What are my CIS spark Plugs telling me

What year Corniche?

Not related to your issue, but EVX NKG haven't been available in the US for quite a while AFAIK - so might indicate a lot of years if not a lot of miles (and that's never good for CIS). Club Plug is showing they should be BKR-5EIX gapped at .032" (for a 2002). Not sure the difference, and the "BKR" look very similar to the "BPR", 4 or 5 = close enough, and EIX is what EVX became so probably OKish. Just curious.

 

That is pretty high pressure for running. If the car hasn't had service for 15+ years, I would have the fuel distributor rebuild as well as the warm up regulator. I just had a 328 that had a hot restart issue but only after sitting for about 45 minutes. The pressure regulator in the distributor head was bad. The rebuild of the distributor head solved the issue.

 

Also, you will want to check all air/vacuum lines and seals for ANY air leakage. Even small amounts of air leakage from old or worn vacuum lines or seals can cause imbalances in the air/fuel mixture leading to the types of conditions you are experiencing. I am not familiar with the layout or individual components on the Corniche, but on some other CIS systems there are rubber seals around the injectors themselves where they enter the intake manifold. If these are not sealing correctly, you will get the rough idle and occasional hard start conditions.

 

When idle is rough, I prefer to use regular plugs instead of thin tips (iridium paladium), as they sustain better bad mixture and / or oil leaks. A slightly hotter plug also helps. Bosh plugs with 4 grounds, are a must for troublesome idle.

Once the issue is sorted out you can revert to the high end plugs.

One of the plug seems oily, could be a faulty valve stem seal or old oil that is now too thin.

As others have suggested, new injectors, new filters, refurbished WUR & Distributor would make it another car. Easy to do it yourself (~$250 worth of parts and testing tools) , and not overly expensive if you prefer to rely on a professional.

 

You've got the right spark plugs for that year/model. If you bought some new ones today, they probably be BPR5EIX (I think NGK discontinued the 4 heat range -- 4 is a very hot plug that's probably not used on anything else (and 5 is close enough), and, as I mentioned, EIX is what replaced EVX. I learned that just living thru, and buying, NGK's electrode design progression from EV (1.0mm Palladium) to EVX (0.8mm Platinum) to EIX (0.7mm Iridium).

The "problem" with CIS is that it has a bunch of very close-fitting parts, very small orifices, and internal/external rubber components as the others have mentioned so any varnish/debris from long disuse (or even just age) is a killer. Going by some online pics of your engine, looks like you have K-Jet CIS, so they've already hit the big three - Fuel Distributor (with internal Pressure Regulator), Warm-Up Regulator, Injector seals. Is this a case of: A. it was running well, and the problem just appeared, or B. You are resurrecting the car from long disuse?

 

To answer your initial question:

Some white deposits (so-so gazoline, or ethanol blend).

On the last picture, we can see the strap of the spark-plug (on the bottom of the photo) is quite thin, so these spark plugs are well used. You should measure the gap, chances it is now larger than it should be.

More generally speaking, I prefer the strap to have two shade of colors: a bit of residues near the ground ring, and cleaner near the tip, this means the spark plug is just the correct temperature. Fully clean strap means too hot, dirty, means too cold. Yours do seem a bit too cold.

Do not take it for granted though, as one should read new spark plugs, not old ones.

 

I think you're OKish. CIS systems run with a regulated system pressure in the 5~6 bar range -- but do find the exact specification and tolerance for your CIS system (they do vary a little).

 

If it saw little use, don't mess with it: no point in an expensive major if tons of crude are just about to be dislodged and could ruin an expensive overhaul.

So for now new spark plugs, new filters, a can of injector cleaners in the tank, fresh fuel, fresg oil, and take it to the highway for a few hundred miles.

Once it has swallowed a few gallons of fresh gazoline, you can check system and control pressure and have a good picture of the required maintenance (new injectors, refurbished k-ket / wur, eventually cleaning of the tanks) .

 

Are all your plugs running the same heat range? I noticed you have quite a collection of different brands there.

The driver's side #1 plug almost looks like a bit of detonation could have been occurring.

Passenger #1 appears to be carbon / gas fouled.

The plugs with exceptionally white insulators could be the wrong heat range for what the motor likes, but that's not always the case.

I just rebuilt my Toyota pickup motor and initially broke it in using slightly colder than stock heat range spark plugs. Only about 300 miles on the plugs, but in this video below, you can see how white the insulators are. Normally with a bit hotter plugs, they end up being more of a tan color after a few thousand miles. I swapped to one heat range hotter and adjusted the air flow meter to run a bit more rich and power on the truck was much better. I also run a pretty wide spark gap, as shown.

I think a new set of plugs in the correct heat range for the Ferrari would do you a world of good over there.

I'd also check the Voltage levels and burn times on all the spark plugs if you have a diagnostic tool handy (after installing fresh plugs). Here's the one I use here:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001TCWMGS/

Ray

 

Here's a handy chart also: