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Fouled plug pics...diagnosis please?

15K views 18 replies 14 participants last post by  crazyflyboy30  
#1 ·
I would say the article is dealing with race applications. Your plug looks good! I can't tell the exact color, but the rule of thumb is the residue you see when you look at it should be a straw color. Light to medium tan....If you are toward the black color side of the spectrum, it is rich. Toward the white side too lean. Yours looks like a nice even tan. Unless you are having issues with it, I wouldn't worry. Plugs build up deposits just like the piston, head and valves. A plug would be fouled when there is enough build up of deposits that it shorts between the electrode in the center and ground (outside at the threads) instead of going to the strap.
 
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#1 ·
I would say the article is dealing with race applications. Your plug looks good! I can't tell the exact color, but the rule of thumb is the residue you see when you look at it should be a straw color. Light to medium tan....If you are toward the black color side of the spectrum, it is rich. Toward the white side too lean. Yours looks like a nice even tan. Unless you are having issues with it, I wouldn't worry. Plugs build up deposits just like the piston, head and valves. A plug would be fouled when there is enough build up of deposits that it shorts between the electrode in the center and ground (outside at the threads) instead of going to the strap.
 
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#3 ·
ditto. plug looks great I wouldn't touch a thing.
 
#4 ·
^^^^^^Ditto look good to me!
 
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#5 · (Edited)
Well actually fouling of a plug should be 1 of 2 things. excess fuel ( flooding, too rich mixture), or Oil.

Just a quick glance it looks like oil has been on those plugs. Have you noticed any consumption??? It may be getting on them but burning off before you actually pull them out. I'm using a iMac computer with high def screen and that second photo clearly shows BLACK color. Thats either excessive fuel or its been in a oil bath. Honestly it looks like a greasy black to me which indicates its getting saturated by some oil. It could be getting on it, burning off, and eventually fouling. But the heat bakes it off before you pull it out

Notice any BLUE smoke from exhaust??? That would tell you oil is getting in the chamber and being burned by the plug. BLACK would indicate too much fuel mixture. But the second and third thread of the plug in the second photo looks like its had oil on it to me.

Howdy from a fellow Kentuckian! Allen County here down on the TN Ky border. Closest City would be Bowling Green
 
#18 ·
JohnnyReb,
I would have my Polaris turnover but when I switched off the choke, it would die. After a few attempts of this, including letting it idle on choke for about 60 seconds, I tried to turn off choke and gun the fuel. Is this flooding/excess fuel? What do you recommend in this situation?
Thanks.
 
#6 ·
Wow, it amazes me how people looking at the same pictures can come to totally opposite conclusions.
 
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#7 ·
Right on thanks everybody for the advice. Most people have said the plugs look ok but this is why I post in a lot of places. I like the outlier opinions too!

JohnnyReb: Just got this bike last year from the original owner (its a '11) and I've only put about 75 miles on it since (no life this year!). Total miles on it is about 800 so its fairly new still.

I don't have any experience at all at running tests on plugs but from what I've gathered apparently a common practice is to put a new plug in and pull it out soon to take a reading. If I knew more about how to do this I would give it a try to see what turns up.

Honestly in the miles I've ridden I haven't noticed the exhaust at all. I've been riding by myself so nobody behind me to look either. Soon as I get this maintenance done I'll start paying attention.

And thanks fellow Kentuckian! I've toward the eastern side in Lex. Hopefully I'll be able to make it down to that place in TN just off 75 before it gets too cold. Forget what its called but they advertize something like 600 miles of trails!
 
#8 ·
ok so it hasn't been " fouling" plugs.....you just pulled it to take a exam. I was under the assumption you were having plugs foul and stop working because of something. The black color was a red flag for me if you were actually fouling them. If your not actually having trouble with plugs failing........rock on!
 
#10 ·
Another responder looking at these pics with a high def Mac monitor says he thinks I may have some kind of oil leak. Assuming that's true what would be my next steps in confirming this?

Also, if you look at the tanned ceramic closely you see little dots of stuff maybe fused onto it. I've heard of little parts of aluminum possibly doing this. Any thoughts on this idea?
 
#12 ·
unless your actually fouling the plugs then i wouldn't worry about it. It sure looked like to me there had been some oil on the plug at some point and burned off from heat. But if it isn't causing a actual problem then not much you can do and probably shouldn't do anything. Its usually a result of worn piston rings and some oil getting into the combustion chamber which is burned off with the fuel. Thats where the BLUE smoke comes from. You can have bad piston rings from a bad break in period.....it isn't always a result of being worn out. But again if its not actually causing a problem i wouldn't worry about it. Even if i am right about it, it still looks to be very little. Ive had plugs get so saturated with oil they wouldn't fire anymore. Pull them out and its dripping off. Then you got a problem lol

The spots and aluminum.......thats above my head.
 
#11 ·
is the machine not running right? Why are you asking about the plug? Looking at a couple pictures without knowing why we're looking at them gives very little information on what we're supposed to be finding.

If you're afraid oil is getting in, your next step is a compression test.
 
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#13 ·
Curious....are you using a zero weight oil by chance? Such as 0w-40 ect. That stuff is really thin when it's cold and might be seeping thru a little. IF IF that is the case might try going to a 10w-xx and see if it looks any better later. Personally I think if your not in the article circle the zero weight is a waste
 
#14 ·
I don't understand why you've decided there is a problem? If it's running fine then stop diagnosing imaginary problems. The tip looks perfect, yes there is a little bit of oil on the threads but that could have come from a number of places including but not limited to not running the machine for a while causing the rings to stick in for a little while.

It seems like you are trying to create a problem.

If you're so sure there's a problem and you don't know enough to interpret it yourself, take it to a mechanic and tell them that your worried. They can charge you a few hours labour to tell you that it's running fine

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
 
#15 ·
X2^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
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#17 · (Edited)
Temp seems good.
Little oil on threads but the tip appears clean, is a bit of an interesting pic
Deleted original post for those who may not find humor in it, don't want to offend anyone.
 
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