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Formerly TRD_RoLLa
Registered:
May 2002
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 WTF? Rusty brown Spark plugs.
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Thu, 13 February 2003 04:41
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Firstly, i have 4agze.
Which started to misfire at topend when Wide Open Throttle.
I had recently put in a half-bottle of Pro-strength Octane Booster. My gze is running a top mount factory intercooler with no cooling scoop. Nor a hole in the bonnet.
The suspect spark plugs were from the front-cut which i checked earlier this year and had normal wear and condition.
i.e grey, brown carbon deposits on electrode. They are split fire spark plugs with a 1.1mm gap
Also im not running an Oxygen sensor at the moment.
Anyways getting to the point.
I decided to check these sparkplugs to see if that was causing the misfiring. I removed all 4 s/plugs to find that all had....
- a rusty brown deposits around electrode and the ceramic insulator. No sign of grey, brown, black or even white as you'd expect. no sign of oil or mechanical fouling.
The electrode wear was fair.
Here are the pics. (sorry about the poor picture quality as they were taken on a 0.3 megapixel digicam)
Now i know the correct gap for the 4agze is 0.8mm, but the plugs were working fine up until this misfire problem last week.
Diagnosis?
- Would this misfire be caused by the plugs fouling due to the octane booster???? (Too much octane boost?)
- Detonation (but the knock sensor never activated) Was no audible pinging.
I have been told by others that too much octane booster will foul your plugs. Is this true?
I have since replaced my plugs with NGK cooper ones with a 0.8mm gap. But i havent yet tested it at W.O.T.
Need your advice first.
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Location:
Sydney
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: WTF? Rusty brown Spark plugs.
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Thu, 13 February 2003 06:08
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take it out in the streeet and nail it 
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Club Member
Location:
Sydney, NSW
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: WTF? Rusty brown Spark plugs.
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Thu, 13 February 2003 09:33
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Maybe the plugs could have gone all rusty like that from poosible moisture sitting on the docks in Jap land??? I've noticed on gearboxes that sit on the docks, they have marks and corrosion from the salty air... Maybe the salty air got to the plugs...
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Location:
North Sydney
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: WTF? Rusty brown Spark plugs.
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Thu, 13 February 2003 12:16
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The colour is from the octane booster, no doubt. Thats what you get brown/redish plugs.
Why do you need it? Does it ping?
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Location:
Madrid - Spain
Registered:
August 2002
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Re: WTF? Rusty brown Spark plugs.
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Fri, 14 February 2003 02:29
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This might sound like a silly question, but are you running Lead replacement petrol (LRP). That stuff will leave a reddy brown residue on the plugs and open the gap size up. I have to clean and gap the plugs on my wife's car every 3 months or so because of that crappy substitute fuel. It is definitly not rust, it is a deposit from the fuel or possibly the octane booster.
My advice is to clean and gap the plugs then run it on Shell Optimax. It might be a little more expensive, but you get better performance and better fuel economy. If it is a leaded engine, ask the guy at the shell counter for the lead substitute syringe. I think it costs about $1.20 per tank full but fixes the valve seat recession etc etc.
Not many people know this but Australia gets some of the crappiest fuel quality in the world, including third world countries. Damn govenment. Damn greedy fuel companies.
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Location:
Sydney
Registered:
November 2002
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Formerly TRD_RoLLa
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: WTF? Rusty brown Spark plugs.
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Sun, 16 February 2003 14:53
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Thanks for the replies.
I have concluded that the orange/rusty brown residue on the spark plugs was contributed by octane booster.
I have since had no misfiring since i installed the new spark plugs. Running BP Ultimate 98 RON current tank.
My oxygen sensor is now connected as well.
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