Cleaning spark plugs

[daugen]

now tell us Soundguy, are you sure you really get them clean?
I bet those Fords run fine with a little grit in them.
A nice gumbo of grit, antifreeze foam from your cracked block and floating bits of
JB Weld, well, that engine is just going to purr. :shocked:

 

[Soundguy]

now tell us Soundguy, are you sure you really get them clean?
I bet those Fords run fine with a little grit in them.
A nice gumbo of grit, antifreeze foam from your cracked block and floating bits of
JB Weld, well, that engine is just going to purr. :shocked:

no jb weld on my engines!

considering some of the carbs and air cleaners I've seen .. i'd have to agree.. a lil grit won't hurt!

At a club i'm a mamber of.. a guy has a MM and it has NEVER had an air cleaner on it. ont he front of the carb he has a small metal funnel. I've known the guy 20 ys and he runs it on his farm.. .. the darndest thing. it actually bothers me to see it.

then again.. at work we have an old littleford liquid asphalt distribuiotor truck ( similar to etnyre ) and it has a continental / red seal gas engine on it with a tranny and manual hand clutch and tranny hooekd to a mixer and distribuitor pump, spray bar and wand.

it's antique for sure. it didn't get an air cleaner on it for decades... it's old carb was gummed up from asphalt overspray. I made a ms repop carb fit and stuck on a K&N breather... engine still fires right up even int he cold and goes. back when i replace dthe carb i have to drill out the ears on the manifold to mount the carb. i put a new manifold gasket on it and comp tested it at the time. 90 psi dry across the board. near 120 wet... that's quite a testament for that old girl!

 

[ruffdog]

Making sure the tractors are tuned up and fresh gas in them will sure help the plug fouling problem.

 

[daugen]

I read somewhere that using premium gas for stuff that sits a lot can be helpful, so I've tried that recently. I use Stabil and Sea Foam on most everything and I haven't had any spark plug issues at all. It's interesting, several of my neighbors take the approach on their three hundred dollar small mowers that they will run them until they won't start or die, and then either get them fixed or buy another cheap mower. I suppose if they can get five years out of a 400 dollar mower, with full dealer service running over a hundred bucks a year, the math may work for them. They don't change the oil either.

I enjoy doing small engine maintenance. It's not hard, I usually can't screw it up, and while I'm sure it's in my head, it seems to run better afterwards.
I think I might take some before and after pictures if I do start cleaning the plugs.

anything different to do with a platinum plug, like solvent only, or??
sure seems to make sense to clean them first.

 

[Soundguy]

none of my oldies run latnium.. so can't help ya!

I got over 15ys out of my last rider mower. a cheap 700$ murray. In fact it still runs and cuts. deck is worn out and I have fixed the dek in my shop 2x now.. so it was time to retire it from mowing.. and now let it pull a cart.

got another cheap mower... will run it as long as it goes.

I do yearly tune ups. plugs, filters.. etc.

on my small engines.. especially air cooled ones i now use syn oil for heat properties.. new mower even has an oil filter.

onthe premium gas? higher octane means harder to start.. so I avoid it for my old tractors. .. they are usedto 70's octane gas....

I read somewhere that using premium gas for stuff that sits a lot can be helpful, so I've tried that recently. I use Stabil and Sea Foam on most everything and I haven't had any spark plug issues at all. It's interesting, several of my neighbors take the approach on their three hundred dollar small mowers that they will run them until they won't start or die, and then either get them fixed or buy another cheap mower. I suppose if they can get five years out of a 400 dollar mower, with full dealer service running over a hundred bucks a year, the math may work for them. They don't change the oil either.

I enjoy doing small engine maintenance. It's not hard, I usually can't screw it up, and while I'm sure it's in my head, it seems to run better afterwards.
I think I might take some before and after pictures if I do start cleaning the plugs.

anything different to do with a platinum plug, like solvent only, or??
sure seems to make sense to clean them first.

