guys,

i removed my plugs recently and i noticed a heavy soot on the plugs. i replaced the plugs with a new set and after starting the car and removed the plugs i noticed also the plugs had a lot of soot.

is this wat they call running rich?what could be causing it? i also noticed that my exchaust manifold has a space and it leaks air. i am yet to put a new gasket. could it be causing it to run rich?

 

I know this isn't the answer you want to hear, but.......I think this is one of those times when you want to hook the
engine up to a diagnostic machine and diagnose the problem before you spend a lot of money replacing parts that may
not need to be replaced. The problem here is, that when you have sooty plugs, it USUALLY means an overly rich condition, and there are a lot of things that could be causing this. So why guess and waste money. It's going to be less expensive fixing
ONLY what you need than guessing what it is. Exhaust manifold leaks usually don't cause an overly rich condition. Intake manifold leaks suck air, not fuel, and may cause an overly lean condition. I am generalizing here, and this is not specific to your car or MB cars. Incomplete combustion due to something.........that's what you have, if the plugs are fouling that quickly. I TEND to think it's an ignition problem, but......as I said.....you almost have to diagnose first, then fix. That's the
smart way to do it.

 

Running rich is usually from the computer trying to compensate so it runs in "Safe Mode". Dirty/clogged filter? [/align]