What's the typical wear for plugs like? My assumption is that these plugs were new and have about 35 running hours on them. Last run time before I removed them was twenty minutes of idle to check oil.
Attaching the picture.
A little tighter shot of each plug. The deposits bother me but I don’t have much experience with these engines.
Only one of the insulators had the color I would expect. The difference from each cylinder didn’t seem right either.
@adamspence, They definitely shouldn't look like this. Did the car sit for a long time without running? The top left picture looks normal. The bottom right picture looks like it got very hot, and the other two look like there has been a lot of moisture in the cylinders. I would investigate further.
Charley
It hasn't run since November 2020 for anything longer than a minute.
@gwt561324, this is what they should look like after 40 hours. Disregard the dust on them because they have been sitting around for a long time.
K8 1500. Hard to say what the two plugs without deposits would look like if I had pulled them hot.
The two with deposits are the ones that bother me.
@gwt561324, yes, those are the ones that bother me also. What cylinders are they from? Is this a short stroke or a long stroke engine? Do you have a scope to look into the cylinders to see if there is any sign of coolant?
Also, have you done a compression test? Who overhauled your engine last time?
Long stroke. These are from cylinders 1 & 3. Plan is to:
- Compression test
- Check valve clearances
- Check coils
- Scope
The injectors have already been serviced and were in good shape.
For what it's worth, the Blackstone oil reports have been normal. We did burn some mildly leaded fuel this year without prior knowledge - the tank the track put the Sunoco 260GT used to have leaded fuel in it and the lead is seeping back into the Sunoco.
@charleyhradicalsportscarregistry-com I see he said 35 hours on these plugs, which means the engine is close to timed out. My advise was to stay clear of oxygenated fuel (I have plenty of experience with this). The rebuild as well as ECU info will help clear up the cause.
@rich - Thanks Rich. Can you tell us a bit more about the effect of the Oxygenated Fuels?
I have just used my Radical for the first time and have purchased 60 litres of this for the practice sessions and first race day. Could you/others let me know what you think about it? I was trying to get something as close as I could to 98 RON Pump Fuel... but make sure I could get something that was going to be consistent. (I'm told that pump fuel in Tasmania can be fairly variable) The Data Sheet is in the link, and I note it has just above 1% Oxygen Content.
https://powerplusfuel.com.au/shop_product.html?product=52
Any help appreciated
@rjbender I don't have any experience with that particular product. But as you pointed out, it is basically only 1% which is much less than the almost 4% in the fuels I have seen issues with. The corrosion seems worse after a period of sitting (storage). Ally parts can corrode and sintered metal seats and steel valves can rust. For this reason I have always felt purging the system after use with pump fuel is a good practice or just avoid using it in the first place. As for your options, I agree that the fuel you have purchased is better than inconsistency at the pump.
We scoped last night. Plenty of buildup in each cylinder. Posting in case someone notices something else interesting.
That really has the look of detonation to me. Are you using high-octane gasoline in the car?
Edit: never mind. I see that you're using VP HP100 or Sunoco 260 GT fuel.
