Today I carried out an inspection of the piston with a borescope to gauge the condition of the engine. The results don't look too good to me. The images are not great but there appears to be build up of oil or carbon glazing around the edge of the piston and a strange patch of metallic discolouration. The engine has only done around 23,000km. Anyone know how to interpret these results??
This is the Pulstar plug that has been in for around 2000km which is looking a healthy chocolate brown. The previous plugs had some carbon deposits. When I changed over to the Pulstars I also reduced the setting on the AF-XIED to make the fuel mixture leaner as I was concerned about carbon build up in the combustion chamber.
Your cylinder wall looks a bit shiny. Can you get a better shot of that, maybe higher up near the head? I recently did my Strada, and the walls looked perfect. Not glazed, beautiful even cross hatching, no scratches. Minimal deposit on piston. 18k miles on engine, oil changes at 6k mile interval (synth). What mods does your bike have? Air filter? Fueler?
Yes I've just removed it today. Hopefully the carbon will burn off in time. A bit of a wake up call though to the risks of running too rich for too long.
I've been using the AF-XIED for a long while - although I've now removed it - PodMod and I run it with the front airbox door off most of the time. I just took it for a blast down the highway without the AF-XIED and its running very well. Obviously it's too early to say how it will run after the adaptation trims have settled, but I'm hoping the Pulstars resolve the stumbling.
What setting were you running it at? I'm running the AXFIED currently. It smelled rich when first started using it. Not sure what setting I'm running it at, without looking. I'm sure it's the recommended setting. Quite awhile back there something about some units possibly not working. Anyone recall that?? As little as I ride my bike, I got go back and check to see if it is working. This thread is making me think about going back to the PCV (good thing I never sold it). It would be nice if I could get Tinken to map my PCV, like he did for another member back sometime ago. Not sure if that was before he left Zip-Ty. Tinken, if your still around, and able/willing to map mine, let me know please. Thanks!
Neither the AFXIED or PC5 can resolve the firmware problems and neither allow you to see with diagnostics what the O2 readings actually are
Mostly I had the AFXIED set around 8 which is within the recommended range. One of the reasons I decided to check the cylinder was that I had found carbon build up on the previous plugs and the exhaust gasses smelled too rich. I'd definitely recommend checking inside the cylinder and consider removing any fuelling device if the bike will rum satisfactorily without.
Apart from the colour, it looks normal to me. If it runs and behaves better/safer I would continue using the Afxied. 14.7 AFR is ideal for emissions standards but IMHO not for motor longevity and rider safety. At least where the TR is concerned.
I've done around 120km since removing the AFXIED yesterday and the results have been positive so far. The engine is running at least as strong and while it occasionally stumbles and stalls on deceleration, it is no different to the AFXIED set to 6. It never ran this well without the AFXIED prior to installing the Pulstar plugs. Therefore, it is my tentative conclusion that the Pulstars have mostly rectified the dangerous stalling/stumbling. I think there is a place for devices such as the AFXIED and it certainly improved the running early on. I'm just a bit paranoid about the perils of carbon build up for engine health and longevity.
Nice, My bike didnt stall in winter only in summer. At least removing the afxied will give your cats a chance to burn off the extra carbon if you have still got em. Hopefully the potential aussie recall will fix that. Although its still far from perfect.
