rough idle/black smoke

[Guest Sakal120]

Hello All - Longtime listener...first time caller I was reading a post that stated:

"Clarify a few things. Does the car idle rough all the time or just the first time it is started after sitting for a while? Does it idle good after the first start?"

"If it idles good after the first time it starts you could possibly have and injector that is leaking down while the engine is off (there is still some pressure in the system) and flooding one or more cylinders. Look for some black smoke when the car is first started and idling rough."

Currently, after sitting for a few days, it will not start unless i give a whole lot of gas. At the same time there's a bunch of black smoke coming out of the exhaust. The car will then idle and start just fine until it's left for a couple days again.

Being that i do not have much experience fixing cars (let alone Reatta's), is this something that i might be able to fix? And how can i check if an injector is leaking down?

This Forum is amazing for someone like myself. Thanks for all of the help so far.

[Booreatta]

I am sure that some of the experts will chime in here but from my experience it sound like the idle air control (IAC) needs some help.

Do you have a service manual?

[Guest Sakal120]

Thanks for the reply. I do have a service manual. I'll go ahead and check that to see what i can do. I did read some other posts about the IAC, so i guess i'll go in that direction first.

[Guest Mc_Reatta]

Sure sounds like you have a leaking injector. Suggest you pull your spark plugs and look at their condition. They should all appear about the same with a coating of light brown to gray ash on them. If one or more have a thicker coating of dark brown to black ash or is wet with gas, you have found which cyclinder has the problem. Fuel injectors are installed in matched sets, so replacing just one or two isn't as simple as you might like.

[Guest Sakal120]

Sorry for the late Reply. Just wanted to Thank you for the replies.

We checked spark plugs and all seemed well. Changed the IAC and performed an oil change. Haven't had any problems since. I'm also making sure i don't fall below half a tank of gas...per someone's suggestion on here.

[Guest Mc_Reatta]

Congrats on getting it fixed. Always pays to try the easiest, least expensive fixes first.

[rjfranken]

Note: On a fuel injected engine, there is no such thing as "...giving it a lot of gas". the only reason pumping the pedal on a carb'ed car was to spill the accelerator pump for richness. In fuelies this is controlled by the coolant temp sensor which tells the computer how much more gas to deliver compared to the temperature it senses. So a faulty sensor could also cause a "rich" state. Black smoke is a lot and looking at the plugs comparatively will tell you if an injector is dumping in to which hole-it will be very much blackened.