so ive got a big difference in my plugs between cylinders. took the car out friday night and hit a fair amount of rev limiter for reasons im not going into. the next day i noticed a difference in my #1 and #2 plugs. the #1 is much whiter, and #2 seems to be running richer than it was. also i can see a tiny bit of something wet just barely on the corner of the #1 piston through the plug hole.


thats the #1 cyl plug.


there they all are in order from #1 on the right to #4 on the left. notice the difference between 1 and 2. also, #4 has had some oil from a bad valveseal in it for a little while now. going to replace the seals over the winter.

general motor info, 84.5mm vtec, 10:1 compression. made 438hp on 16 psi with a .82 exhaust. currently running the same turbo with a .63 exhaust on around 18 psi. afr is 11.5-12.0 and timing is 13degrees total at 18 psi. done on 93 pump gas. i have the car tuned on neptune. the #3 cyl has an enrichment of 3, the #4 has .5 and cyls 1 and 2 are 0



what do you think? is my injector crapping out or do i have other issue like headgasket seal

 

wish i could read plugs for ya

but ill bump im sure someone will hit this up

usually mine look like your number 2 but with a white top and inside

mine are like that all the way across but mine are either black or white iv never had brown?? idk sorry wish i could help more

 

To me #1 looks a bit lean and #2 looks either rich or oil burning, could be from valve seals or rings. Are you loosing coolant with on visible leaks? What is the reason you are concerned about the head gasket? Oh and I cant really see to well but it looks like you have a pretty dam small gap on the plugs. A gold to brown look on the plugs is poor quality gas. Plugs #3 and #4 look fairly good to me, normal color.

 

I know I burn some oil from the valveseal in #4 cyl. Coolant level stays pretty steady, I loose around half to 3/4 qt of oil every 2000 miles but more than half of that is just getting pushed up into the catchcan.

Headgasket was a concern because I saw the plug loosing carbon buildup as well as the top of the piston looking a little cleaner and shinier. I don't like the color difference on the fire ring between cyls..

The plugs are ngk 4554 gapped at. 020. Those particular plugs have like 800 miles on them.

 

Ok that being said I would do a block test to check for hydrocarbons (exhaust gases) in the cooling system, that will tell you if you have a head gasket issue. A clean piston is a sign of 1 of 2 things. 1 a stuck/over fueling injector or 2. coolant entering the cylinder. If you keep getting oil in your catch can you need to look at redoing the vent system. Mine will not allow oil to enter the can and if any does it will drain back into the block.

 

Cylinder 1 looks a little lean but doesnt look like coolant being burnt imo. cyl 2 looks like oil fouling or maybe a sticky injector causing a minor rich condition. the others look alright. heat range of the plug looks good

 

Cyl 1 def seem to be different. I would do a leakdown test.

 

I did, 8%. Compression is 225psi off a 10.0:1 static ratio. The leakage comes through the rings, I attribute it to a combination of my ptw tolerance and my ring gaps of. 022 top and. 026 bottom. All cyls are within 3% leakdown and 5psi compression. Motor has just about 3000 miles