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Blowing Sparkplugs

Stumper

FBBO Gold Member
FBBO Gold Member
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Location
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Ok, I ran across something I’ve never encountered - or heard about before. Looking at a car with a 440 in it. PO tells me he had a problem with it “blowing plugs” initially. By blowing he says that a couple times it blew the centers out of the plug, electrode and porcelain??? Not sure if it was same cylinder each time. He claims the plugs would run fine for a bit and then one would blow - as described... He also says the he switched to NGK plugs and it solved the problem. Supposedly a fairly normal 10 or 11:1 compression motor, nothing out of the ordinary. I’ve never heard of this before and honestly struggle seeing it? Thoughts??
 
What was the plugs that blew out? All the same brand? Quality name brand, or some no name chinese stuff?
 
Ive had that happen ,the centers completely disappear. . The electrode gone. Those were champion plugs as well. Never did solve the issue.
 
Champion plug construction is not the best or strongest. NGK is a much better plug and will hold up much longer. I buy Zenoah engines and they come with Champs and first thing we do is throw them away and use NGK.
 
Only engines I ever knew that had a reputation for spittin' plugs was the Ford 5.4....
and those were $100 plugs it chucked.
 
The Ford issue is the whole plug spittin' out of the threads in the cylinder head, wasn't it?
 
Wow, didn’t think this was as common an issue. Actually, I thought the guy was blowing smoke for some reason.. What the heck would cause the center of a plug to blow out?? I’ve run cheap Champion, Autolite plugs in higher compression motors than this one - at much higher RPMs, and never had the problem.
 
Ive had that happen ,the centers completely disappear. . The electrode gone. Those were champion plugs as well. Never did solve the issue.

Slimt - do you mean you never figured out why it was happening in your motor? Did different plugs help? Did your issue also show up after the plugs had been run a bit - not immediately?
 
I wonder if it is a timing issue? Too much timing for whatever gas the engine is running so it detonates - that can be very destructive.
 
I wonder if it is a timing issue? Too much timing for whatever gas the engine is running so it detonates - that can be very destructive.
I found some references on line related to premature detonation causing issues like this although usually more melting of the porcelain / electrodes..
 
Slimt - do you mean you never figured out why it was happening in your motor? Did different plugs help? Did your issue also show up after the plugs had been run a bit - not immediately?
No. What was left of the electrodes ,they were black. And the engine was running for a period of time. I couldnt figure out why it was popping so much till I pulled the plugs
 
Had it happen to me two seasons ago in my boat. Champion plugs, blew the entire center out, never saw anything like that before. No other issues with the engine, just a defective plug.
 
I found some references on line related to premature detonation causing issues like this although usually more melting of the porcelain / electrodes..
Yeah, I remember something about that years ago also....
 
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