Guest bastaad525 Posted October 22, 2003 Share Posted October 22, 2003 Pulled my spark plugs yesterday and saw something I've never seen before, either in person, or in any haynes/chilton manual I've ever looked at. At first glance they looked like good, regular plugs. Then... I'm noticing, the color isn't a nice tan, but rather, a mustardy yellow color. And also... this mustardy yellow stuff is in a nice coating over the spark plugs... you can see areas where it has formed a pretty sizable layer and bits have chipped off. This is from just a few days of driving since the last time I checked them, at which point they all looked like they were running rich. What do you guys make of mustard on my spark plugs??? The car seems to be running okay in general... even the exhaust smell, which was really bad before, has gotten to a point where I barely even notice it at all. I wouldn't even mind the mustard color so much, if it werent for the fact that theres really a substantial amount of the stuff built up on there.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lockjaw Posted October 22, 2003 Share Posted October 22, 2003 Have you added something to the fuel, ie octane boost, injector cleaner, that sort of thing? Octane boost usually makes things rusty colored, but that is the 104 brand, i don't know about others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bastaad525 Posted October 22, 2003 Share Posted October 22, 2003 ROFL I knew that was going to be the first question asked, I kept telling myself as I was typing the post... "dont forget to say..." but I'm dead tired and so after all that I forgot to put it heheh anyways, yeah I've seen that happen many times dude and that would have been my first guess too, but nope, I have not added anything to the fuel at all. Just running regular old 91, bought from 76. Everything I know tells me the same thing... it must be something in the fuel... maybe they are putting something in theirs these days?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted October 22, 2003 Share Posted October 22, 2003 76 has stopped using MTBE and has switched to ethanol, but I can't see that making the color? Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lockjaw Posted October 22, 2003 Share Posted October 22, 2003 Anti-freeze??? You losing coolant? Tim may be on to something though, could be an additive in the gas, perhaps there has been a blend change or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmyntti Posted October 22, 2003 Share Posted October 22, 2003 It sounds like antifreeze to me. I doubt a gas additive would add up this quick. Check if you coolant is low and also look for bubbles in the radiator when the engine is running. Hopefully it is something simple like a gas additive but it is better to be safe than sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yo2001 Posted October 22, 2003 Share Posted October 22, 2003 Anti-freeze is not a good news. But leaded gas turns rust color and white out of the tailpipe 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lockjaw Posted October 22, 2003 Share Posted October 22, 2003 Tell me about it, you should see what came out of my tail pipe whent he head gasket let go saturday. I could have sure fixed anyone tailgating me though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted October 22, 2003 Share Posted October 22, 2003 First instinct says you have sulphur deposits on your plugs... At least how you described. What kind of gas are you using? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yo2001 Posted October 22, 2003 Share Posted October 22, 2003 Sulfer would make sense since he's in CA. Isn't that what's in CA gas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest szlash280z Posted October 22, 2003 Share Posted October 22, 2003 this is a plug I removed from my wifes ford eggscort, it had this goldish deposits on it. it wouldn't come off very easily, even with a steel brush. I had changed her fuel filter 5 mins prior and the fuel that came out was pretty nasty and brown. I believe it was the shitty gas that caused the deposits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted October 22, 2003 Share Posted October 22, 2003 Quick check for sulphur: Take your plug and a lighter, and burn the yellow deposits. Inhale the smoke. If you feel like you've just been teargassed its sulphur. (sulphur dioxide) Heh, OK not entirely recommended... there is probably a better procedure for this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted October 22, 2003 Share Posted October 22, 2003 Highly improbable that its sulphur. Not in CA!! CA spec diesel is even low sulphur (<5%). Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240hoke Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 I noticed an interesting thing when running 100 oct unleaded in my car. The plugs which are normally rich looking turned completly clean, all except the outer edge of the plus, the cermic piece and all were spotless w/o any depoists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bastaad525 Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 I dont seem to be losing any coolant, and the engine does not smoke at all. That'd be REALLY fugged up for it to be burning coolant in five out of six cylinders... you guys really had me scared for a minute. I was reading the haynes manual again. There is one entry in the descriptions there, similiar to what szlash280 is talking about, moreso than it is to my case. "High Speed Glazing" which is basically, regular deposits on the plug melt together, when the combustion chamber temp rises very suddenly (sounds like something that would happen in a turbo eh?) but, from the description (the picture is crap) it sounds like it'd be more of a shiny yellowish goldish color like what szlash had, than a yellowish powdery texture. However, on the advice of the haynes, just giving it the benefit of the doubt that this may be what's happening in my car, I will probably switch to one heat range colder plugs. I think this stuff building up on my plugs is what's causing the car to be harder to start... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bastaad525 Posted October 25, 2003 Share Posted October 25, 2003 Getting harder and harder to start the car up, especially when cold. I know the spark is strong, and I know i'm getting fuel... from the way the car drives it doesn't seem like it's having any fuel supply or ignition issues. But man... especially if the car is cold... forget it! I crank and crank... and it will fire for a second and then immedialely stall. It very rarely ever just starts right up anymore. I'm gonna pull the plugs again tonite hopefully and see if that crud has built up any worse... it would be about the only thing that makes sense to me as the cause of the hard starting. Problem is... if that IS the cause... I have no idea where the crud is coming from or how to stop it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zguy95135 Posted October 25, 2003 Share Posted October 25, 2003 post a pic next time, i would like to see all the crap on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bastaad525 Posted October 25, 2003 Share Posted October 25, 2003 *sigh* if I had a digital cam... It's just a thin layer of powdery, darkish yellow crud. I can see areas where bits have flaked off of the ceramic insulator, I'd say it's around 1/4mm thick... heheh hard to judge something that small, but that's a good guess I think. Like... about as thick as a common eggshell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.