Spark plugs --- cleaning ?

This is a very basic question......

I've got some significant oil fouling on the plugs of one of my daily drivers --- was bad enough to cause some misfiring. The cause has been fixed, so the oil won't be coming back.

Rather than waste $$$ on a set of new plugs.....because other than the oil, the plugs are in excellent shape and only have a few hundred miles on them.

Can I just clean them up with some suitable solvent (e.g., brake cleaner, gasoline, IPA, etc.) ?? What have you guys done successfully ?

Thanks.

 

What kind of plugs are they, standard or Iridium. The standard ones use alcohole with Q tips. The Iridium is vey fragile to touch use electrical cleaner spray see what happens. Should work.

 

The oil is baked on. use a spark plug cleaner or small sand blaster. If iridium is delicate stay away from it with the nozzle. One thing about spark plugs. I do not understand why people use the double iridium plugs. It seems that because Ferrari engines use more oil that a normal engine the porcelain gets fouled and shorts out way before the iridium gets used up.

 

Worth a try, if they still cause a miss, then replace them. In my limited experience, once a plug has fouled, I had poor luck with restoring them...I always ended up replacing them...that is what I do now, as I found the effort a waste of time.

 

Good point --- it is stuck on there pretty good.

The plugs are not Iridium.

I think I'll give it a go with a small wire brush and some gasoline and see what happens.

Thanks for the suggestions all.

 

Try a stiff non-metallic brush. You'd hate to leave any little bits in there that don't get washed out.

 

We use a sander blaster for our high $$ race plugs.

 

Me too but you have to clean them well when done.


That's all the old plug cleaners were, just miniature bead blasters with no window.

 

I have one of the old Champion plug cleaners, still going strong. After cleaning and blowing them clear, it allows one to test the plugs under pressure for misfire, nice feature. Don't know if they still make them.

 

I occasionally bead blast spark plugs. Works fine in a pinch, takes about five seconds. I rinse them with carb cleaner and blast them good with compressed air when they're done to make sure they're clean.

 

A small (bench top size) bead blast cabinet is definitely something I need to add to my workshop soon ---- been on my "want" list for a long time now.

 

Ricambi told me Champion plugs work better in a TR then Denso plugs. I wouldn't know, I have no trouble with my Denso plugs.

 

Ferrari used Champion for decades and finally after having so much trouble with them switched to NGK. We all cheered.

 

We use NGK plugs in all of the Ferraris that we service. I have noticed that TRs idle smoother and run better with NGK iridium plugs than with the original Champion plugs.

 

Exactly why we replaced so many under warranty.

 

I don't even use Champion in my lawn mowers! NGK all the way, especially carb cars.

 

Yep.
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