My daily runs a 77 chevy 350 and today i changed the plugs out after about 1000 miles on them as well as most of the motor ( only thing not changed was rotating ***embly, heads never taken off.) I changed the plugs and wires out allready due to a bad breather spraying oil all over them and cyl 1,3,5 were missing every now and then. so that kinda explains them. But these have to be the most eratic set of plugs ive ever pulled out of an engine. The whole left bank is lean with cyl 5,7 having some crusty build up on the electrodes. The right bank is just all over the board. cyl 2 and 8 are lean. cyl 6 is just about good. and cyl 4 is real rich. The pictures didnt turn out so well but ill throw them in any way. So its a 350 4 bolt with 2.02/1.60 stock heads, full length headers that up intill today had 2.5" 4' dump tubes. 600cfm va*** secondary holley (i cant tune a holly worth a **** so this may be my problem) Jegs Hei, Torker 2 intake, Crane cam adv. dur. 266 int & exh (210 @ .050) lift .440 int & exh i have a bit of advance put into it right now but it never pings and i run 87 oct 80% of the time So what can i change or do diffrent to get this thing running a little better. I just put on 2" pipes into smittys today and new valves covers and accell wires with new delco plugs. I have to take it on a 1200 mile trip this weekend and need it running great. Thanks. Bryan the pics:
yea it doesnt like to take these up close pics. but you can buy me one that can if ya like... Thanks!
I agree with thatcher... but if you had all those issues while those plugs were in you're not gonna get an accurate picture of what the engine is doing now.... clean them or throw a new set in and take quick run and see what they look like afterwards. in focus please
Very soon it will get a new performer intake.... and i figured i may need to get a read off the new plugs ill have to go do that right now. so any tips on taking up close pics with a digi cam
Lighting helps, sunny daylight is the best you can do.. i hada ****ty cam that didnt take good closeups either.. but outside was the best of what i could do.
And root through some garbage cans for a chunk of cut-off 2X4 so you can make a real goldchainer plug board! The pictures make things hard...almost looks like two completely different sets of plugs. Might well be two problems stacked...oil fouling on all, some cylinders a bit leaner scorching the oil off of center... If all really do have an oily rim, it might well be something central like a pcv problem or a warped manifold leaking from valley.
Do a compression check. Make sure you have the right plugs and gap. I'm sure your carb is messed-up, if you can't get it tuned. I'd bite the bullet and have someone adjust it for you, or replace it, as there's just not enough time left to be playing around with it. Finally, take a look at the fuel filter, and fuel pressure. Be careful, and don't start a fire.
well there is on thing i didnt mention. another reason i changed valve covers was due to not being able to find a breather to fit the home made holes in the the M/T's and for a while there before i knew any better i was running two pcv's (very bad) and after that i didnt have much of a breather (up untill now). Now i have the proper set up, pcv on one cover and big happy *** breather on the other. and pcv is routed into the back of the carb. I just took it around the block and put it thru the diffrent rpm ranges once it cools down and i clean the mess up i made ill pull the plugs and check em. some dipstick forgot to put the dipstick back in and managed to spray oil every where!
carbs brand new it runs fine and all i just dont know if the lean condition is due to my poor adjustment on it. but it idles great and pulls all the way to 6200 rpm with out missing a beat. fuel system is all brand new 3/8 line with two new filters. After taking it around the block with the new pipes on it and new plugs and wires its running great. lots more lower end power and the random miss is gone. but i knew it would go away once i replaced the oil soaked wires. and i have checked for va*** leaks and it checks out ok.
As has been said, lighting really helps a lot! Sunlight is the absolute best solution. A trouble light hung very close to your subject will do the trick too - unless you're worried about color accuracy. Keep the camera as steady as you possibly can - use a tripod if ya got one or find a way to brace your hands. This is a 1/24 scale motorcycle, just to give a hint at something that can be done with a digital cam, basic technique and inexpensive lighting: HTH, Tim D.
sweet thanks! ill try the trouble light with the new plugs. im getting a two for one schooling tonight!
Check for an intake leak. A little WD-40 or the carb cleaner sprayed around the head while running should tell ya. If RPM rises...leak. Fresh plugs...hard run (stop vehicle)...pull the plugs and look at the color. Then don't take a picture...just discribe the color Fitysix
yea thats how i checked for a leak and no rise. im about to pull the new plugs in a min but here is a second try for the old ones. turns out i have a upclose setting on my cam. o yea and the shop light trick works too! ok never mind the pics still **** they all look brown instead of white im done with the pics.
Photoshop those to a nice light tan, then you're good to go! Also, consider that an oily manifold leak would be on the bottom in the valley where squirting oil won't work...
Well new plugs look great. there a nice light tan. I think alot of the oil on the plugs could have come from the oil leaks out the valve covers. the new ones dont have any trace of oil. and i wouldnt count out valve seals since i put in a higher lift cam on old seals. I think my problem was from the many problems i was having with the valve covers and the oil soaking the plug wires and plugs on the out side. im going to drive it some more tommrow and recheck em after they get a few more miles on them and some freeway driving. Thanks guys!
Good News! The last pic showed them being pretty wet. Couldn't tell if it was oil or gas soaked. Good luck and report back in with a good color reading. Fingers crossed for ya. (Run her hard on the freeway ..then stop and pull them as soon as you can...better read) Fitysix
Every repair book I've ever bought has a color page with pics of sparkplugs and different reasons why they look the way they do. Haynes manuals at least. Are those sparkplugs going on a trip next week?
no no no thats why they got pulled out this week. Tommrow i should have the car all ready for the blast down to you. hopefully i have all the problems sorted out now so the new plugs wont end up like these guys. Big change going from open straight pipes to 26" smittys. my car has like 100 rattles all a sudden
It may be just me but I'm not big on having a pcv in one valve cover and a breather in the other. Looks like a big air leak to me. Pete
Run them a bit and see if they get ****ped up again. I would get rid of the torker II. Unless you like playing with epoxy, the torquer II has some bad flow characteristics. The inner cylinders usually run rich and the outers lean. The 1850 600cfm va***n seconday holley is pretty close out of the box for an engine like yours, and shouldn't need much tuning. They do need to be cleaned out sometimes though - shavings and machining debris is sometimes left in the bowls of a brand new carb, and the floats are off sometimes.
You lost me! Only thing NOT changed was reciprocating ***embly and the heads were never off? Sounds like you did NOTHING! Advise?
Those plugs look pretty cold to me, try stepping up a heat range or two, especially if the new plugs foul quickly. Oh, and what are they gapped to?
I would run it like the late models. A PCV with no breather. Let the engine vacuum work on ****ing. The rings wont give you a perfect seal, so there will be some blow by.
Late models have a breather, it's just built in better, so you don't see it. The idea is, clean air in (that's why ther filter/breather is there!), mixes with crankcase fumes, and PCV ****s it out, to reburn it by mixing it into the intake charge. If the plugs are getting a slightly wet, brown/black crust on them,, on a Chevy, I'd first suspect valve seals/guides. Chevies are known for wearing out valve guides, but many times you can squeak by for a year of more with just changing the valve seals. Run a new set of plugs for a couple weeks, WITH the engine in good tune, and check them again.
The Jalopy Journal
