Triumphrat

Ohio-Rider

Some thing of interest I read this morning. It seems that once a modern spark plug has been flooded with fuel they become less affective. It has something to do with the glaze put on them. So guys, if you flood your engines, change your plugs. Wiping them off is of little value once the have been wet.

http://www.gsparkplug.com/shop/fouli...ampion-vs-ngk/

Garioch43

Rumour generated by the spark plug manufacturers perhaps???

Just call me synical.

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Sam Murray

Aberdeen, Scotland

GrandPaulZ

No, it's absolutely true.

I had a tricked out Honda CB550 that would only run for about a week on brand new ND "U groove" plugs. Even careful bead blasting resulting in obviously/noticeably inferior performance. New plugs would again work great for another week. New plugs of other brands (Champion, NGK, etc.) resulted in poor performance. ONLY ND plugs would work.

I think I still have 20 or 30 pounds of those plugs in a box somewhere...

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GrandPaulZ
Author of "Old Bikes"
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Ohio-Rider

That just may be Sam. I’ve never had a problem cleaning up wet plugs on a motorcycle and reinstalling them, BUT, I have had trouble with them after flooding them on small engine tractors.

I could wipe them off and even put a lighter to them to burn off the fuel, but they failed to fire the engine once reinstalled. Put in a fresh set and boom, the engine fires right up. Maybe some other guys have had like experiences after wetting their plugs. It does tweak my curiosity though.

mark61120

I have found that Champion plugs will clean up, but once NGK have been fouled, then they are scrap.

Mark

GrandPaulZ

I've had mixed results with cleaning Champions on my old Triumphs...

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GrandPaulZ
Author of "Old Bikes"
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Stratofaster

I've had some success cleaning fouled spark plugs with disc brake cleaner. Gumout doesn't work--it leaves a film.

Cleaned plugs still aren't as good as new, however.

Snakeoil

I used to have a plug cleaner that came from an old Buick dealership. It was sold by AC and had a big AC sticker on it. It was a sand blaster.

But then they said that sand blasting plugs ruined them so I sold it in a garage sale.

I've cleaned fouled plugs with wire brushes for years. Never had a problem. Maybe one or two that I ended up buying a new plug. But for the most part, only time I've had noticeable plug problems was on 2-stroke dirt bikes years ago.

I even keep old plugs as emergency spares if they look decent. Maybe I've just been lucky all these years.

regards,
Rob

Morris the Cat

Champion N3C (Copper -core) plugs have given good service here.
Local NAPA had 2 sets only- got em' both.
Good tip about not sandblasting - unlike the good old days!

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Morris of Main Street

motobob

Since the new spark plugs no longer have insulator glaze, what's the problem with blasting them? I use a walnut shell blasting medium.