Rate my plug

[Mad4slalom]

Hi all, what do folk think of my plug colour ? They have been in for 3 years and done maybe800/1000. I found a plug colour chart and looks pretty middle of the scale not rich or weak, any observations from your experience ?TiA

 

[teamzr1]

Your photo is too blurred
Try and get one more focused for the tip
The question is where is the oil coming from ?
Color looks about right


Shows signs of carbon buildup, with less than 1,000 miles on them
need to buzz rev limiter more often !

 

[Mad4slalom]

This a bit better, I will inspect my rocker cover gaskets tomorrow

 

[Chuffer]

Hi all, what do folk think of my plug colour ? They have been in for 3 years and done maybe800/1000. I found a plug colour chart and looks pretty middle of the scale not rich or weak, any observations from your experience ?TiAView attachment 30010

800 ish miles in three years ??? You need to drive it more Mad4 ! Get out and enjoy that car .

 

[Roscobbc]

If say electrodes are a perfect colour.....indicating correct mixture etc. - is the darker band further down the central insulator indicative of carbon build-up?

 

[Mad4slalom]

800 ish miles in three years ??? You need to drive it more Mad4 ! Get out and enjoy that car .

I had that oil leak for ages before fixing it so only stayed close to home. Getting more use now

 

[Mad4slalom]

If say electrodes are a perfect colour.....indicating correct mixture etc. - is the darker band further down the central insulator indicative of carbon build-up?

That dark band isnt carbon, it is a trick of the light in the picture . It is not present on the plug.

 

[teamzr1]

Now that is ugly, dude !

You need to run some good de-carb product in the oil
and start if need be using lower gears and higher RPMs and loads to keep those cylinders clean and find the oil leak
All plugs look the same ?

 

[teamzr1]

That dark band isnt carbon, it is a trick of the light in the picture . It is not present on the plug.

Less than 1,000 miles,
No way is too shadow for all that sludge, that is carbon and oil

Here is a shadow

 

[Mad4slalom]

Less than 1,000 miles,
No way is too shady for all that sludge, that is carbon and oil

So could it still be rich with that light brown insulator? I wonder if the carbon could be baked on copperslip anti seize as I did put a thin smear on the plug threads when fitting.

 

[Chuffer]

So could it still be rich with that light brown insulator? I wonder if the carbon could be baked on copperslip anti seize as I did put a thin smear on the plug threads when fitting.

I read somewhere ages ago that applying copper slip to plugs was not a good idea as you can over torque up the plug threads . Same goes for wheel nuts too .
Short and infrequent journeys will mean you are running on a rich mixture a lot from cold starts and rarely getting up to to full operating temperature .

 

[teamzr1]

So could it still be rich with that light brown insulator? I wonder if the carbon could be baked on copperslip anti seize as I did put a thin smear on the plug threads when fitting.

Anti-Seize would not get past the threads towards the tip but rather towards the back end

 

[Mad4slalom]

Anti-Seize would not get past the threads towards the tip but rather towards the back end

View attachment 30021

Thanks,all, I will look for oil leak, and inspect rest of plugs, only done the back four so far, will do the front four from the top today. I will inspect the new plugs after a few runs out. What sort of product are you talking about adding to oil?. The motor only has 5/6k since rebuild albeit 14 years ago. Oil stays clean on dipstick but car does smell rich.

 

[Mad4slalom]

All seem the same , just noticed they are ngk bp5fs. Am replacing with autolite 26 on recommendation of po in the usa. But will get a set of ac delco’s for next change.

 

[teamzr1]

One product that many people use is Seafoam which has been sold for many years

Can slowing pour while controlling carb linkage to prevent stalling about half the can through carb, lot of crap and smoke out miffler tips
Also, can pour the rest of can into gas tank or also can pour in with engine oil

Sold via Amazon, Walmart, auto parts stores, etc

 

[CaptainK]

They have been in for 3 years and done maybe800/1000.

Nice to see someone doing even less miles in their Vette than me. Mine gets hardly used at all. Sad thing is I work from home, so can't even use it for commuting, and then busy with other stuff. And sad further is that pretty much every time I go out the house now I have to use the baby wagon - because Corvettes have only 2 seats and no-where for babies (unless I leave the wife behind, but that then introduces too many other problems ).

I've been meaning to pull my plugs / change them for a while now as my Vette only really does short runs. Its started feeling a bit low power on first startup, but after 10 mins is generally ok and pulling like a trooper. Not a massive issue as I live in the sticks and I can't go burning around the tiny roads here anyway.