| jfl99 |
| Total Posts: | 2005 |
| Last Post: | 05-09-08 |
| User Since: | 06-30-00 |
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Posted: May-09-2008 08:21AM
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MY question was just about the external part between where the plug attaches and the "nut" part.
Someone else brought up the closing gap problem. Not ours.
Opinions I express here do not reflect my
wife's.
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| kerr |
| Total Posts: | |
| Last Post: | 05-10-08 |
| User Since: | 03-13-00 |
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Posted: May-09-2008 08:21AM
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this is probably no help to the discussion, but on the subject of plugs de-gapping themselves, and on a piece of metal rattling around inside the engine...
years ago I had an '85 Honda Civic with ~ 60k miles on it. Pulled the plugs (doing a tune up) and found that one had lost its electrode (or is it the anode?, anyway, the curved part that reaches out over the top that you bend to set the gap). I was terrified when I saw that chunk of steel was missing from the plug, but also confused me because the car had been running just fine. The plugs were all even color.
Knowing that I had little choice about what to do at that point I just installed new plugs and drive it like that to 120,000 miles without ever having a problem.
I never did know what had become of that piece, or whether it was ever even inside the engine. Nor did I ever figure out why it ran just fine without that (crucial) part on one of its spark plugs!
Norm
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| h_lankford |
| Total Posts: | 1109 |
| Last Post: | 05-08-08 |
| User Since: | 08-29-01 |
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Posted: May-08-2008 06:10PM
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The original post refers to the ceramic "external" part of the plug where the wire attaches. No specific mention of the gap (does "split top to bottom" mean just cracked or cracked plus altered gap?) The reply posts refer mostly to the ceramic "internal" part of the plug where the gap is (or was) .
jfl99, I 'm still not sure exactly which one of these cracks (internal or external or both) and/or altered gap happened to you. Of course misfiring could be due to either mechanically altered gap or altered electrical insulating property. Sorry to be picky and detective-style questions. please clarify. Harvey
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| PA Pup |
| Total Posts: | 651 |
| Last Post: | 05-08-08 |
| User Since: | 09-16-02 |
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Posted: May-08-2008 05:42PM
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Re: Spark plug gap closing.
Quite a few years ago, an engineer I used to work with bought a new Dodge 600. It stalled out while driving home from the dealership. They towed it in and the only thing they found was the spark plug gaps were closed up. The next day, it again died when driving home from the dealer. Once more the mechanic found the spark plug gaps closed up. The mechanic knew he had correctly gapped the plugs, so he pulled the head off. He found part of a 10-32 nut in one of the cylinders, and all of the cylinders had thousands of little dents in the head and on the top of the pistons. Someone at the factory had apparently sabotaged the motor. The engineer insisted on getting a new car. The dealership refused, saying they could repair the car 'good as new'. After him making a few weeks of daily calls to Lee Iococca's ofice, he finally got a call from the delearship saying they had worked hard, but managed to persuade Chrysler to give him a new car. Don
Why take the time to learn when ignorance is
instantaneous?..... Hobbes (to Calvin)
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| jfl99 |
| Total Posts: | 2005 |
| Last Post: | 05-09-08 |
| User Since: | 06-30-00 |
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Posted: May-08-2008 10:47AM
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These were in an MGB vintage race car. Same brand/type used forever. I "think" NGK. Went out for practice or race (wasn't there) and came back this way. Race type plug. When they got back they asked me. They'd never seen anything like it in 40 years of racing. Neither have I.
I've had plugs ungap themselves. Kind of weird. I was wondering about it hitting top of piston. Some plugs are longer than others, going deeper into the combustion chamber.
I've broken some with socket on hard to reach plugs, like my '68 390 GT Mustang.
Opinions I express here do not reflect my
wife's.
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| IK |
| Total Posts: | 206 |
| Last Post: | 05-10-08 |
| User Since: | 01-19-07 |
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Posted: May-05-2008 05:22PM
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On a motorcycle i had a denso plug cause me to loose compression because the ceramic broke free of the metal nut peaice, and a NGK shatterd because the socket I used was ice cold and the spark plug was out of a hot previously running engine, and when the two met.... BOOM. gone but not the peice inside the engine witch was fine so, few(insert forhead rubbing or head scratching gesture of your choice), no engine rebuild for me  People are like slinkeys; they dont really serve a purpose but you cant help laughing when one falls down the stairs.
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| roofman |
| Total Posts: | 58 |
| Last Post: | 05-09-08 |
| User Since: | 02-14-08 |
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Posted: May-05-2008 04:38PM
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Made in China?
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| QuickSilver |
| Total Posts: | 14418 |
| Last Post: | 05-11-08 |
| User Since: | 02-20-01 |
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Posted: May-05-2008 04:33PM
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I never figured it out either. I installe dthe plug myself, I was the only one that drove the car. I in fact drove the car to work. On my way home it stalled and I pushed it to the side. After exhausting all other possibilities, fuel, air, etc I said let m echeck compression with my finger. Teh first pkug I pulled was gapped shut. I scratched my head for a bit, regapped it, it fired right up and away we went. ------------------
QuickSilversVille
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"I invoke emotions in others that they themselves cannot explain"
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| 6drufly9 |
| Total Posts: | 618 |
| Last Post: | 05-11-08 |
| User Since: | 11-02-05 |
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Posted: May-05-2008 04:18PM
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Quote: Originally Posted by QuickSilver I've had plug gapped themselves closed before. |
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| QuickSilver |
| Total Posts: | 14418 |
| Last Post: | 05-11-08 |
| User Since: | 02-20-01 |
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Posted: May-05-2008 04:02PM
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Wait, please say Smurf did not sell you the plug?  Just joking. I've had plug gapped themselves closed before. ------------------
QuickSilversVille
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"I invoke emotions in others that they themselves cannot explain"
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| Latka |
| Total Posts: | 6381 |
| Last Post: | 05-11-08 |
| User Since: | 12-03-99 |
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Posted: May-05-2008 03:31PM
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Can they become cracked from over-tightening them? I've cracked one by dropping it (I'm so graceful), but never seen one cracked just sitting in the engine minding it's own business.
----------------------------------------------
My Higher Authority is the German Purity Law of 1516 .
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| jfl99 |
| Total Posts: | 2005 |
| Last Post: | 05-09-08 |
| User Since: | 06-30-00 |
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Posted: May-05-2008 03:07PM
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Has anyone come across the situation where your spark plugs "blew up", cracking the ceramic section that the plug wire attaches to? Split top to bottom. Not a crack. A decent split!
Opinions I express here do not reflect my
wife's.
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