I know that black smoke is from too much fuel. After i put my header and s-pipe on (mmw) i noticed a lot of black smoke coming from my exhaust. Could this rich conditon mess up my engine or anything? I have a CEL on right now and the code is P0136 O2 sensor.............just wondering if someone else has had this problem with i/h/e setup?

Thanks for the help :bow:

Its normal really. Your getting the CEL because the second o2 sensor is seeing too many pollutants do to you removing the main CAT. Your getting the black smoke partly do to the CAT no longer breaking down the exhaust before it exits the exhaust system, however, I've never "seen" black smoke from mine, just the carbon build up on the muffler tip.

e manage will take care of that smoke bye tuneing your car

Hey i was wondering if thers an update on this? Do alot of people experience black smoke?

this thread is wrong.

your header is where your primary catalytic convertor is. replacing it with a racing header removes it. therefore you exhaust is not getting cleaned up because you removed it. your secondary O2 sensor reads this and since it doesn't know that you changed your header, it thinks that your catalytic convertor has failed, and you are over polluting.

a header has NO effect on your A/F ratios and doesn't cause you to run rich or lean or anything.

so you are making black smoke because you are polluting, not because of some engine tuning problem.

Wait a header doesnt cause u to run rich or lean? Are you sure drax? many people say it does cause u to run rich. Also the sensor on the header is a sensor for A/F isnt it? And so your saying many other ppl with no cats will constantly have black smoke?

i never got black smoke... maybe for a few seconds from the wd-40 that i used to take off the nuts and bolts with but nothing else.

ok thats cool to know, so why did drax say it is caused by having no cats and polluting? When other cars with no cats dont shoot black smoke.

i filled my car with 100 octane...then noticed black smoke.

Adding a header to the tC will NOT adversely affect the engine calibration.

yeah, look, the primary O2 sensor on the header detects a/f ratios before the primary catalytic convertor. it reads gas coming right out of the engine to make corrections to the fuel and ignition timing.

now, the secondary O2 sensor on the s-pipe just reads the exhaust gas to see if the catalytic convertor is working.

now, one problem people have is that they damage the primary o2 sensor , which will cause the car to run in safe mode, which means it will run very rich, which will cause black smoke.

so your header doesn't effect your a/f ratios, your intake, fuel injectors, tuning, and primary O2 sensor effect your a/f ratios.

the header just evacuates exhaust gases from the cylinders AFTER the a/f ratio has already been ignited.

Ok thanks drax, but lemme quote you on this.

"now, one problem people have is that they damage the primary o2 sensor , which will cause the car to run in safe mode, which means it will run very rich, which will cause black smoke. "

Are you saying that an A/F header will damage the primary 02 sensor? Or are you saying "damaging" it in general as in humana error or something will cause it to run in safe mode? because A/F header or not , the first 02 sensor is above the fist cat, so it doesnt matter what header you have, the sensor would still be doing the same thing right?

he means like if u took it out and banged it against something, causing something to go wrong internally, it'll mess up the computer. adding a new header or whatever won't damage it. and yes, both 02 sensors stay in the same places, doing the same thing.

correct, some people said they had problems getting the o2 sensors off their header and s-pipe and damaged them and got a CEL and if they damaged the primary o2 sensor that calibrates the engine ignition system, it will make the car run in limp mode or safe mode, whatever it is called. and run like crap and get terrible gas mileage.