Why do spark plugs go bad? (OT)
John Henry
hobby), my 25+ year old Sears tractor which I rely on heavily for grass
cutting, snowblowing, trailer pulling, fertilizing, aerating, etc. etc.
Lately, it has been going through spark plugs about one a year. They
just quit working. I mean electrically. I can clean them, gap them,
sandpaper and wire brush them, but they just donna spark no more. I
actually buy them 2-3 at a time now. I know when it is going bad
because the engine starts missing and back firing and popping really
loudly. It is a single cylinder 16 horse that burns oil real bad.
And I am not exactly sure I have been using the right plug, but they
look fine. No burning, pitting, melting, cracking. Clean them up and
they look brand new. This weekend one quit, I cleaned it and gapped it,
cranked the engine with it out of the head and against the case; no
spark. grabbed a new one, sparks right up. Popped it in, off I go,
smooth for another season.
What can possibly go bad?
I vaguely remember the engine manual I ordered from Tecumseh last year
talking about using a "deep" plug, not a short one, or vice versa. I
forgot to pull it out this weekend to see if I had the right plug.
Oh, here's some VW content, the tractor now has a drag link (third tie
rod) made from a heat bent, Beetle drivers side rod, and two tie rod
ends welded to the ends of the main rods. Sears wanted $42 each for
these cheesy tie rods!!
PS: My wife just called me here at work and said, "Did you realize that
we're going to be in Cancun for Cinqo de Mayo?" (first day of our 8 days
in Mexico) COOL!!! PARTY!!!
--
John Henry
---------------
Visit the "BugShop" at http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/4000
Forget World Peace. "Visualize" using your damn turn signals.
Jan Andersson
>
> Ok, this is about my other "hobby" vehicle (not that I want it to be a
> hobby), my 25+ year old Sears tractor which I rely on heavily for grass
> cutting, snowblowing, trailer pulling, fertilizing, aerating, etc. etc.
> Lately, it has been going through spark plugs about one a year. They
> just quit working. I mean electrically. I can clean them, gap them,
> sandpaper and wire brush them, but they just donna spark no more. I
> actually buy them 2-3 at a time now. I know when it is going bad
> because the engine starts missing and back firing and popping really
> loudly. It is a single cylinder 16 horse that burns oil real bad.
Maybe it's the oil. Try cleaning the plug after each run. report back
after one full year with what you have discovered. :-)
> And I am not exactly sure I have been using the right plug, but they
> look fine. No burning, pitting, melting, cracking. Clean them up and
> they look brand new.
You talk about cleaning, just how dirty is the plug when it fails?
> This weekend one quit, I cleaned it and gapped it,
> cranked the engine with it out of the head and against the case; no
> spark. grabbed a new one, sparks right up. Popped it in, off I go,
> smooth for another season.
Some plugs have that internal resistor type thingy in there, some don't.
I'd use a
"solid" type in a lawn tractor where you don't need to worry about that
"bitchin' stereo system" whine. Unless of course.... umm.. Nah, you
wouldn't... ?
> What can possibly go bad?
The whole world has gone bad like a two old open (torn) bag of shrimp
you forgot under the passenger seat during the hottest summer months.
(fell there out of the grocery bag). All this is just imaginary and has
no connection to real life, at least not mine.
And this does not teach you a "cool" new practical joke you could
sometime do to your friend.
Oh, I'm sidetracking again, sorry.
> I vaguely remember the engine manual I ordered from Tecumseh last year
> talking about using a "deep" plug, not a short one, or vice versa. I
> forgot to pull it out this weekend to see if I had the right plug.
Do you mean "long thread" and "short thread" ? Definitely use the
correct lenght plug.
Short plug in a long hole is asking for trouble. (never happened to me
though.. <coughcough> <grins> ;-)
Jan
jadu...@nmsu.edu
> just quit working. I mean electrically. I can clean them, gap them,
> sandpaper and wire brush them, but they just donna spark no more.
What color are they when you pull them out?
> I
> actually buy them 2-3 at a time now. I know when it is going bad
> because the engine starts missing and back firing and popping really
> loudly. It is a single cylinder 16 horse that burns oil real bad.
> And I am not exactly sure I have been using the right plug, but they
> look fine. No burning, pitting, melting, cracking. Clean them up and
> they look brand new. This weekend one quit, I cleaned it and gapped it,
> cranked the engine with it out of the head and against the case; no
> spark. grabbed a new one, sparks right up. Popped it in, off I go,
> smooth for another season.
