Color of the spark plugs

[Poisonous Mods]

Guys. I installed some NGK TR6 on 05/31/03 after my tune.
Tuner said not to gap them as long as they were at .035 - .038.
Well they were .037 from what my gap tool said.

Stock Plugs looked great. Normal
Normal = Brown to grayish-tan color & slight Electrode were. Correct for range & good operating conditions.

Pulled the NGK out to make sure its not showing any type of LEAN, TOO HOT, PREIGINITION, HIGH SPEED GLAZING, GAP BRIDGING & DETONATION.

What i saw from the NGK TR6 was a VERY LIGHT GRAY-ish Color (can almost mistake them as being whitish). Electrode is perfectly new & the Insulator is like brand new...no weird coloring around the insulator. :dw: I dont have any popping noise from the exhaust...although car feels a bit weird in very (i mean very slow) 1st & 2nd gear driving at 2000rpm.

Too Hot = Blistered, white insulator, reroded electrode & no carbon deposits.
Check / For over-advanced timing, lean fuel or insufficient engine cooling, heat range check & or sticking valves.

Preignition = Melted Electrodes, white & a bit dirty
Check / Almost the same thing as being Too Hot.

High Speed Glazing = Yellowish Insulator or glazed appearance. Sign of maybe Combustion Chamber Temps rising suddenly during hard accel. Deposits causing miss-firing.
Check / to see if its time for new plugs.

Detonation = Insulators may be cracked or chipped. Improper gap setting techniques can aslo result in a fractured insulator tip.

So guys what is my plugs trying to tell me now? Is some thing happening to my car?????? Help me with some good answers please. ;-)

 

[Poisonous Mods]

Is there any body out there?
Chit Sound Clip from Pink Floyd.

 

[broke7]

I got a little bit of difference in driving with my TR6's in lower rpm, kinda like a slight miss of bog.

I have done some WOT runs and shut the car off and checked plugs on the side of the road and mine are like yours. Greyish color, but not too white.

If your gettin severe detonation you will likely hear it in the floorboard/firewall area and will sound like valve noise/chatter. That is detonation. The car will also fall off in an attempt to pull timing to reduce knock counts the ecu is seeing.

Good Luck...I think your ok.

 

[ALA G8R]

This might help.
clicky

 

[Poisonous Mods]

Broke 7. I have that slight bog from 1200 to 1800rpm's, but thats with very light pressure on the gas peddle. If im on the gas just cruising in normal speed no such problems.
My EGT gauge doesnt go crazy what so ever. Just the natural 800 - 10000F. At WOT it goes to its an average of 12700F.

Also i was just thinking if maybe this is just the beginning of the Plug's life?

 

[94SVT Coupe]

Originally posted by broke7
The car will also fall off in an attempt to pull timing to reduce knock counts the ecu is seeing.

03 Cobras do not have knock sensors.

 

[wyd_trkr]

Originally posted by Poisonous Mods
Guys. I installed some NGK TR6 on 05/31/03 after my tune.
Tuner said not to gap them as long as they were at .035 - .038.
Well they were .037 from what my gap tool said.

Stock Plugs looked great. Normal
Normal = Brown to grayish-tan color & slight Electrode were. Correct for range & good operating conditions.

Pulled the NGK out to make sure its not showing any type of LEAN, TOO HOT, PREIGINITION, HIGH SPEED GLAZING, GAP BRIDGING & DETONATION.

What i saw from the NGK TR6 was a VERY LIGHT GRAY-ish Color (can almost mistake them as being whitish). Electrode is perfectly new & the Insulator is like brand new...no weird coloring around the insulator. :dw: I dont have any popping noise from the exhaust...although car feels a bit weird in very (i mean very slow) 1st & 2nd gear driving at 2000rpm.

Poisonous Mods, the answers to most performance enthusiast questions are at NGK's Website, however this will more than satisfy why your sparkplugs are burning the color they are, which is "Normal"

Q: How do I "read" a spark plug?

