[FoxWagonInGeorgia]

The problem I'm having is that my exhaust manifold is glowing. I have a aba block, gti head, dual outlet manifold, big tb, no cat, and techtonics downpipe and exaust. I have just recently did the engine swap and never noticed this problem before. The car is running perfect, no hessitation, stalling, loss of power, nothing. But, the exhaust manifold glows after driving the car. it only glows in the 2 and 3 cylinder area. The injectors seem to spray good and don't leak. I even swapped the 1 and 2 injector and the 3 and 4 injector, but it still glowed from the 2 and 3 area. I put on a different fuel distributor, but still the same problem. I've tried to richen and lean out the mixture, but it still glows. I don't have a way to check the fuel pressure, so I don't know if its high or low and it still has the original differential pressure regulator, which could possibly be the problem. i just don't understand why its just in the 2 and 3 area and not all 4 cyliders if it was running rich or lean. I'm just affraid if I drive it around like this too long that I might burn up an exhaust valve or something, if it hasn't already happened. If anyone has had a similar problem or can give me any suggestions of what to try or check, it would be greatly appriciated.

 

[Beetleguru]

Glowing? As in RED hot? I think you need to run your car at operating temps and then immediately shut if off. Then pull the plugs and check for color. If you see two looking much different then you know you have an issue. The key is shutting the car off at the higher speeds. I have no idea why the header would glow unless the material is thin. If this is the case it will most likely fail in the future.

 

[Fox-N-It]

Same problem occured with me after my ABA swap. It was a vaccume leak with the distributor that retarded timing really bad causing the manifold to glow red hot. Fix it soon or you risk cracking the manifold.

 

[Tjax]

Re: (Fox-N-It)

Same happened to me after my ABA swap. In my case it was running SUPER lean due to a huge vac leak; I had also swapped the master cylinder and booster and forgot to tighten down the MC.

 

[The_Hamster]

Re: exhaust manifold glowing (FoxWagonInGeorgia)

could be timing but usually it's from lean running.
start with vaccum lines, check the timing with a timing light (quick, easy, cheap_ then move onto your fuel system.

 

[ziddey]

Re: exhaust manifold glowing (The_Hamster)

I had a friend who failed emissions due to high NOx. His exhaust mani was glowing too. And his car was bone stock. I suspected running lean--- must have been extremely lean because of the glow. Sure his car wasn't ABA or even VW but it should be a similar scenario. For him, since it was just stock, I started with the simple things. Plugs. They were blown way out. I changed those, the wires, cap and rotor, and he drove it for a few days and it passed. No glowing anymore either. Must have really really really lean.

But I'm sure that's not the case for you. The vacuum line problem someone posted could very well be the case. If you have the money to spend (you should do this anyway when you get into upgrades), I'd invest in a good wide band to put it in your exhaust so you can get true afr ratios instead of guessing with enriching and leaning of the mixture.

 

[FoxWagonInGeorgia]

Re: exhaust manifold glowing (FoxWagonInGeorgia)

I'll have to go through the engine compartment and look for any possible vaccum leaks. I had a friend at a VW shop tell me I should be putting premium in the car and that the 87 octane fuel could be causing the knock sensor unit to retart the timing and causing the manifold to glow. It sounds feasible, so I'm gonna give it a try. What type of fuel do other people with the ABA swap run in their car? Should I really be using premium or is the cheap stuff ok?

 

[SN2BJDM]

i use the cheap stuff and have never noticed my manifold glowing

 

[BlackFoxer]

Re: exhaust manifold glowing (FoxWagonInGeorgia)

Quote, originally posted by FoxWagonInGeorgia »

87 octane fuel could be causing the knock sensor unit to retart the timing and causing the manifold to glow.

ERRR. No knock sensor, even with an ABA swap.

 

[snowfox]

Re: exhaust manifold glowing (BlackFoxer)

Quote, originally posted by BlackFoxer »

ERRR. No knock sensor, even with an ABA swap.

+1
C-flow/ABA w/o knock control + 91octane = no problems here.

 

[Tjax]

Re: exhaust manifold glowing (snowfox)

ABA with no KS, running 92 octane, nothing less. If I had the KS setup I'd probably be running the regular stuff.

 

[FoxWagonInGeorgia]

Re: exhaust manifold glowing (FoxWagonInGeorgia)

Pulled the plugs and it appears as though the engine is running lean. I thought of something that could possible be causing the problem. I have the knock sensor brain from an 86 gti, but I'm using the blue knock sensor from an A3. It was already on the block, so I went ahead and used it. Looking on some parts sites it shows a black or green ks for the 86 gti. Could the blue one be causing my engine to run lean?

 

[DreadPirateRobert]

Your problem is too many goofy electronics. I should know. I run Digifant.