I'll let the pics do the talking...






I felt the car had sort of a miss at idle but nothing more then that... So just now after taking a not wanted nap I had to start checking what it could have been
So for those who know, would you put new plugs in and then check or since I have not done the cap, rotor, wires and plugs in a while... should I spend the cash and just buy all new stuff?

I know the stock stuff lasts but 53000 miles? Yeah I change the plugs a lot more then that- every 10k miles or less.

<U>Where did that peice from the plug go and what damage could it have done to the valves ?</U>
What would you do?
How can I check inside the combustion chamber with out buying a expensive tool or taking the head off? I want to see if there is anything damaged in there.


Modified by Bbasso at 3:13 AM 10/3/2004

 

Black soot like that can indicate oil.

Get a compression gage and check it out. Takes 20min. and you can get a pretty decent one for cheap these days.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by gumtape_deathmatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Black soot like that can indicate oil.

Get a compression gage and check it out. Takes 20min. and you can get a pretty decent one for cheap these days.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I guess you never read my posts...
I recently did my compression test and got 230-235 across all four and I use more oil then 99.9% of the people here.

But thanks for the concern.

 

Plug one definately means there is oil getting into the combustion chamber. Perhaps the rings or seals are going bad. The other three look like the car is running too lean. All four plugs look like they have been in the car longer than they should have. If your in V ATTACK all the time, I'm sure it would age the plugs that much more.

 

I Know you know your stuff...

But the plug is broke, and that might be the reason why its not burning off the oil.

All the pistons ( that I can see ) are covered the same in a black think film

 

Now what concerns me the most. I could care less about the oil...

Where did that peice from the plug go and what damage could it have done to the valves ?

Oil burning is the norm for me.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bbasso &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I guess you never read my posts...
I recently did my compression test and got 230-235 across all four and I use more oil then 99.9% of the people here.

But thanks for the concern.</TD></TR></TABLE>

check pcv valve and valve seals.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Haleiwa-Brando &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Plug one definately means there is oil getting into the combustion chamber. Perhaps the rings or seals are going bad. The other three look like the car is running too lean. All four plugs look like they have been in the car longer than they should have. If your in V ATTACK all the time, I'm sure it would age the plugs that much more.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Did someone say v-attack?????????

 

Hrmmm

 

That's a pretty scarey thought. I think in the recent issue of sport compact car( ) their Neon they were driving did the same thing....they drove it around w/ no problems.

****, I don't know what to say. Be careful I guess.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bbasso &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hrmmm </TD></TR></TABLE>

will you stop melting your spark plugs rob?

 

Melting plugs, thats the least of my worries

 

hmm very bad issue and very old plugs...

but the broken piece will normally stay in above the piston, but it can happen that this little piece will try to get down to the rods.... with a way next to the pistons. then it will hurt very bad.......

so get out take of the head, find that little thingy... and replace also the head gasket. this is what i would do.

i hope you understand what i say. do that immediately. normally it doesn t take long till the piston is dead and more parts will follow soonest.....

 

yeah, I wouldn't worry about the piece from the plug - it probably made it's way down to the oilpan somehow... And don't sweat the other plugs - they look fine. Just change em and keep driving it till it breaks

 

i was having the same problem, with a miss at idle, then it progressed to the point where it would miss all the way up to about 6K rpms. so i checked my plugs. they looked exactly like that at 40K (except for the broken part) so i changed plugs, the car ran fine. at about 46K it started happening again. i took the plugs out, and they already had a thin coating of soot on them (not sure if thats normal) so i took a wire brush, and cleaned them off. now the car runs fine again. not sure if this is the proper way to handle something like this, but it works.

 

The piece of plug probably bounced around inside the cylinder a couple of times before it got shot out the exhaust valve. If it did not make a clean pass through the valve it would have hammered the valve and seat. If it was me, I would schedule some down time to pull the head.

 

Are you people nuts, I'm not pulling the head off untill the motor stops working.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bbasso &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Are you people nuts.</TD></TR></TABLE>
YES
If I don't pull a motor apart at least once every couple of months I start to get the shakes

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by b19coupe &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
YES
If I don't pull a motor apart at least once every couple of months I start to get the shakes </TD></TR></TABLE>

The last, very last thing I want to do Is pull the head... If that were to happen I'd never get the car back together. Reason I'm too lazy to work that hard.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by b19coupe &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The piece of plug probably bounced around inside the cylinder a couple of times before it got shot out the exhaust valve. If it did not make a clean pass through the valve it would have hammered the valve and seat. If it was me, I would schedule some down time to pull the head.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I agree ^^^. If you are still concerned, thread a magnet through the spark plug hole and fish a bit. If your compression is normal in all of the cylinders, you may have been lucky.

 

You're probibly fine with that little piece. What I would do is replace the plugs and check them in a couple days or later that day after putting all sorts of driving conditions on them. It's much easier to see if there's a problem with new plugs than old plugs. Make sure to double check the gap on the plugs too.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bbasso &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

The last, very last thing I want to do Is pull the head... If that were to happen I'd never get the car back together. Reason I'm too lazy to work that hard.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Stop being lazy. The tip of the plug could damage the motor if it doesn't leave quietly. It shouldn't take more then a day to take the head off and put it back together. I would just bite the bullet and do it or pay someone else to if you dont have the time. While your at it, maybe have the head checked and possibly replace the seals and guides if your burning that much oil. Maybe even get a thin headgasket and bump compression ever so slightly. In any case, if you don't do it know, I think you may end up having to do it at some point in the near future and that could mean more damage.

You could always pay me to do it

 

as i said....

do it now baby....

a metal part in a cylinder can/ will cause serious damage to the engine. that wont be cheap or cool or so....

or can you **** some bucks thats it no problem if the engine breaks? what do you do if the part sractches between piston and wall and a rod cranks? and that all at 8000 rpm or so?

i think you won t smile :-)

so take ya self a day and take the **** out and put in thin headgasket....

i ll do this in winter, but not because of probs. just for some more performance....

 

What is ur ignition timing set at?

 

17 deg, nice and safe.