What do these Spark Plugs say??
#1
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Have been having issues with excessive soot and a minor mis while under heavy load. Boat still runs excellent once up on plane and has no issue reaching it's peak RPM and speed. I have been thinking my issue is with Fuel Injectors. Had a guy tell me it also puffed a small bit of smoke when the mis was present. I ran a cuple of bottle of FI cleaner through it and the soot does seem to be clearing up. I changed the plugs Friday and it also feels like the mis may have gone away.
These plugs have been in for about one season. They are in order the way they were in the motor (if looking a it from back seat). I took 2 pics, one of the cleanest side of each plug and then flipped them over to get the dirtiest side of the plug. Looks like the dirty side was the side exposed to the fuel injector?? Anyway, what do these plugs say to you engine experts?? The lighting appears to have been bad in the photos, they are not nearly as dark as they appear in photo.... Engine is 496 mag (non-ho).
![](http://www.bradzgarage.com/velocity/plugs1.jpg)
These plugs have been in for about one season. They are in order the way they were in the motor (if looking a it from back seat). I took 2 pics, one of the cleanest side of each plug and then flipped them over to get the dirtiest side of the plug. Looks like the dirty side was the side exposed to the fuel injector?? Anyway, what do these plugs say to you engine experts?? The lighting appears to have been bad in the photos, they are not nearly as dark as they appear in photo.... Engine is 496 mag (non-ho).
![](http://www.bradzgarage.com/velocity/plugs1.jpg)
![](http://www.bradzgarage.com/velocity/plugs2.jpg)
Last edited by low_psi; 07-22-2013 at 10:16 AM.
#2
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Need to cut the threaded portion off so we can see the base of the porcelain
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#4
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From my (admittedly scant) experience, the plugs won't tell you much. Since the boat has been run at idle, part throttle, maybe even WOT at different times over the course of a season, you won't be able to tell much other than early signs of detonation, which would be exhibited by flecks of aluminum on the porcelain, melted electrodes, etc. None of that is obvious in the pictures. Plug readings have to be done with a full or part throttle run on a new plug with immediate shutdown - don't let it return to idle for any length of time. As red posted, the coloration ring would then be found at the base of the porcelain. There are people who have been reading plugs for many years who will tell you that it is an imperfect science, especially with the ethanol and oxygenators in today's fuel.
If this is an EFI motor wouldn't you expect some codes to be thrown by the ECU if you are having a misfire or injector problems?
If this is an EFI motor wouldn't you expect some codes to be thrown by the ECU if you are having a misfire or injector problems?
#6
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It is definatley rich, as evident by the soot on the transom.... I guess I am hoping some one can magically say "looks like a bad injector in cylinder #"... I know that isn't the case, but would be nice. I think I will pull the plugs on Friday (ran it one day on new plugs) and look at them. See how things look. I am really hoping it was a dirty injector, but things are never that easy...
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From my (admittedly scant) experience, the plugs won't tell you much. Since the boat has been run at idle, part throttle, maybe even WOT at different times over the course of a season, you won't be able to tell much other than early signs of detonation, which would be exhibited by flecks of aluminum on the porcelain, melted electrodes, etc. None of that is obvious in the pictures. Plug readings have to be done with a full or part throttle run on a new plug with immediate shutdown - don't let it return to idle for any length of time. As red posted, the coloration ring would then be found at the base of the porcelain. There are people who have been reading plugs for many years who will tell you that it is an imperfect science, especially with the ethanol and oxygenators in today's fuel.
It does look like a couple of them could have an excessive gap. Measure that and set to the Raylar recommended 0.050 gap (stock is 0.055).
Dan
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90 octane free, that's what is at the docks. But it was actually tuned by whipple to run 93. But because it runs so rich, I haven't run 93 in a long time.