>
> What can possibly go bad?
If they're getting oil fouled, you might be able to go a heat range higner
and have them last a bit longer. Also, check the coil to flywheel
distance and the wires. A weak spark might work on a new plug, but not
once it gets dirty. Also, its worth checking the side-to-side play of the
crank. I had one motor that wore out the flywheel side bearing and made
the spark very inconsistent.
> Oh, here's some VW content, the tractor now has a drag link (third tie
> rod) made from a heat bent, Beetle drivers side rod, and two tie rod
> ends welded to the ends of the main rods. Sears wanted $42 each for
> these cheesy tie rods!!
Heh heh... Well, its got VW parts and is air-cooled, so that works... :)
> PS: My wife just called me here at work and said, "Did you realize that
> we're going to be in Cancun for Cinqo de Mayo?" (first day of our 8 days
> in Mexico) COOL!!! PARTY!!!
Damn, I'm jealous. Could you fit me in a suitcase? :)
-james
Searoy
> we're going to be in Cancun for Cinqo de Mayo?" (first day of our 8 days
> in Mexico) COOL!!! PARTY!!!
Drink an extra bottle of Tequila for me...
I may wind up in Baja Mexico for 5 May myself.
Air-cooled content...I'll drive my 66 there.
--
*** Teach a Man to Fish ***
Searoy
69 bug (parts)
66 bug (daily driver project)
ANTI SPAM STUFF: frau...@psinet.com swee...@accc.gov.au u...@ftc.gov
admin@loopback $LOGIN@localhost $LOGNAME@localhost $USER@localhost
$USER@$HOST -h1024@localhost ro...@mailloop.com
Searoy
may be true, I think some are just born to be trouble makers.
--
*** Teach a Man to Fish ***
Searoy
69 bug (parts)
66 bug (daily driver project)
ANTI SPAM STUFF: frau...@psinet.com swee...@accc.gov.au u...@ftc.gov
admin@loopback $LOGIN@localhost $LOGNAME@localhost $USER@localhost
$USER@$HOST -h1024@localhost ro...@mailloop.com
John Henry <johns...@sprintmail.com> wrote in message
news:38FCB274...@sprintmail.com...
> Ok, this is about my other "hobby" vehicle (not that I want it to be a
> hobby), my 25+ year old Sears tractor which I rely on heavily for grass
> cutting, snowblowing, trailer pulling, fertilizing, aerating, etc. etc.
> Lately, it has been going through spark plugs about one a year. They
> just quit working. I mean electrically. I can clean them, gap them,
> sandpaper and wire brush them, but they just donna spark no more. I
> actually buy them 2-3 at a time now. I know when it is going bad
> because the engine starts missing and back firing and popping really
> loudly. It is a single cylinder 16 horse that burns oil real bad.
>
> And I am not exactly sure I have been using the right plug, but they
> look fine. No burning, pitting, melting, cracking. Clean them up and
> they look brand new. This weekend one quit, I cleaned it and gapped it,
> cranked the engine with it out of the head and against the case; no
> spark. grabbed a new one, sparks right up. Popped it in, off I go,
> smooth for another season.
>
> What can possibly go bad?
>
> I vaguely remember the engine manual I ordered from Tecumseh last year
> talking about using a "deep" plug, not a short one, or vice versa. I
> forgot to pull it out this weekend to see if I had the right plug.
>
> Oh, here's some VW content, the tractor now has a drag link (third tie
> rod) made from a heat bent, Beetle drivers side rod, and two tie rod
> ends welded to the ends of the main rods. Sears wanted $42 each for
> these cheesy tie rods!!
>
> PS: My wife just called me here at work and said, "Did you realize that
> we're going to be in Cancun for Cinqo de Mayo?" (first day of our 8 days
> in Mexico) COOL!!! PARTY!!!
>
>
Johan Stålnacke
Message ID <38FCB274...@sprintmail.com> :
>What can possibly go bad?
Do you got a plug with resistans in it?
ex BR9ES.. try to use B9ES, without the "R"...
another thing could be that you got to hard plugs.
on my motocross i had B9ES, and they went bad all they time.
Then i changed to B8ES, and the last much longer.....
so you could try to change to a softer plug, if they are to hard, the
wont reach the temperature when they is "self cleaned".....
sorry for my bad english!
--
MVH\Johan Stålnacke
------------------------------------------------------------
The nice thing about standards is, there are so many to choose from.
------------------------------------------------------------
P.J. BERG
I have experienced a similar problem in a high reving single cylinder two
stroke (Go Kart).
