Checked my spark plugs
10-23-2012, 06:25 AM
#11
Take a look at this .............. http://www.theultralightplace.com/sparkplugs.htm
Assuming that when you say "greyish" and compare this to "brown/tan", you are meaning that "greyish" is a lighter colour than "brown/tan", then that plug is subjected to more heat or a slight lean condition. A lean burn produces more heat. A rich burn produces less combustion chamber heat and consequently, a darker deposit. You later say you're not sure if it was #2 or #3. #3 cylinder in a 4 cylinder engine tends to run the hottest because it's sandwiched between the next hottest 2 cylinders (#4 & #2). #1 usually is the coolest as it benefits from being out front (incoming engine bay air) and being closest the the coolant that just got cooled by the radiator.
Without pictures, it's hard to say if that difference in your description of colour really is significant. "Normal" plugs can range from greyish to brown/tan, so it can still be considered normal.
We seem to get frequent reports of misfire codes on these cars and in many of the cases, it's not a life threatening condition. It often times is something as simple as bad or loose plugs, loose coilpacks, poor fuel injector spray. In almost all cases of reported misfires, we tend to change the plugs right away but yet .................... so many people don't bother to check the gaps. They insist that plugs come pre-gapped and are ready to go. I say this is a foolish assumption and you get the outcome you deserve. Then there's the matter of fuel injector cleaning. You hardly ever hear of people using FI cleaner on a regular basis. And when somebody posts up about misfire codes, they say they've never used injector cleaner because the harsh chemicals in the cleaner is bad for the engine ................. B.S.!!!
Guess what! A poor spray pattern in a dirty injector is bad for the engine and in many cases, is what created the misfire code in the first place. Anyway, I'm getting a bit off course here but all I'm saying is check your plugs & gap when you take the old ones out and do the same when you put new ones in. Perhaps consider using injector cleaner on a regular basis (just before each oil change) and you may never see a misfire code. Your slightly "off" colour plug may just be a hint that #2 or #3 injector (whichever one it is) is spraying funny and a misfire code is just around the corner.
Assuming that when you say "greyish" and compare this to "brown/tan", you are meaning that "greyish" is a lighter colour than "brown/tan", then that plug is subjected to more heat or a slight lean condition. A lean burn produces more heat. A rich burn produces less combustion chamber heat and consequently, a darker deposit. You later say you're not sure if it was #2 or #3. #3 cylinder in a 4 cylinder engine tends to run the hottest because it's sandwiched between the next hottest 2 cylinders (#4 & #2). #1 usually is the coolest as it benefits from being out front (incoming engine bay air) and being closest the the coolant that just got cooled by the radiator.
Without pictures, it's hard to say if that difference in your description of colour really is significant. "Normal" plugs can range from greyish to brown/tan, so it can still be considered normal.
We seem to get frequent reports of misfire codes on these cars and in many of the cases, it's not a life threatening condition. It often times is something as simple as bad or loose plugs, loose coilpacks, poor fuel injector spray. In almost all cases of reported misfires, we tend to change the plugs right away but yet .................... so many people don't bother to check the gaps. They insist that plugs come pre-gapped and are ready to go. I say this is a foolish assumption and you get the outcome you deserve. Then there's the matter of fuel injector cleaning. You hardly ever hear of people using FI cleaner on a regular basis. And when somebody posts up about misfire codes, they say they've never used injector cleaner because the harsh chemicals in the cleaner is bad for the engine ................. B.S.!!!
Guess what! A poor spray pattern in a dirty injector is bad for the engine and in many cases, is what created the misfire code in the first place. Anyway, I'm getting a bit off course here but all I'm saying is check your plugs & gap when you take the old ones out and do the same when you put new ones in. Perhaps consider using injector cleaner on a regular basis (just before each oil change) and you may never see a misfire code. Your slightly "off" colour plug may just be a hint that #2 or #3 injector (whichever one it is) is spraying funny and a misfire code is just around the corner.
10-23-2012, 07:31 AM
#12
Mix up the plugs by rotating them through different cylinders and next time you check them see if the same cylinder has the same effect. But dry grey is definitely fine, despite being "different".
10-23-2012, 07:57 AM
#13
As for additives in gasoline, not all gasolines end up being equal and not all gasoline lots at a particular gas station ends up being equal. Many years ago, I was told by a guy who delivers gas to the station that it all came from more or less the same supplier. It's at the gas station that the additives are put into the gas when it gets dumped into the ground tanks and these additives are based on the formulation demanded by the company (Shell, Esso, Chevron, etc.). Your gas may vary if you are pumping the first few hours before a fuel delivery or a few hours after a fuel delivery. Are you sucking up the dregs from a near empty ground tank or the churned up stuff right after a delivery? You know how they make mid-grade gas, right? They pump a mix of "regular" and "premium" fuel. How much back flow into each ground tank is there? When the last few cars pumped "regular", how much of that regular remains in the pump when you pump premium? I don't really worry about these sorts of things but over time (50K to 100K kms), how many millions of injector pulses occur? How many hours of down time between each drive where the fuel just sits around the injector nozzle doing whatever it does when there's no flow?
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