 

[DJ54]

Had to chuckle on the "little grit" comment. Reminds me of the story a guy I worked with told about when he was going to mechanics school. A dealer would donate a couple old tractors to them a year to rebuild, repaint, and resell. Can't remember the brand, but it smoked bad. The instructor showed them a 60 second overhaul. With the tractor running about 1/2 - 3/4 throttle, and air filter hose removed, he introduced about 3 pinches of scouring powder into the throat of the carb. And sure enough, it quit smoking in abut a minute.

A little trick he learned of, that some folks selling older tractors in need of bad repair use. NOT the thing to do, but what some people do to move badly worn tractors. Because they know the first thing most people look for is smoke, on start up.

 

[daugen]

A little trick he learned of, that some folks selling older tractors in need of bad repair use. NOT the thing to do, but what some people do to move badly worn tractors. Because they know the first thing most people look for is smoke, on start up.[/QUOTE]


nice, didn't folk use to put sawdust in the rear diff to quiet it down?
I sure hope that instructor followed up his sixty second special with a full overhaul.

ok, now I'm curious....what did the grit do? rough up the rings so they sealed better?

it's way off topic, but as many people who love K&N filters also refuse to use them because their higher air flow
allegedly comes at the cost of more grit getting through. I'm sure the K&N folk might object to that , but I've read it time and time again.
maybe like Soundguy says, it doesn't matter. Hey, think of all those snowblower engines out there with zero filtration.

Just wondering if over the years I have been brainwashed to replace too many spark plugs. It sure seems like I have been.
But I'm a preventative maintenance guy, I hate to have things break. I've had some training in predictive maintenance, and perhaps I'm treating
my mowers too well...

so what will a dirty plug accomplish? probably a little down on power but???, probably less fuel efficient, and might not start too easily.
I have one neighbor that rides around on a junk rider that is constantly missing, burns oil, and just sounds awful. I would not sit on a mower like that...it has to work right or I'm going to fix it...because that's what I was taught to do growing up. This stuff was expensive and you had to take care of it.

I think we can all agree that grit is for lapidary tumblers. But how long to leave that plug in there? How many times can I clean it?
And of course, am I fussing over piddly nonsense. that wouldn't be the first time.

 

[ETpilot]

Years ago I went to a engine rebuilding/repair school in Detroit and the one thing I do recall is them preaching NOT to clean plugs. They showed us tear downs of the damage it can cause and harped on us to just replace them so I guess that stuck with me. Also never really know without additional testing if it is firing correctly and really are just prolonging the inevitable replacing of the plug. I rather spend the money and know it is new than take any chances.
Just a different thought process is all....

You would not use this maintenance suggestion if you were buying aircraft spark plugs. There are the cheaper aircraft plugs and the more expensive aircraft plugs. I run the more expensive times 12 each. I clean and rotate every oil change.

 

[Clint S]

Had to chuckle on the "little grit" comment. Reminds me of the story a guy I worked with told about when he was going to mechanics school. A dealer would donate a couple old tractors to them a year to rebuild, repaint, and resell. Can't remember the brand, but it smoked bad. The instructor showed them a 60 second overhaul. With the tractor running about 1/2 - 3/4 throttle, and air filter hose removed, he introduced about 3 pinches of scouring powder into the throat of the carb. And sure enough, it quit smoking in abut a minute.

A little trick he learned of, that some folks selling older tractors in need of bad repair use. NOT the thing to do, but what some people do to move badly worn tractors. Because they know the first thing most people look for is smoke, on start up.

The old Bon Ami re ring been around for a while . Supposedly breaks up glaze .
Bon Ami fix - Yesterday's Tractor Co. (#476178)

 

[rsallen]

Cleaning plugs/filing plugs ain't worth the hassle unless the piece just needs to get working for the short term.
A well running piece of machinery does not foul plugs. They run fine until the electrode is a waste.