okay i have black soot in both my tail pipes i just bought the 1999 4.0 range rover and drove it over a thousand miles home it was a great trip no problems it didnt use any oil and dosent smoke at all so were is the soot comin from the check engine light isnt on so im kinda lost o2 sensor maybe any help would be greatly appreciated oh the engine has 130 miles on it and i use 91 octane as did the owner before me

 

i meant 130 thousand miles just to clarify

 

How has your gas mileage been?
Black soot is usually and indication of the engine running rich. If your 02's have not been replaced yet, I would switch them out cause they are tired and will be causing you a loss in MPG and performance. Have you replaced your air filter lately, might want to check it.
Are you still running the factory plug wires, how about your plugs, when were they changed last.
Atlantic British usually has the best 02 prices and you must replace all 4 of them.

 

my mileage is aroud 17 mpg on highway havent checked it around town and the wires are brand sti spark transfer international not sure bout the o2 sensors just bought the truck and the airfilter is a paper type but is pretty clean i appreciate the suggestions discomike but if it were the o2 sensors wouldnt that throw up a warning light ?

 

Is it possible that the previous driver simply used poor quality/discount gas, which contributed to the soot, and probably killed the O2s? I'm suggesting you do a Seafoam induction cleaning to get rid of the potential valve-destroying carbon build up in your engine if they used discount gas for 130k miles.

And O2's effectiveness decreases as the sensor dies. It's not a works one day, dead the next kind of deal. So you can have a very poorly functioning O2 sensor that does not trip a code. And I wouldn't worry about 17...I get 15 in my 4.6

Edit: Just saw the note about 91 oct. from the previous owner...It's possible he's honest and all...but I would still be skeptical [:-]

 

Buy 1 can of Seafoam gas additive, 2 feet of 3/16th vacuum hose and try to find one can of B&G's 44K additive and I will waqlk you through cleaning out your engine.

 

alright got seafoam vacum hose and some lucas fuel treatment advance didnt have the B&G 44k but the lucas is some pretty good stuff i have used it before if you could tell me which vacuum line to put it in mike i would appreciate it

 

It is a GEMS fueling system. If the vehicle ran well, no engine light, no smoke and no oil usage (with decent mileage), I would diagnose the soot as new owner paranoia, a common disease. (smile)

It is in the nature of tailpipes to get sooty..especially in cold weather. It is also common for sellers of cars to clean tailpipes. Forget it until you have more evidence of something amiss. Enjoy the vehicle.

James

 

If you haven't done the induction cleaning yet, call me and I will walk you thru it.
303-862-7680
Colorado any day before 8 pm

 

Get that carbon O-U-T