MG MGB and MGB GT Tech Talk
has anyone ever had a sparkplug fail or be a dud BUT still look pretty decent? and secondly what should seafoam do (of benefit) if I have it sucked in through the dizzy advance pipe into the manifold? what about pouring it in through the carbs? I got a can and dont really believe all it says on the tin so asking for opinions
I bought a new set of plugs a couple of years ago, one was bad right out of the box.
I just added the Seafoam as directed on the bottle to the oil and gas. Haven't noticed anything. Was I supposed to see smoke coming out of the tailpipe, improved performance or ??
Michael
I believe it should help remove excess carbon, free sticky rings or valves. If your engine is in good shape you probably won't see a difference.
the vac advance line's a little small. If you don't have another fitting you can use on the manifold, try a squirt bottle into the carb.
brake booster lines are great. (but you have to work the throttle to keep it running). get engine warm first. Use from half to the full can. let it sit half an hour or more before restarting.
Death to bugs!
I had a Bosch platinum plug go bad in a very short time - like within a couple of hundred miles. Seems the platinum overlay on one of the electrodes flaked off. For some reason I thought the electrodes were solid platinum but I found out differently and some on here at the time indicated that was a problem with them. I went back to my old standard, Champion N9YC copper plugs, at the time. I guess any can fail early - lose seal, be out of spec for resistance, have ceramic insulator crack. I think I have NGKs now. I had tried the NGKs years ago and didn't like them. But now they seem to work fine.
Certainly possible to have a bad plug that looks good. If one is suspect move it to a different and see if the miss follows the plug...
Dick
I found out early on that my B just plain doesn't like platinum plugs. Went back to NGK's, runs great!
sea foam can work wonders! to see smoke, as stated, you must run it through the intake on the carb(s). i disconnected the tube coming from the tappet cover, put on a funnel, and poured 1/3 of the bottle into the funnel, 1/3 into the gas tank, and 1/3 into the oil filler cap.
Re: seafoam, search up 'seafoam education'. Jack has done a comprehensive post about it, I followed it and it helped somewhat.
Seafoam is probably not a cure all. I run it through the gas tank on the Harley about once a year. Bike sits for a year at a time while I'm at work and the Seafoam does smooth it out a bit. Also smokes slightly initially.
Dick is correct, appearance is no indication of plug performance.
Isolate bad plug by removing spark plug wires one at a time.
Once dead cylinder is identified, interchange that plug with another.
If the miss follows, bad plug, if not it is the plug lead or other ignition issue.
As to platinum plugs, I have also had bad luck with them, use regular Delco in the V6 standard NKG in the old 4.
Good luck.
I just went throught the Bosch platinum trial a few months ago. Basil Adams set me straight: I do not think the B motor likes them. I would have thought if the plug is correct heat range (or equavalent) it should be okay. Not so. Went back to NGK's and the car runs very well.
Shareef,
Our cars do not particularly benefit from platinum plugs or other exotic metal plugs, but are very happy with conventional plugs. It's not the brand necessarily, but rather the design. I use Bosch racing plugs in my race car, and Bosch Super Plus plugs work very well in street applications; p/n for street cars is 7900.
Dick
Maybe try this product??:)
BG 44K®
BG 44K® safely, rapidly and thoroughly removes engine deposits in combustion chambers, intake manifolds, ports and on valves. It restores flow in fuel injectors and cleans the entire fuel system. BG 44K® improves fuel economy and reduces exhaust emissions. It restores that "like new" driveability to an engine's performance and keeps it running better, longer and more efficiently. Add one can or bottle to fuel tank at fill up. Catalytic converter and oxygen sensor safe.
Having installed thousands of sparkplugs in my lifetime, I have come across several that were defective right out of the box. None of them showed any indication of external damage. When I used to work in a marina, we would winterize inboard engines with a spray lubricant made by Mercury Marine. It was a fog that sent billowing clouds of smoke, out the exhaust, until the engine finally died due to lack of oxygen. Another product that we had great results with was Techron. It will clean out your fuel system, whether carburetorated or fuel injected. RAY
A half bottle of seafoam in my gas tank started my car when all else failed. Coincidence or not, I now love the stuff.