Is this bad??? *pic*

[Jareds 89 LX-i]

I changed my plugs tonight when I did the compression test, and the old ones looked a little different than any other time I've changed them. The white porcelin insulator part on the bottom of 2 of the plugs were black on only a portion (less than half way around) of the insulator, another was all grey, and the last one was almost completely white with just a tiny bit of black at the very end. The electrodes are still perfectly intact (they were NGK V-Power, and the V is still in there). I was messing around with my ignition timing and vacuum advance unit the other night, and my timing ended up WAAAAYYY advanced, and I was getting some MAJOR pinging. I didn't drive it like that for very long -- probably 10 miles max, and I took it real easy because I could hear it was pinging even while accelerating slowly. I had a slight misfire as idle, which is the reason I changed the plugs, and the misfire went away with the new ones (Bosch Platinums). I posted the compression results in another thread if that would matter any :rolleyes:

I was just curious if this color variation was anything to worry about. Any ideas?

[accordlx]

Let me take a crack at this one.

The outside plugs look like they have massive carbon deposits. Probably because the car is running either rich or lean but definitely not with a correct mixture. These look different from the inside ones possibly because these cylinders are getting less fuel flow because of a dirty/clogged fuel rail.

The inside plugs look like they have signs of massive preignition. This is probably because of advanced ignition in combination with a lean mixture.

[88turboaccord]

It would also help to show which cylinder each of those plugs came out of... It would help Diognose the problem a little bit more accurate. Does the car seem to run fine?

[DBMaster]

Jared,

I'm going to go out on a limb here and tell yout that those plugs don't really look bad. If you pulled them after a long drive on the highway they might look different. (more even) Driving for a long time with heavy pinging would cause damage to the ground electrodes. "Normal" plugs should look slightly brown with clean center electrodes and a small clean spot on the ground electrode where the spark forms.

If you were really running too rich ALL of the plugs would be sooty and evenly black.

I wouldn't lose any sleep over what you are showing in this photo.

[Jareds 89 LX-i]

Originally posted by 88turboaccord
It would also help to show which cylinder each of those plugs came out of... It would help Diognose the problem a little bit more accurate. Does the car seem to run fine?
Heh, sorry I kinda thought about that after the fact, and don't know for sure which one came from which, lol. But going off memory, I'm pretty sure the 2 half black half white were in cyls 1 and 2 (starting from the far right), the gray one was in cyl 3, and the white one in cyl 4. I'm not positive that's right, but I'm pretty sure it is. I do remember the 1st plug was one of the half black half white ones though.

It seems to be running fine. I had a misfire only at idle, and the new plugs took care of that. The timing is only advanced 2 degrees, so it's still within spec.

;)

[ACCORD EX]

i would adjust the A/F ratio using the idle mixture screw !

check out that !
http://www.3geez.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=74


MIKE

[Jareds 89 LX-i]

Originally posted by ACCORD EX
i would adjust the A/F ratio using the idle mixture screw !

check out that !
http://www.3geez.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=74

I've got EFI -- no carb :rolleyes:

[accordlx]

If you were really running too rich ALL of the plugs would be sooty and evenly black.

Not necessarily, If he has a rich mixture and 2 of his fuel injectors are partially clogged, the plugs would look different. I'm still going with 2 clogged injectors or a partially clogged fuel rail and preignition but I also agree that it would help to see which cylinder each plug came from. I don't agree that everything is ok because normal combustion does not affect sparkplugs like that. If you need reference, grab any Haynes manual. There is a chart of sparkplug pictures and the conditions that cause burn patterns on them. I just referenced what I said and it what I said seems to be accurate.

[Jerren]

yah jared, it looks like your flux capacitor may be shot. this happened to me before. all you need to do is get some lithium crystal and grind it up and pour it in your windshield washer fluid. that should take care of everything. and you will run 9's in the 1/4 mile.

i hope this helps.:wave:

[OldSchoolSwap]

Being able to "read" a spark plug can be a valuable tuning aid. By examining the insulator firing nose color, an experienced engine tuner can determine a great deal about the engine's overall operating condition.

