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How is it possible to mess up a spark plug?

F

Fritz Maurer

Well-known Member
For years I hated that little Tecumseh OHV140 screwed to my Miller Roughneck. It had this weird flaccid stumbling at high idle, but would smooth out under load when an arc was struck. That was with a new plug. As time went on, it would get worse until it was impossible to run a bead with all the backfiring, and also getting harder to start. On the way to a service call one day, I stopped and got a new L-48 so I wouldn't have the aggravation of starting it first thing in the morning. It started ok, but was running worse than ever. Besides all the backfiring, I had to have a helper momentarily close the choke every time I struck an arc, or it would quit every time the throttle snapped open. Mercifully, that was a small job and I was out of there in a couple hours, but I was determined to chop that engine up when I got home. Later that year, I needed that welder real bad. I grudgingly pulled it out of the corner where I had stuffed it, knowing what I was in for. The spark plug had gotten broken somehow, and as I started for the mower shop, I noticed a discarded plug mashed into the driveway. I thought I would just clean this one up since I only needed to run the welder a few minutes. It was a long-reach NGK from one of the snowmobiles, and I had to put about six gaskets on it so it would be short enough to fit the Tecumseh. And friends, that nasty old NGK cast a spell on that motor... No-load top-end completely smooth, no more silly antics, starts with piece of rope (never before possible)... that plug is in the engine yet today. All the years previous the plugs were Champions. My rather lengthy question, how can such a simple thing as a piece of wire through some porcelain be so radically different between manufacturers? I refuse to believe that Champion is a junk plug, but the results are what they are.
 
champions are junk plugs. removed one from a tiller today that was doing the same as you stated. new ngk plug and it runs great. once had a cushman truckster that would foul champions quickly, however; ngk's never fouled.
 
Had champion plugs in a Case tractor one cylinder was missing until wire pulled off a little then smoothed out plugs were only couple months old, tossed them replaced with autolite runs great. Don't think champions made like used to be, no count in my book. Have actually watched parts guy drop a box of new plugs while getting them.
 
I found that champion plugs wood run excellent in my race car but foul out in a few minutes on my Honda bike. NGKs would run ok in my wife's Opel but when they quit they quit right then and there leaving her stranded. I think that you need to look at what the engine came with and go from there.
Walt
 
my reasoning is... you cant blame the company for a fault , cause every manufacture has faulty stuff. i have had more faulty plugs in auto lite than champion. my bolens riding mower has over 1100 hrs. on it and on second set of champion plugs in 24 yrs. to me that is excellent service.
but boy when something goes wrong its junk... right?but not so, stuff just wears out. some stuff last longer than other stuff. but if its chinese or taiwan made it is JUNK !
 
Chumpions have always been a plug of last resort. I used to get brand new Stihls w/a bad new Chump plug. After that I threw the chumps away immediately & put in new Bosch. End of problems.
 
I have a JD 14SB hand mower. It does not get used much anymore. Between the weed eater and Round up. When the youngest grand sons got to coming over to play in the yard I remembered how we used to mulch the yard by hand right around where the kids would play. The very next day there would be almost zero clipping carried into the house by the kids.

So I got the mower out and had to clean the carburetor. I got it to run but it would die after a few minutes just like the float was stuck or a plugged fuel line. I had the carburetor off 3-4 times and removed the fuel tank and flushed it and replaced all of the fuel lines. It became a challenge to get it to run right. I finally just put it away two years ago with it not running right.

I got it out last spring and I tried it again. It was doing the same exact thing. My son had an issue at work with one and change the spark plug and it ran fine. I changed the spark plug and it ran perfect. The old plug is not black or even very dirty. You can put it back in and the mower will die under load.

This mower had a Kawasaki motor. Just a few months after that my Honda pressure washer started to do the same kind of thing. Run until hot and then die. I changed the spark plug and it ran fine.

All of these spark plugs where NGKs. I have had very good luck until these showed up. So they even have some issues too. So if I get a small engine that is dying after it is hot I try the spark plug first anymore.
 
6 gaskets wtll make a spark plug much hotter.All tractor plugs have to be stepped up 2 heat ranges with unleaded gas.Ignore this and you will have trouble.Champion has had trouble with spark plug shells breaking off in cylinder heads since production was shifted to Mexico.Had it happen to me on an Olds V8.
 
Wrong heat range.If you put H10s in a Ford you will have constant plug fouling.Put in H12s, fouling stops.
 
