12 replies to this topic

[daenesh]

hey guys.. sad to say the AAU needle i bought from minispares after reading numerous posts on how the AAU is perfect for a stage 1 998mini.. well i have a Lcb, HS4, high air flow filter, 1098 camshaft, 1.3 hardened valve springs.. 

 

some how no matter how i seem to tune it, its always rich on the top end.. and when i lean it off the low range suffers.. i have no pickup and the car always wants to die when i take off on 1st gear unless i give it some gas.. if i richen it then it runs better but when im on the motorway i get really bad fuel consumption and petrol smell out of the exhaust.. quite disappointed with this.

 

any ideas on this? i've taken it to my regular specialist and he says the needle profile is not suitable for my car..

 

[timmy850]

It is a good starting point for an otherwise standard engine. With a different cam and valve springs it will need a different needle or you will need to re-profile yours. There will also be a difference between a cone, pancake and standard filter box with a K&N filter.

 

It needs a good tune up/sorting out by a specialist!

[Captain Mainwaring]

hey guys.. sad to say the AAU needle i bought from minispares after reading numerous posts on how the AAU is perfect for a stage 1 998mini.. well i have a Lcb, HS4, high air flow filter, 1098 camshaft, 1.3 hardened valve springs.. 

 

some how no matter how i seem to tune it, its always rich on the top end.. and when i lean it off the low range suffers.. i have no pickup and the car always wants to die when i take off on 1st gear unless i give it some gas.. if i richen it then it runs better but when im on the motorway i get really bad fuel consumption and petrol smell out of the exhaust.. quite disappointed with this.

 

any ideas on this? i've taken it to my regular specialist and he says the needle profile is not suitable for my car..

 

 

He's not wrong

[daenesh]

i dont think a 1098 cam makes much difference per say.. its more to do with the needle having a very rich high end and a rather lean low end.. the middle range is not too bad runs smooth.. i find it hard to believe that this can be used in anything other than a slightly modified 998. and mine is thats why i bought it.. to be honest i could richen the mixture and have no issues on the lower and mid range rpm.. but on the high rpm it will drink fuel.. my plugs will be black.. meaning the mixture is too rich on the high end..

 

im just trying to figure out if theres a way to adjust it.. because mine is a swinging type needle and has a screw with a spring.. lowering/raising the needle housing will make it lean/rich but im not sure if that would help.. how do other people run their stage 1 998s with this needle? am i missing some vital component?

[Stiggytoo]

I think there is a problem with some dodgy batches of newer needles and jets which are simply not accurate. But I think your best bet is to get a specialist to do it.

[rob963]

As above really... A rolling road is the ideal way to go.

At one point I was running an almost identical set-up to you. I had the aau needle in and it left it flat in the lower rpm ranges.
Took it to the rolling road and a quick needle change sorted it out perfectly :)

Rob

[AVV IT]

Yup I have to agree, a Rolling road is advisable after fitting a stage 1 kit & is what most suppliers of stage 1 kits recommend. After I fitted my 1st stage 1 kit, I couldn't get it to run properly what's ever I did, so I took it to a reputable mini speciist for static tuning which improved matters, but it didn't ever run properly until it went on the rollers.

[daenesh]

well ive had this stage 1 kit for a while now but i was running a profiled needle which my specialist made for me.. but i heard good things about the AAU needle thats why i bought it and now it doesn't setup well.. there's no rolling roads for minis here in malaysia and im worried the person who tunes it doesn't know what he's doing..

[KernowCooper]

The only way to get it right is to start with a needle and then modify it, for instance the idle and cruse are important and then you profile to get the correct CO on the other points of the needle, took me a week to do mine, on road with a CO meter in the vehicle.

[daenesh]

i actually have one thats done that way but i was told the AAU would give me more power.. finally got rid of the flat spot after tuning it just now.. seems to be running fine but will have to check again tomorrow..

[monkey]

I might be wrong but I think the advice would be to put the needle back in that was profiled for your car. There is no right or wrong needle and every engine setup needs a slightly different needle, the stock ones are really just starting points to then be perfected on the rollers...

[ACDodd]

The only was to get the fueling correct is to measure what your setup actually needs And fit a needle to suit. Anything else is just a guess.

Ac

[daenesh]

thanks guys.. im starting to see the bigger picture here.. will try and see if i can get it on the rollers and get the needle profiled.. thanks a bunch for the quick and informative responses.. cheers :)