I know im running very rich, anywhere from 14:7 to 12.X on the top end, my bumper gets completely black after a half tank of gas, I can smell the fumes coming from my exhaust, and yet my plugs are almost white. Any ideas? should I rock different plugs? right now Im using the 6G plugs(one range colder than stock ITR plugs) but Im wondering if I should try something different. So far as I can tell, Ive had no hints of pinging either and there is just no way I can be running lean so I dont understand why the plugs are white. werd!

 

Same here. Plugs are WHITE, but everything says i should be running rich. Im at +8.0 on my VAFC at partial throttle to see if that helps it any, but i doubt it.

 

Are you checking the plugs after a hard drive or just randomly pulling them out and checking them?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Big Teggie &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Are you checking the plugs after a hard drive or just randomly pulling them out and checking them?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Good point. If I'm not mistaken, I remember SgT a while back saying to check plugs after you've run the car hard. I'm not sure, hopefully Steve will chime in..

 

how much oil are you guys adding?

white plugs are an indication of burning oil. the white residue is the ash left behind by engine oil after it's burnt.

also white plugs could also be an inditication of burning coolant.........

hope this helps

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by non-VTEC &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">how much oil are you guys adding?

white plugs are an indication of burning oil. the white residue is the ash left behind by engine oil after it's burnt.

also white plugs could also be an inditication of burning coolant.........

hope this helps</TD></TR></TABLE>

I checked the plugs(did a compression test) when the motor was warm, but I hadnt been beating on it.

I do seem to burn/consume a lot of oil, but I do drive the car very hard(lots of VTAK). There was very small white specs on the plugs as well(ash?) so maybe you hit on something with that.

Last time I checked coolant, it appeared to be ok and wasnt discolored any, but I will definitely check that as well.

Ill go take a pic of a plug real quick so you can see for yourself....

 

if you see some kind of build-up on the plugs then it's deffinatly oil.

i went through all of this with some of my mechanics at work. deffinatly oil when you have white plugs with crud buld up on them.

even though compression tests show up good the rings and/or valve guides are probably worn.

do a leak down test.....that will deffinatly show you exactly where your oil consumption is coming from.

 

non-vtec, thanks Im sure you are probably right. The rings are brand new(less than 3000 miles) but the valve seals/guides have about 34K of hard driven miles.

here are some pics of cylinder 4 plug. you can barely make out the white particles but it gives you an idea of what Im talking about and can be used for future reference for other people. this is with about 14.7 to 12.X A/F ratio...

 

yep.......thats oil........

if the rings are failry new then the valve guides/seals would cause that as well......

but even new rings could cause the oil to enter the chambers as well. if they dont seat properly or if the cylinder is out of round new rings wont do ****........

did you bore and hone or just replace rings 3k miles ago?

 

Im pretty sure it was honed out. The bottom end was sent out to a machine shop so Im not exactly sure what was done

 

mmmmm......they could have done 2 things........simply hone the stock bores and put in new rings OR they bored and honed it and put in nre oversized pistons and rings........check your bill and see what it says.

either way would be good because assuming the machine shop knows what their doing. most machine shops i know always measure the bores before honing or boring them. if the cylinders are out of the service limits in the manual they would have to bore it to make them perfectly round again. but boring the cylinders requires new oversized pistons.......


i dont think the rings would be your problem though.........i would have your valve guides checked out.......

good luck

 

white specs usually means your detonating.

 

Plugs only show how the engine was running right before you shut the engine off. THerefore, if you stop, idle for a short while then shut the engine off, the plugs will show what was going on inside the engine at idle. To see how the engine is running at lets say 6k, then you would have to rev to 6k, shut the engine off, coast to a stop and check the plugs.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RacerZook &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">To see how the engine is running at lets say 6k, then you would have to rev to 6k, shut the engine off, coast to a stop and check the plugs. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Yep.
I've said this a lot before but here it is one more time:

TO PROPERLY CHECK PLUGS FOR WIDE OPEN THROTTLE OPERATION YOU MUST
SHUT THE ENGINE OFF IMMEDIATELY AFTER DOING A WIDE OPEN THROTTLE
PULL AND THEN CHECK THE PLUGS, OTHERWISE YOUR READINGS ARE COMPLETELY
USELESS EXCEPT WHEN LOOKING FOR OIL DEPOSITS OR DETONATION.