Broken spark plug insulator at WOT

[87geeinn]

Soooo, went to beat up on a coworker and his 350z today and right after rolling into WOT, car falls on it's face and I see 10.4* of knock. After I made sure that the feces did not seep through and get on the upholstery, I checked the oil pressure immediately. Whew. Drove around the rest of today with a slight misfire and very subtle backfire every couple of seconds. Figured it was something ignition related by the sound of it. Took all of ten minutes of troubleshooting to find the insulator completed detached on the #3 plug (see video below). Only thing I can think of is that I may have dropped the plug before installing it--but knowing myself--I wouldn't have installed that plug. Has anyone seen this before? Note: I've also been having hard cold starts for quite some time now. Will have to see if cold starts are better tomorrow AM to see if the issue was related. Autolite 23's gapped at .034.

 

[QwikStop]

Ive never seen a plug do that, perhaps just a bad plug out of the box.....something I'm gonna check from now on.

 

[Chuck Leeper]

Yep. I have seen that same thing. Mine was on a new plug. I found it when I was checking the gap, prior to install.

 

[TurboTdr3.8]

I found that also in my years on knuckle busting on cars , It was found by a skip now on a certain cylinder, quality has gone out the window on a lot of car parts lately .

 

[TurboBuRick]

Thats what you get with Autolite

 

[TurboTdr3.8]

Thats what you get with Autolite

My was a AC Delco plug

 

[BEATAV8]

.034 is a pretty wide gap.

 

[TurboDave]

Happened to me on my 87 years ago when I had a set of Champions in it. However, the insulator on mine shattered and went through the turbo, taking it out!! That's when I switched to a TA49(good excuse for an upgrade), and changed to Autolites. Running 24's at .029

 

[SHADOWII]

Saw the same thing a while back, my son actually found it and brought it to my attention. Thought it was a fluke! I am using NGK's now in my iron heads. As BeataV8 stated, are you having any problems w/the .034" gap? I closed mine to .028" to avoid the flame-out from higher boost levels.

 

[psycho6cyl]

Seems like youve been.getting some gremlins lately. Hope nothing was hurt.. am I right in thinking its better for spark to die than fuel?

 

[87geeinn]

Seems like youve been.getting some gremlins lately.

Ain't that the truth!

.034 is a pretty wide gap.

I mind the gap...meaning, I check my coil pack/ignition module regularly and always run good quality wires. Never been an issue, even at high boost.

Thats what you get with Autolite

Other than this, I've run Autolites for years and they've never given me a problem. Maybe I'm rolling the dice, since I replaced this set with Autolites as well. I'm just not convinced at all of the hype regarding the other plugs...but I could be wrong.

Thanks for the replies. Glad to see I'm not the only one.

 

[JimP]

Likely defective or I would bet it had been dropped at some point while in the package at the parts store. You are lucky the insulator was intact and stayed out of the cylinder that would have caused a lot of havoc. I have sent back packs of plugs at the parts store when the guys at the counter pick the parts and throw them on the counter.

 

[GNONYX]

You should patented that and call it flowing insulator for better spark control
Thanks for the video

 

[626gn]

Forget the damn plug... When's the rematch?

 

[larrym]

hehehe I run my NGKs at .040 ............ TR6 module and CNP LS coils.

 

[87geeinn]

You should patented that and call it flowing insulator for better spark control
Thanks for the video

Our patented spark plug insulator design uses proprietary boost-activated technology to shroud the electrode during high pressure cylinder environments, thus allowing for a more controlled combustion event. Users of AutoAwesome spark plugs have seen 20HP gains and 2MPG fuel economy*.

*Results not typical

 

[turbo nasty]

Seriously...Run NGK plugs. Do this...go to parts store and pull 6 plugs of each brand and note the insulators positioning, ground strap to electrode, etc. NGK will be the best of the bunch.

 

[87geeinn]

Seriously...Run NGK plugs. Do this...go to parts store and pull 6 plugs of each brand and note the insulators positioning, ground strap to electrode, etc. NGK will be the best of the bunch.

I may just do that. Considering the relatively low cost of even the fancy-pants plugs, I guess it wouldn't hurt. FWIW, I did notice the ground straps on the new Autolites were not centered over the electrode, so I carefully bent them into place before I installed them.

 

[BEATAV8]

I like the NGKs. Also really like the Autolite Racing AR132, AR133, AR134, AR135. The recessed tip works well with boost.

 

[getdowngranny]

I like the NGKs. Also really like the Autolite Racing AR132, AR133, AR134, AR135. The recessed tip works well with boost.

X2 for a recessed tip plug. NGK YR5 here personally.


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