I have a 2002 Harley Ford Supercrew. I added a superchip and the extra power is amazing. After a breif test drive however the exhaust is extremely hot. Hot enough to turn the exhaust pipes blue all the way back to the muffler. This is in freezing weather. Is this normal? Am I too lean?

 

The trucks normally run a little lean on the high end so its not a big concern. :-)

 

 

I think you are running way too lean by the sounds of it. I have never seen exhaust pipes turn blue before!

I would suggest getting a Wideband O2 sensor installed and monitor the Air/Fuel ratio to see what is happening. I'm trying to keep my A/F level betwwen 11.7-12.3 for best performance.

I have an Innovate Motorsports LC1 controller with an XD-1 didital gauge installed in my 2003 HD (supercharged 5.4L) so that I can tune the engine management to maintain safe A/F ratio at all times. You certainly don't want to go too lean since you will smoke your pistons pretty quickly. Too much air and not enough fuel will produce some pretty nasty heat levels in the combustion chamber. Hence the blue exhaust pipes.

Just my opinion for what it is worth.

Good luck with it.

Cheers,

 

Being lean is not too much of a concern on a NA vehicle, but on a SC'd engine it means impending death. I don't know what caused the pipes to turn blue, but if you think it's lean, you need to get that checked out.

 

I heard of some people putting the Wideband O2 sensor in the tailpipe temporarily to check out the A/F ratio. It could give you a good baseline measurement to see how lean you may be going. Maybe there is a shop in your area that could do this? I would be worried that the A/F ratio is wacked after the chip install or possible you have reached a limit with fuel pressure/volume, mass air meter, or injector size.

Man, blue pipes scares me especially in the cold weather.

I know the 2003 Harley/Lightning fuel system is using fairly healthy fuel pumps and 42lb. injectors. Is that what the 2002 HD used as well?

Keep an eye on it for sure.

Good luck!!