Quote Originally Posted by Nicholas R View Post
Well... actually, in 2007, my car was running open loop on thanksgiving, and I was driving home when the car stalled. I got out to look at the engine and could see something glowing under the car. It was my catalytic converter glowing red. I remember this vividly because neither my mother or my girlfriend at the time were happy about the possibility of us missing thanksgiving dinner due to, (as it was commonly referred to at the time), "that f&*$in' DeLorean. (it wasn't that reliable back then)

Turned out I was running lean due to plugged injectors, melted the catalyst, and all but completely plugged up the cat. I was able to limp the car home, driving a few minutes, then stopping to let it cool. Later on I pulled the exhaust off the car and completely hollowed out the plugged catalytic converter. I still always ran open loop after that, but always made a point to set the mixture by using the voltage from the O2 sensor, instead of just what sounded good.

I know this is just one instance but it's still one
Ah, but you attribute the issue to other components not operating as efficiently as they should (namely the injectors) and an incorrect CO adjustment, and not solely to the fact that you were running open loop, right? My original statement was premised on everything else in the system operating normally.

While a carb (or at least the kind that most owners are running) doesn't allow for analysis of exhaust and on-the-fly adjustments being made to the AFR by a supplemental system (such as our lambda), they're also a lot less complex and don't rely heavily upon on the optimal operation of other components in the system, as the k-jet mechanical fuel injection system does.