I check my plugs about once a month and today was the day for this month. I replaced my plugs about 2 months ago with NGK BKR6E-11's and popped them in. The plugs from cylinder 2, 3, and 4 were identical. The #1 cylinder looked like it was running rich and had detonation.

I am NA (haven't been turbo for many months ). I put in 93 octane in the tank. I rebuilt the engine with 9.9:1 CR pistons and this is a B16A. I don't seem to be burning oil, but I could have a friend drive behind me since my rear window is tinted. Anyone have an idea of where I could start figuring out what might be causing this?
Plug #2 is on the left.......plug #1 is on the right. Both are gapped @ 0.045"

 

They all seem normal to me...all my plugs are like that except my cyl 4 plug, it gets pitch black with deposits on it...gotta replace either my rings or valve seals since my car burns oil

 

Could be as simple as a fuel injector being plugged or a slight vacuum leak???

Something that would only effect #1 cyl Valve adjustment ??? maybe.

There's a couple to check. You might think about getting a compression check to see if it's rings or something else.

Sorry just throwing things out as they come to mind.

 

That sounds like and easy test. I could just switch the injector with that of another cylinder and check after a 100 miles or so.

I hope i'm not burning oil. I could do a compression test at the local pep boys since they loan out the equipment. Thanks for the ideas guys.

 

get some closer up pics, hopefully those little specs arent ***** of aluminum a sign of detonation.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by quicksilver1689 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">get some closer up pics, hopefully those little specs arent ***** of aluminum a sign of detonation. </TD></TR></TABLE>
That's what I am afraid of. Those pics are as close as I can get with my point and shoot since I don't have a tripod. I'll try something else, but that's it i think.

The tops of the pistons look the same. All are black with what seems a small layer of buildup. Seems normal to me for 24K miles.

 

I took some macro pics. I used the helms as a tripod

spark plug pics from cylinder #1 as the next three pics





The next closeup is the plug from cylinder #2



I'm going to switch the plugs for now. I'll see if #2 plug becomes dirty. I wonder too if the plug wire is faulty too. Thanks for all your help.

 

Faulty plug???? I see a gap between the ceramic and the electrode on the first pic.
I don't see that gap on the third pic. Hmmm, Might be
Grab the electrode with a pair of needlenose pliers and see if that thing is loose or look to see if the ceramic is cracked.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by thesmogman &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Faulty plug???? I see a gap between the ceramic and the electrode on the first pic.
I don't see that gap on the third pic. Hmmm, Might be
Grab the electrode with a pair of needlenose pliers and see if that thing is loose or look to see if the ceramic is cracked.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Look at the first 2 pictures of the thread....both plugs are gapped.

The third picture on his most recent post with close up pictures just appears like there is no gap due to the angle of the shot.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EnjoyTheRideDC2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Look at the first 2 pictures of the thread....both plugs are gapped.

The third picture on his most recent post with close up pictures just appears like there is no gap due to the angle of the shot.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I think he's referring to the electrode and the ceramic

 

Just an update so far.

I have driven another 300 miles and took out the spark plugs last night. I had switched plug #2 and placed it in cylinder #1 and plug #1 vice versa.

Plug #2 (now plug #1) turned out to have brownish color (rich) color on the porcelein. Plug #1 (now plug #2) cleared up but still exhibited the the unknown flakes on the ground strap and electrode.

I am now going to be switching the injectors tonight after I test the resistance of each injector. Maybe something is a little off.

 

thats a decent amount of piston and chamber material there.
what are you tuned on?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mmuller &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
what are you tuned on?</TD></TR></TABLE>

X2, also have you done a lieak down check?

 

I am running on the stock ecu which is my P2T. I switched the injectors tonight and noticed that #1 cylinder's injector had some cracking on the injector part near the nozzle. Not sure if that will effect anything but we will see.

All injectors had 11.8 ohms which is fine. The plug wires were within range on the resistance as well.

No leak down test yet. I have been extremely busy at work and haven't had time to research where to either buy or borrow (rent) a leak down test for sure. It could be something simple as the valve clearance being a little tight. I'm not hearing any clicks so I doubt it is loose.

 

They don't look that unusual to me, except that it does look as if you're running lean in the cylinders with the whiter insulators. A lean mixture will burn hotter, and may well be why you have fewer deposits on the whiter plugs.

White insulators are not a good sign, it indicates one of two things, lean mixture or incorrect heat range in the plug. Since all the plugs are the same plug then I'd be leaning toward some cylinders running lean (dirty / blocked injectors in those cylinders?). Normal insulator colour should be a light tan / brown, or a lightish grey (depending on fuel), not white!

I'm guessing that the specks on the other plugs are probably deposits from whatever fuel you're using (they don't look like melted metal to me, and those plugs don't otherwise look as if they've been overheated). The lack of specks on the whiter plugs may be due to higher combustion temps causing deposits to burn off before they actually form. If you're running lean you need to deal with it asap, lean mixtures can cause expensive problems.

 

I found a compression gauge at the local Autozone.

The #'s are as follows:

#1 220 psi (has more gunk on top pf piston than the rest)
#2 200 psi
#3 205 psi
#4 210 psi

They seem all within spec of the Helms. Hmm...maybe it has been just a bad spark plug. I'll find out in the next 300 miles (tank of gas) and post an update.