A: 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.

http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/techinfo/spark_plugs/overviewp3.asp?nav=31000&country=US

Also: http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/techinfo/spark_plugs/faq/index.asp?nav=31200&country=US

Hope this helps!

 

[broke7]

03 Cobras do not have knock sensors.

I was told they did. Guess I was lied too. I was under the assumption all ODB2 cars came with knock sensors. I havent encountered one that doesnt have one yet.

They have to have some sort of safeguard for detonation control, ford wouldnt be that stupid.

 

[Poisonous Mods]

WYD...thanks for that great link. Very informative. Thank God no wetness on the tips of the plug.

My tuner did put my A/F on the rich side. Just that weird Bog on the very slow drive was stressing me out so had to look at the plugs just in case & then the color of the plugs stressed me out even more till now.

Thanks guys.

 

[94SVT Coupe]

Originally posted by broke7
They have to have some sort of safeguard for detonation control, ford wouldnt be that stupid.

That would be our 10:1 A/F ratios..

 

[wyd_trkr]

Originally posted by Poisonous Mods
WYD...thanks for that great link. Very informative. Thank God no wetness on the tips of the plug.

My tuner did put my A/F on the rich side. Just that weird Bog on the very slow drive was stressing me out so had to look at the plugs just in case & then the color of the plugs stressed me out even more till now.

Thanks guys.

Poisonous Mods, Air/Fuel Ratio is very important when running higher levels of boost. Just goes to show in your situation, you have a good tune, for your plugs to be burning as good as you have described. This is where they should be running. Hope this helps.

 

[Zinc03]

Sounds like you are in good shape to me.

 

[sambandit]

How long or how many miles does it take for the plugs to change color for you to be able to diagnose them?

 

[wyd_trkr]

Originally posted by sambandit
How long or how many miles does it take for the plugs to change color for you to be able to diagnose them?

sambandit , you will know between the first 100 to 500 miles how a plug is working the way it should be , with the modifications performed on the engine. Hope this helps.

 

[Poisonous Mods]

Checked mine about 150 miles. Going to do it again this weekend.

WYD. whats up with the hick up / bog feel if the tune is right?

 

[sambandit]

If you can diagnose them within the first couple hundred miles, Is it safe to be in the boost if you are too lean? How long does it take for a lean condition to damage an engine?

 

[wyd_trkr]

Originally posted by sambandit
If you can diagnose them within the first couple hundred miles, Is it safe to be in the boost if you are too lean? How long does it take for a lean condition to damage an engine?

sambandit, if your tuner knows exactly how to program your chip, with the set of fresh plugs you install into the engine, the rule of thumb here is as I described above. Hope this helps.

 

[wyd_trkr]

Originally posted by Poisonous Mods
Checked mine about 150 miles. Going to do it again this weekend.

WYD. whats up with the hick up / bog feel if the tune is right?

Poisonous Mods , your hickup is not coming from a set of fresh sparkplugs, as it could be something else, either in the tune of your chip, or the car was not properly tuned , fully dependant upon aftermarket parts were installed.

Problem with a hickup, could be do to several different things, as changing of the Throttle Body and not setting it up correctly.

Also, it could be the Boost Dump Valve limiting the boost at wide open throttle, if you have not installed a Boost Valve Bypass Kit, or had it disabled through the PCM on tuning the Chip, or disabling the Boost Dump Valve by just unplugging the electrical connector to it altogether. Hope this helps.

 

[Poisonous Mods]

Converting Celsius into Fahrenheit.
500C x 9 = 4500 / 5 = 900 + 32 = 932F.

923F being good temps that i see on my EGT.
But off Iddle it sit's below 800F.

Max C is 850C which is 1562F...never seen that number come up but before my tune i did see it go up & pass 1400F for about 2 sec.

Got to go & just double check with my Tuner.
WYD didnt get the Boost by Pass so has to be some thing else. Thank You for the great info & know much more about what to look for on my EGT...more so now then before.

 

[BocaCobra]

How often are you guys changing your plugs to NEW plugs??