The old heat range reccomendations are no longer valid with unleaded gas.What was a good plug 50 years ago wont run in my tractor now.
 
champions are junk, why i dont know but they are, when i worked in a carquest store we used champion brand to cover 'all the weird stuff' lawn and garden, machinery with gas engines and dodge products, which i had one of at the time, throw in a set of champions, and about 5000 ,it was missing and running bad, since i was working there i did reshearch and ordered myself a set of ac plugs for the old power wagon, 'chevy plugs for a dodge' but man you would swear that thing had a new motor, run great! those ac's were still in it when i sold it 2 years later,
 

The metallurgy is wrong on the Champion Plugs..has been all along..
As far back as the early 60's, I have had trouble with the Champion plugs sticking or seizing in the threads..or, just plain not being any good at all when now..
ALWAYS apply "Never Seize" to the threads of any "Champion" plug you install..you may want to remove it someday..
There is just plain something wrong with having to Haul Hard on a long 1/2" Breaker-Bar, to try and remove one..and have it Squawk and Creek all the way out..(IF it don't twist off)..
Ron..
 
A bad plug right out of the box, can not be anything but a shoddy bit of junk.
For engines that foul with one brand of plug, but not with another with both supposed to be the same heat range ? The way it was explained to me by a spark plug co "expert", he said that a different brand plug may actually be several hundred degrees hotter or cooler than another brand in the same HEAT RANGE.
If your engine and how you use it favors a slightly hotter or cooler plug, then your engine will "like brand A, but not brand B. The same or another engine used under different conditions, may "like" brand B better than brand A in that situation.

Some years ago, my lawn / garden stuff had some problems a Ryobi string trimmer and Ryobi leaf blower, both were bad for fouling plugs. I tried Autolite,Champion, AC, NGK, none helped the fouling problem. About that time the E3 spark plug bubble pack caught my eye, as they advertised
gaurnteed, never a fouled plug. I tried them and yes, they never foul in those two Ryobi rigs. Have been in them for 5 years.
Another problem was my bought used rider mower with a 16 hp Briggs opposed twin. This engine was always very hard starting, had to nurse it to life with the throttle closed, then slowly increase rpm and open the choke. I thought it had to have a bad coil as the spark was weak. I replaced the coil with no improvement. I now suspect weak flywheel magnets.
This engine will also miss on one cylinder when heavily loaded. I tried several different common brands of plugs with no improvement.
I thought, the E3"s worked so well on the 2 cycle plug fouling problem, might they also help that old Briggs twin ??. I installed E3 plugs and saw night and day difference. I can flip the throttle open, pull the choke and it lights off easily, instead of having to nurse it to life at idle. Also the heavy load misfire is gone. That convinced me that not all the "fancy" plug designs are just hogwash, the E3"s really work for me.:)
 
(quoted from post at 12:51:00 09/28/12) A bad plug right out of the box, can not be anything but a shoddy bit of junk.
For engines that foul with one brand of plug, but not with another with both supposed to be the same heat range ? The way it was explained to me by a spark plug co "expert", he said that a different brand plug may actually be several hundred degrees hotter or cooler than another brand in the same HEAT RANGE.
If your engine and how you use it favors a slightly hotter or cooler plug, then your engine will "like brand A, but not brand B. The same or another engine used under different conditions, may "like" brand B better than brand A in that situation.

Some years ago, my lawn / garden stuff had some problems a Ryobi string trimmer and Ryobi leaf blower, both were bad for fouling plugs. I tried Autolite,Champion, AC, NGK, none helped the fouling problem. About that time the E3 spark plug bubble pack caught my eye, as they advertised
gaurnteed, never a fouled plug. I tried them and yes, they never foul in those two Ryobi rigs. Have been in them for 5 years.
Another problem was my bought used rider mower with a 16 hp Briggs opposed twin. This engine was always very hard starting, had to nurse it to life with the throttle closed, then slowly increase rpm and open the choke. I thought it had to have a bad coil as the spark was weak. I replaced the coil with no improvement. I now suspect weak flywheel magnets.
This engine will also miss on one cylinder when heavily loaded. I tried several different common brands of plugs with no improvement.
I thought, the E3"s worked so well on the 2 cycle plug fouling problem, might they also help that old Briggs twin ??. I installed E3 plugs and saw night and day difference. I can flip the throttle open, pull the choke and it lights off easily, instead of having to nurse it to life at idle. Also the heavy load misfire is gone. That convinced me that not all the "fancy" plug designs are just hogwash, the E3"s really work for me.:)
Click to expand...

Jon you are wrong, bad plug out of the box can be something as simple as that plug being dropped by a store employee, or in a warehouse....ECT.


Original question......well they could use substandard materials in making the plug to increase sales with a lower price or sell at what others are selling at and make more profit.



Rick
 
H10s came in my tractor new.wont run without fouling now.You have to watch heat range when changing plug makers.
 
Yes, I suppose if dropped on the nose and closed up the gap, but then plug gap is something I check / adjust with any new plug. Could there be other damage other than a bent lower electrode and closed up gap ?? Possible center electrode or insulator damage ?
 
Yes, I suppose if dropped on the nose and closed up the gap, but then plug gap is something I check / adjust with any new plug. Could there be other damage other than a bent lower electrode and closed up gap ?? Possible center electrode or insulator damage ?
 
Jon the c racked insulator is the biggest problem. Sometimes they are too small to see but and cause the plug to misfire.

Rick
 
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