When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Spark plug and cylinder condition. What's your thoughts?
I don't want to lead anyone towards a certain mindset with what my truck may or may not be doing, so I'll just post the specs of my truck and a couple pictures, and I'd like opinions as to what may be the issue.
Plug looks fine to me. Some may say that it looks like a lean burn, but I think the ethanol and detergents in fuel today give the plugs a little more brown than the grey they used to have. Nearly every (good running) vehicle spark plug I’ve checked in the last 10-15 years looks like yours.
Small engines are a different story because I strictly run non-oxy and zero ethanol fuel. With the proper jetting and settings, the plugs will be slightly grey.
I can’t say much about your other picture, possible carbon from direct injection? May need more info to tell.
Looks identical to the ones I just changed on my 14. Buddy at the dealership said it’s normal. I thought I had a miss so I changed them. Still have the shudder/miss every now and again, but at least I can rule out plugs.
Here are my six I just changed this weekend. Truck has 97k but no clue on the plug age. They were all around .035 gap. I had a slight miss at idle you could feel. now it is so smooth.
Basically, I've noticed a considerable drop in fuel mileage over the last 10,000 miles or so (16.5 to 13.5 hand calc). I dropped in some Techron injector cleaner and have always tried to steer clear of cheap gas. Changed air filter, make sure tires are well inflated and balanced. No modifications, so I figured I'd check the plugs. The plug and piston are from the front passenger position. Plug was gaped properly, but I was concerned about the color, as well as the sediment in the plug shaft and the color of the piston. When I checked this, I also saw that I was well below full on my oil level. I had about 5-6k on the current oil, so I decided to change it and watch for any drop. I've got about 4k on this round and oil is keeping level.
With all this, I'm still not seeing my old numbers. I'm trying to figure out if I have an issue with the engine and the color of the plug and such. I'm not losing coolant, so I wouldn't think it's a head gasket. It's not idling rough or missing. The only difference I could possibly think of that's different from other times is that the fans go into high speed more often than they used to. I get that it's hot, but I've never had my fans spin up so high for so long, but
again the coolant level is good.
The color of the piston head might be due to the camera, might not be the actual color due to light diffraction.
You will need to take a picture with a light equipped bore-scope to get a true color picture.
Your plugs look normal for your mileage and the oil look clean, no sign of coolant.
The drop in MPG might be due to a lot of factors, to many to go thru here. If you are truly worried about your engine, take it to a dealer and have them take a look, the peace of mind might be worth the $125 diagnostics fee, especially since you are still in your 5year/60k miles powertrian warranty, and if they find anything, then can fix it at no charge to you.
I just finished checking every plug for proper gap. Each one was at .055+. Adjusted each one back to .049. Got a full tank, tires are checked, and air filter is clean. We'll see how well she does over the next week or so.
Each plug was consistent in color, with no questionable fluid, so I've got going for me, which is nice.
06-18-2018, 12:20 PM
Spark plug and cylinder condition. What's your thoughts?
