tDR Posted February 6, 2005 Share Posted February 6, 2005 http://www.sxoc.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=134070 Scary stuff! Bri. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beermonsta Posted February 6, 2005 Share Posted February 6, 2005 oooo looks expensive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b_have Posted February 6, 2005 Share Posted February 6, 2005 Had exactly the same happen with HKS 40's (rebadged i think) Use cheapo NGK's and replace every 3000 miles. they NEVER break. (we use these on Kawasaki race engines for exactly the same reason) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelG Posted February 6, 2005 Share Posted February 6, 2005 Dont really think that can be blamed on the plugs this time,if the fuel pump wasnt relocated on its bracket properly, and sucking air at High Revs then i dont think ANY spark plug would be able to cope with that for a prolonged period of time. If you look at the thread you will see the guy himself actually puts the blame down to the Fuel Pump fitting fault and not actually the plugs. Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tDR Posted February 6, 2005 Author Share Posted February 6, 2005 Dont really think that can be blamed on the plugs this time,if the fuel pump wasnt relocated on its bracket properly, and sucking air at High Revs then i dont think ANY spark plug would be able to cope with that for a prolonged period of time. If you look at the thread you will see the guy himself actually puts the blame down to the Fuel Pump fitting fault and not actually the plugs. Michael But the det caused did not melt the pistons, only the electrode tips on the plugs which in turn damaged the pistons... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelG Posted February 6, 2005 Share Posted February 6, 2005 Electrodes breaking off dont melt pistons mate but they can damage them as we see........it takes a hell of a lot to melt a piston though. If the car was running lean because the pump wasnt sucking up fuel,as it was, and the plug tips HAD remained in tact.........the pistons would have still been knackered cos of the heat in the cylinder in turn melting a piston or two maybe more in time, no ? So if the plugs HAD remained in tact..........the damage would possibly have been substantially more with melted pistons and a fooked block / bores ? So the plugs arent really in the equation. Because the AFR problem was the main factor in the chain of damage. The plug damaged the top of the pistons.....but it could have been worse if they had kept in one piece and the car had kept running lean. The damage caused to the piston in this instance is physical.......as in chunks out of it................not heat related from a lean AFR which was apparent in this car,this in turn caused the plugs to overheat by the looks of it and tips to break off. The problem isnt plug related, it was AFR related due to a fuelling prob. Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted February 6, 2005 Share Posted February 6, 2005 I can't see how you can blame the plugs either ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b_have Posted February 6, 2005 Share Posted February 6, 2005 Mine wasn't running lean at the time, but the tip broke coz of det. which was caused by a massive overboost (2.3 bar) due to the AVCR failing. The det causes a high frequency resonance that can damage the superthin electrodes on this type of plug. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syed Shah Posted February 6, 2005 Share Posted February 6, 2005 Had exactly the same happen with HKS 40's (rebadged i think) Use cheapo NGK's and replace every 3000 miles. they NEVER break. (we use these on Kawasaki race engines for exactly the same reason) One thing that was mentioned to me a while back:Is it advisable to have plugs that require such regular changes? After all, the car was designed for long-life plugs, and wear could be an issue over time. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tDR Posted February 7, 2005 Author Share Posted February 7, 2005 I didn't 'blame' the plugs Just illustrating that these iridium plugs seem to be a little on the frail side. Perhaps playing devils advocate here but I reckon good 'ol NGK coppers would have withstood the abuse from the actual problem. Who's to know if the owner would have realised there was a problem before there was det damage to the pistons though.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelG Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 I didn't 'blame' the plugs Just illustrating that these iridium plugs seem to be a little on the frail side. Perhaps playing devils advocate here but I reckon good 'ol NGK coppers would have withstood the abuse from the actual problem. Who's to know if the owner would have realised there was a problem before there was det damage to the pistons though.... Ah got u now, agreed...........kinda lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 One thing that was mentioned to me a while back:Is it advisable to have plugs that require such regular changes? After all, the car was designed for long-life plugs, and wear could be an issue over time. Thoughts? I would agree with the theory of the car being designed to use long life plugs but in the majority of cases, the car is rarely kept as design and therefore the parameters would change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tDR Posted February 7, 2005 Author Share Posted February 7, 2005 Syed - what wear could the plugs cause? They either fire or they don't. IMHO fit coppers and pay a fraction of the price of iridiums, any misfires just replace, I personally would change the plugs every 2nd or 3rd (depending on interval) service. The benefit of this is getting an insight into how your car has been running, once you see the used plugs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelG Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 Syed - what wear could the plugs cause? They either fire or they don't. IMHO fit coppers and pay a fraction of the price of iridiums, any misfires just replace, I personally would change the plugs every 2nd or 3rd (depending on interval) service. The benefit of this is getting an insight into how your car has been running, once you see the used plugs. Got to agree with tDR on that one, unless you are running a crazy powered Drag Car or the likes, theres no point using Iridium plugs. Its all a big con put into our heads by the big tuning companies. Copper ones do just as good a job, and as long as you have the correct heat range of plugs, or one range colder on uprated engines, 99% of the time you wouldnt know if you had copper or iridium fitted anyways. Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syed Shah Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 It was more along the lines of wear/damage to the plug threads on the head itself with such regular changes, than the type of plug used. Hence the reasoning for longer life plugs. Would not be a consideration for the weekend cars, but how about those clocking up 10K+ per year? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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