you got a choke cable connected? is it definitely all the way off?

I'm almost positive the choke is off. But anytime I even touch the gas it goes right to 8-9 afr - doesn't matter how much gas i give it. (Full or partial) Im using a 7850.1 idle holder. What would you suggest as idle jets? 

I've spoke to some people and they've said 32 chokes are a nice low end/high end balance.

Again I'm a novice to this stuff so trying to learn 

[jonbill]

do check that the chokes are completely off.
I think 34mm would be a better choke size than 32, but it's not a big difference and I don't want to go spending your money :)
I'd go with 40 idle jets as the next step. idle jets are reasonably cheap so that's where I'd start. maybe check your float heights while you wait for them since it's easy.
there's a very good book "how to build and power tune weber and dellorto dcoe and dhla carburettors" by Des Hammill which is full of useful info. we'll worth getting a copy.

[spoolin4life]

4 hours ago, jonbill said:

do check that the chokes are completely off.
I think 34mm would be a better choke size than 32, but it's not a big difference and I don't want to go spending your money ?
I'd go with 40 idle jets as the next step. idle jets are reasonably cheap so that's where I'd start. maybe check your float heights while you wait for them since it's easy.
there's a very good book "how to build and power tune weber and dellorto dcoe and dhla carburettors" by Des Hammill which is full of useful info. we'll worth getting a copy.
 

I've actually read lots of the info in that book but it makes suggestions for tuned l series engines so it's tricky to know the right info on a stock l28. Lol

Would you get leaner idle jet holders too? 

[jonbill]

I tend to compare the L28 to 2.0 Pinto engine. they've got a lot in common and the size per cylinder is close.
I wouldn't at this point go for leaner holders. I'd just go for 40 jets and see what difference it makes.

[spoolin4life]

2 hours ago, jonbill said:

I tend to compare the L28 to 2.0 Pinto engine. they've got a lot in common and the size per cylinder is close.
I wouldn't at this point go for leaner holders. I'd just go for 40 jets and see what difference it makes.

I may just order them just in case, cause as you know international shipping is currently horrible with Covid; especially since these little parts all seem to come from the UK.