Colortune question

[Member 10617]

I wonder why so many folks think that the Colortune is not worth using? One critic stated that the Colortune is about "as useful as a screen door on a submarine."

When I recently set the fuel mixture on my SU carbs using the "lift the piston" method," I succeeded in getting the rpms to rise momentarily and then settle down to the original rpms (or slightly higher). No problem.

But the car still did not run properly: rough performance, dieseling, and other problems.

When I checked things out with the Colortune, I found that the front car was running a bit lean and the rear carb was running a bit rich. By using the Colortune to get the mixtures the same, I solved my problems.

Seems to me that this is an invaluable tool.

 

[70herald]

I agree helped me solve problems with my CD150s also.

 

[TomMull]

IMO, useful probably, but certainly not necessary. I've managed to adequately tune many SUs and a few Strombergs over the past half century without one. Tom

 

[Marvin Gruber]

Got one for Christmas present. Going to find out soon how I like it.

Marv

 

[Member 10617]

Marve:

By the way.... I, too, received one for a Christmas present. (I have been borrowing one from a friend of mine.)

I tried to use the new one I received for Christmas and immediately ran into a problem. The tip of the Colortune extension that connects the spark plug to the spark plug wire immediately came off and got stuck in my spark plug wire socket! Since I have extended covers or "hoods" over the sockets, I had a heck of a time getting the tip out (finally had to pull the spark plug wire completely out from the "hood" and did a job on the connector at the end of my spark plug wire).

I tried to crimp the cap back on the Colortune extension, with no luck.

I called Moss and they advised me to return it to their California location.

Don't know why the new one failed. The old one -- the borrowed one -- has worked fine for me many times.

 

[Geo Hahn]

That tip can be a weak point... ISTR I had to secure it better in some fashion.

A useful tool but not really required for our cars. OTOH, a friend with a single carb Coventry Climax engine finds it useful as one can end up with a too lean setting for #1 & #4 just using the lift-the-pin approach.

 

[Member 10617]

Hi, George,

That seems to be what happened in my case. I used the lift-the-pin approach and all seemed well, but with the Colortune, I found that the two carbs were not the same. In my case, #1 was lean, and #4 was rich. I took both of them to blue with slight flashes of yellow, as recommended. Jeff Schlemmer recommended that I make them a little bit rich because of the change in the advance curve.

 

[RJS]

Happy New Year All!

Colortune is quite easily the best bang for the buck I ever spent on a tool. After one bad mechanic got my carbs all out of wack, I spent a very long time (i.e. over a year) trying to diagnose a hot start problem (too rich). Using my ears or the "lift the pin" method were hopeless. Results were terribly inconsistent.

Once I decided to try the Colortune, it took me a matter of minutes to get the carbs dialed-in. The results were dramatic
-engine fires immediately on first turn of key
-idle is rock solid and steady
-mileage is well improved
-and most of all, throttle response is amazing

I will say that getting the carbs properly adjusted really improved the over all driving experience of the entire car.

Bob

 

[SkinnedKnuckles]

Happy New Year All!
I will say that getting the carbs properly adjusted really improved the over all driving experience of the entire car.
Bob

I gave away my Color Tune - I think my color blindness didn't work with it too well. I use the spark plug color method now. But you're right - ya can't beat the feeling when things are properly adjusted.

 

[Geo Hahn]

In the interest of preserving the Queen's English, we should be spelling it Colourtune.

If you try to take a picture don't get the camera too close to the high tension wire... my digital didn't seem to like getting zapped. From a bit farther away it worked fine:

 

[Member 10617]

The older version of the Colortune included a large chart showing the various colors to look for and a helpful explanation of what each color indicated.

For some reason, the new version doesn't include that chart, nor the detailed instructions on how to use the tool most effectively (there are three tests to perform). Too bad. But there are copies of the chart and instructions on the Internet, and I highly recommend that anyone who plans to use the tool consult that chart.

 

[DrEntropy]

I've had two of 'em (twin carb setup takes minutes) in a production shop environ for decades. Great tool, IMHO.

An EGA is okay for FI but stinks at synching multi-carb cars. The ColourTune OTOH works a treat.

 

[Member 10617]

I have modified my opinion about the Colortune tool based on some recent experiences.

I still think that the Colortune is an effective and useful tool for setting the air/fuelmixture and tuing the carbs, but....

I think its main advantage is that it sets a kind of baseline for the tuning, and it tells you what is going on in the pistons.

I find that I still have to use the lift-the-pin (or lift-the-piston) procedure to fine-tune the mixture and to determine what is going on in the carbs.

So.... Colortune first.... and then lift the pin. Should get the job done.