In general, a light tan/gray color tells you that the spark plug is operating at optimum temperature and that the engine is in good condition. Dark coloring, such as heavy black wet or dry deposits can indicate an overly-rich condition, too cold a heat range spark plug, a possible vacuum leak, low compression, overly retarded timing or too large a plug gap.

If the deposits are wet, it can be an indication of a breached head gasket, poor oil control from ring or valvetrain problems or an extremely rich condition - depending on the nature of the liquid present at the firing tip.

Signs of fouling or excessive heat must be traced quickly to prevent further deterioration of performance and possible engine damage.

Check this link for pics of worn plugs and more info.
http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/techinfo/spark_plugs/faq/faqread2.asp

[OldSchoolSwap]

http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/images/faqreadtipgraph.gif

[POS carb]

put in some new plugs, drive to the end of the block then race back towards your house, shut off the motor as soon as you pull in, pull the plugs when the motor cools and tell us what u get, it was probably the ignition timing which made them look like that, some cylinders will have more deposits than others and different hotspots causing different detonations in each chamber, that's my guess as to why they all look different.

[Jerren]

why are you guys still replying, i already told you that it is the flux capacitor.

[pimp86LX]

Originally posted by Jerren
why are you guys still replying, i already told you that it is the flux capacitor.

"Lets see if you bastards can do 90"

[Jareds 89 LX-i]

Thanks for the info OldSchool! I put the new plugs in the other night, put the timing back to exactly 15 degrees, and I've driven around quite a bit in the last couple days, city and highway. I'm gonna go pull the plugs now and see what they look like. They old ones were not wet or anything at all, and my compression can be found @ ---> http://www.3geez.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2675

Thanks :)

[OldSchoolSwap]

No prob dude!

[ACCORD EX]

Originally posted by Jareds 89 LX-i

I've got EFI -- no carb :rolleyes:

what a fool i am ! :D

MIKE

[Jareds 89 LX-i]

Well I pulled the new plugs, which now have 254 miles on them, and they look perfect (to me at least). The insulators are still bright white, and the ground electrodes were still kinda shiny -- just a little haze over them. In the pic below they are in order from the cylinders in which they were removed. The electrode on the plug on the far right looks a little different in the pic, but it's the same as the rest of them.

So I'm gonna take a guess here and say it was because of the timing advancement and preignition. However, that small misfire that I had with the old plugs, and went away at first with the new ones, has since returned. I think the distributor is on it's way out, because sometimes it's worse than other times (when you first start it up when the engine's hot, it idles alot rougher than when you come to a stop light or something). The thing has 294k on it, so I wouldn't be suprised if the distributor was dying. If the distributor and/or vacuum advance is whack, that could also be causing some preignition without setting the timing advanced.

I dunno....I think I'm gonna get the distributor from LxiCoupe and see how that goes. Thanks for the ideas! :)

[hondaman87]

they look fine but next time u change ur plugs use nepodencen plugs they performe better on our cars

[Jareds 89 LX-i]

Originally posted by hondaman87
they look fine but next time u change ur plugs use nepodencen plugs they performe better on our cars
Hehe...do you mean Nippondenso? Actually I think they just go by Denso now. I really didn't notice any negative difference though between these ones and my old NGK's, so I think they're pretty good too. Thanks though ;)

[POS carb]

You need new Bosch Platinum +8, guaranteed to add 40 additional mental HP over previous +4 plugs but if you've got the big bucks check out the +9's :cool: :rolleyes: :lol

[Sean]

jared yr 89 lxi has 2 O2 sensors i would bet that the one for cylinders 1-2 has failed explaining the soot and ash colors !

[hondaman87]

Originally posted by Jareds 89 LX-i

Hehe...do you mean Nippondenso? Actually I think they just go by Denso now. I really didn't notice any negative difference though between these ones and my old NGK's, so I think they're pretty good too. Thanks though ;)




my mistake:)

[RyanLXi]

that would be pretty cool if someone had a flux capacitor in thier car. maybe even a big freakin hook stickin out the back too.