Spark plug condition tells me...?

[KINGPIN33]

I just pulled out all my plugs to inspect the condition of my car... Well not so great news... All of them were pretty much black and had carbon all over them. It leads me to think that I'm burning oil... Alot of it b/c some of them are even slightly wet. I'm running crazy heavy oil 20W/50 + Lucas

It's not the valve cover gaskets nor the valve stem seals, as they were replaced. After cleaning the spark plugs, the car started much easier. It didn't need a 2nd cranking.

If it were burning coolant, would the spark plugs be clean?
Also, when i look into the spark plug hole and see the piston, is it suppose to be wettish looking after the engine has warmed up? I defintely see a lot of carbon build up in there.

Does this sound like worn valve guides ... I should do another compression test, but there seems to be so much carbon buildup in there that it will screw around with my results.

This car has been a real pita... I haven't even registered it on the road yet in the 3 years of owning it

Thanks.

 

[Nick M]

Pics.

Heavy carbon is from hydro carbons. Either oil or fuel, look at the smoke. Also, unless they are new, get rid of those old ones.

 

[KINGPIN33]

Pics.

Heavy carbon is from hydro carbons. Either oil or fuel, look at the smoke. Also, unless they are new, get rid of those old ones.

they were new and only have 25 km... not even a 100km on them!!! I got white smoke coming out of the tail pipe... The smoke seems to dissappear after i drive it around for 1km. The oil in the car is brand new too with 3 km max on it. I will try and get pics tonight for sure.

 

[isnms]

http://www.ingfatrygg.se/Spark_plug_diagnostics.html

 

[KINGPIN33]

http://www.ingfatrygg.se/Spark_plug_diagnostics.html

Thanks! Do you guys think its safe to remove a spark plug, leave it opened, remove the injector clip for that cylinder and fire up the car? The car would be idling on 5 cylinders only. I wanna see if that combustion chamber is has oil squirting all over the place.

 

[Nick M]

Safe how? You won't get hurt, but you are running the risk of contamination.

 

[KINGPIN33]

Safe how? You won't get hurt, but you are running the risk of contamination.

Can you please elaborate what you mean by that? Contaminating the cylinder walls or myself with oil? If the cylinder walls, I've left the bottom block exposed all winter before I had the chance to put the cylinder head back on the block.

 

[Boss302]

Can you please elaborate what you mean by that? Contaminating the cylinder walls or myself with oil? If the cylinder walls, I've left the bottom block exposed all winter before I had the chance to put the cylinder head back on the block.

your joking right?


if it's white smoke blowing it's coolant flat out nothing else burns white. but with you saying the plugs are black then i'd say it's oil, it burns blue, look at the smoke closer it's hard to tell the color diff. sometimes.

 

[KINGPIN33]

your joking right?


if it's white smoke blowing it's coolant flat out nothing else burns white. but with you saying the plugs are black then i'd say it's oil, it burns blue, look at the smoke closer it's hard to tell the color diff. sometimes.

That's the thing... I do not see any blue etc in the smoke...
I'm beginning to think that I am burning coolant/oil/maybe running rich?..
I marked the overflow tank the other night when the car was dead cold. Then I ran the engine for a good 30mins ... let it fullly cool down and then checked the overflow resivoir again.. It had gone down about 5mm.

 

[Nick M]

If you pull unfiltered air into the engine, you risk contaminating the engine with particulates.

 

[johnathan1]

Hmmm...sounds like your head gasket, or a cracked head/block.

Brake fluid burns white, just like coolant, but it smells very different.

 

[tookwik4u89]

Most plugs I've pulled from oil burners are brown, grayish caked on. Black would be rich. It's not easy for many people to tell the color of the exhaust smoke for some reason. The smoke you see may just be condensation if its cold there, if its coolant you can smell it too.

 

[Doward]

Tranny fluid also burns white

Post pics of the spark plugs, all 6, marked as to which cylinder they are from.

 

[KINGPIN33]

Most plugs I've pulled from oil burners are brown, grayish caked on. Black would be rich. It's not easy for many people to tell the color of the exhaust smoke for some reason. The smoke you see may just be condensation if its cold there, if its coolant you can smell it too.

I'm pretty sure its coolant loss now I'm burning it for sure... I marked my overflow tank the other night with a pencil when the car was dead cold and then ran the car for 30 mins.. After that, the overflow tank dropped 5mm .

So much for the BHG job I did.

 

[starscream5000]

Have you checked for coolant leaks in the hoses first before you go the BHG route?

 

[KINGPIN33]

Have you checked for coolant leaks in the hoses first before you go the BHG route?

Yup. I've been chasing this problem down for over a year now i think... I'm like 90% sure i got some crack somewhere in the coolant passages either in the block or head.