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Reading spark plugs


Zmanco

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I have triple weber 40's on my L28 w/flat top pistons, 6:1 header, and 284/284 .480" lift cam. I've finally got my jetting to the point where it drives great, almost perfect. There are few minor nits but given it's completely livable now, I figured I'd check my plugs to see what they look like:

 

22822580792.jpg 22823055784.jpg

 

The coloring in the pictures isn't as accurate as I would like, but you can see that there's a lot of soot making me think I'm too rich. However, I just went up to the 50F9 idle jets since the smaller ones were too lean below 3k. My mains are 130 and I'm wondering if I should try going to down to 125? That seems kind of small, but that's all I can think of.

 

Any other suggestions?

 

Edit: Forgot to mention I live at 6000 feet.

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Looks rich, but reading spark plugs is a science.

 

EGT gauge or an AFR gauge is the only real way to know. when I was running sidedrafts I installed an EGT gauge for tunning purposes.

 

If you run down the 'Springs we can do runs and log it on my LM1, if you like.

 

Yasin

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I forgot to mention that I have a narrow band O2 sensor on it, which so far has been very helpful in making the carbs very drivable. Of course, I don't know how rich I am, as the plugs show :)

 

I know I can't go any leaner on the idle jets as I've already tried that, so maybe I'll just try one size down on the mains. Thank goodness there's a guy on ebay with reasonably priced jets.

 

Question: can either of your widebands be installed temporarily? How would that be done?

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You'll need to go wideband, those jets are so fouled it isn't funny.
I noticed that my mileage dropped 2-3 mpg when I switched to the webers. While I didn't expect it to improve, I was surprised that it dropped that much. I had just assumed it was because I was always heavy into the throttle to hear them sing :)

 

Just thinking about this further, I wonder if I should be going up in size on the air correctors due to my altitude? I'm currently at 200. Anyone with Webers at altitude have any thoughts?

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First thing is what you were doing before pulling the plugs. The way to read plugs properly is to go WOT, then kill the engine and step on the clutch at a given rpm. Pull over and read the plugs right there on the side of the road. Then as mentioned, you have to actually know how to read plugs, and hardly anyone does.

 

The easiest and cheapest way to get a good idea of what is going on is to weld an O2 bung into your exhaust collector and run a single wire narrowband O2 to a voltmeter inside the car. Get a good quality narrowband O2 (I used Bosch) and you'll get repeatable, accurate results. Shoot for about .8V on the voltmeter.

 

Wideband is better, but narrowband will get you close, and it only costs ~$30 assuming you have to buy the O2, the voltmeter, and the wire to connect it all up.

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Thanks, that's the best chart I've seen since they show multiple examples of each.

 

My O2 setup is just what you suggested, and it was invaluable to get rid of the flat spot transitioning to the mains.

 

I've gone ahead and ordred smaller mains, and larger air correctors as well. I'm hoping/expecting that some combination will get them much closer to neutral.

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....and if you have a lump bumpy cam and then putt putt around for weeks you'll have perma black plugs like mine always look, even when I'm jetted lean. In other words, with old plugs, it would take a lot of WOT to get an accurate read. Better to start with a fresh set...or better yet what everyone else has already said about WB AFR. BTW, knowing your credentials, you could probably "Mcguyver" one of these in a few minutes from a game boy and a watch spring ;) John

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