I had my plugs glass beaded(Sp?) and they would fail without any visible
damage/residues.
Never spent much time on the problem, thinking of it now, I would have used
a digital Ohm metre, and checked for exsessive resistance.
The deep plug you mentioned sounds like the Champion plugs I used in my
early karting days.
Basically the side(Ground) electrode sits inside the plug where it fires
radial at the center electrode(Or reverse, if wires change place at the
coil). These plugs are also often used in marine engines.
Basicly, I would suspect the ignition system for being to weak to fire a
plug under compression, that has a slightly altered resistance due to wear
and contamination.
I have had better results using NGK rather than Bosch plugs, on motorcycles
wich are notoriously picky when it comes to plugs.
One of John C's (Universial) CDI units would be the exact fix for your
tractor.
J.
Ps. Try a new plug lead and a cap with no built in resistor.
--
P.J.Berg
Priv. # +47 22594552
Mob.# +47 98681318
Berg...@Aircooled.net
MSN: Berg...@Hotmail.com
Web: Berg...@Everyday.com
"John Henry" <johns...@sprintmail.com> wrote in message
news:38FCB274...@sprintmail.com...
> Ok, this is about my other "hobby" vehicle (not that I want it to be a
> hobby), my 25+ year old Sears tractor which I rely on heavily for grass
> cutting, snowblowing, trailer pulling, fertilizing, aerating, etc. etc.
> Lately, it has been going through spark plugs about one a year. They
> just quit working. I mean electrically. I can clean them, gap them,
> sandpaper and wire brush them, but they just donna spark no more. I
> actually buy them 2-3 at a time now. I know when it is going bad
> because the engine starts missing and back firing and popping really
> loudly. It is a single cylinder 16 horse that burns oil real bad.
>
> And I am not exactly sure I have been using the right plug, but they
> look fine. No burning, pitting, melting, cracking. Clean them up and
> they look brand new. This weekend one quit, I cleaned it and gapped it,
> cranked the engine with it out of the head and against the case; no
> spark. grabbed a new one, sparks right up. Popped it in, off I go,
> smooth for another season.
>
> What can possibly go bad?
>
Scott Fraser
> Ok, this is about my other "hobby" vehicle (not that I want it to be a
> hobby), my 25+ year old Sears tractor which I rely on heavily for grass
> cutting, snowblowing, trailer pulling, fertilizing, aerating, etc. etc.
> Lately, it has been going through spark plugs about one a year. They
> just quit working. I mean electrically. [...]What can possibly go bad?
>
John,
I'd be curious to see what the ohm readings of the old plugs are from the
electrode to ground and tip to tip. I'd "guess" that it is either a
vibration induced open or an oil fouled short. Its hard to imagine a
vibration induced failure but one never knows. Maybe the vibration of the
single cylinder is of the right frequency to knock the fillings out of the
plug. Bottom line is that a couple sets of ohm readings will tell a lot
more than endless hypothesizing.
>
> PS: My wife just called me here at work and said, "Did you realize that
> we're going to be in Cancun for Cinqo de Mayo?" (first day of our 8 days
> in Mexico) COOL!!! PARTY!!!
Just an FYI, the Cinco de Mayo party here in the US one of those "US
things".
Mexicans and the descendants of Mexicans living in the United States
wanted
to maintain and reaffirm their roots. They chose Cinco de Mayo to
celebrate
their ethnic and cultural background. This day in spring has been
enthusiastically adopted by Mexican-Americans, Chicanos and various
Hispanic communities in the U.S. as a day of joyous reaffirmation.
The Cinco
de Mayo Fiestas include many forms of Latin music, a great variety of
typical
foods, theater, artwork, crafts fairs and many other cultural
expressions; and
they range from the three-day bash on Olvera Street in Los Angeles,
--which
attracts up to half a million people-- to small events sponsored by
Mexican
restaurants, and diversity programs in various school districts.
(from http://world.presidencia.gob.mx/pages/culture/note_5may.html)
The day is a National Holiday in Mexico commemorating the battle that was
fought against the French troops in the city of Puebla as the French marched
toward Mexico City. In the US it has become a holiday to celebrate one's
roots and solidarity with Mexico. I have had students in my classes who are
fairly recent arrivals from Mexico, a bit surprised at the hoopla that is
made on this side of the border about the day. I imagine though in Cancun
where the American influence has spread back down there and they will be
giving the tourists what they expect (a good party).
Enjoy, have fun and eat a worm for me!
Scott