In a small quest to determine why, after adding a header and a CAI, my 1/4 times increased by .3 seconds, while adding about .7 MPH, I've pulled my plugs. These are all NGK BKR6E plugs, gapped to spec at .043 inches. Since I went to the track for the 2nd time this week, I've replaced these with Denso Resistor plugs. Engine felt smoother, but no better timeslips were to be found. I would have gone with NGK's again, but the local dealer only had 3 plugs. Go figure. So, I went to a foreign parts store and all they had were Denso and Bosch.

You be the judge:

http://www.tcnj.edu/~sysant2/new/4%20plugs.JPG
http://www.tcnj.edu/~sysant2/new/closeup.JPG
http://www.tcnj.edu/~sysant2/new/BKR6E.JPG

anyone? By comparing with pics from my Haynes manual, it might be high speed glazing....Maybe I got a bad tank of gas that started some detonation until the knock sensor made the ecu retard the timing a bit?

its kinda hard to tell from the blurry pic and low light, but they seem to look fine. the ceramic piece should have a slight brown color to it with no white spots. white spots indicate detonation. make sure they are not oily, which may indicate an oil burning problem. a strong odor of gas will indicate your engine running rich.

Chris,

they are not too bad. Still, I believe there are a bit too many carbon deposited on the plugs. Did you have them BEFORE you added the CAI and header or were those plugs installed with the CAI/Header?

In any case, carbon indicates the presence of richer mixture or a need for slightly stronger spark. I would vote for the second option since you should actually gap the BKR6Es to 0.031-0.035 inches wgich actually IS THE FSM specfied value. 0.043 is for the platinums only, you need a smaller gap for the coppers. Haynes is wrong in this respect, it specifies 0.043 for all. The FSM is different.

Chris

i gap my non platnium plugs around .044 and they run fine with no fouling.

Nice to know.

I'd rather go with FSM suggestions though.

Chris

heres the explaination why no power was gained but the revs felt smoother..
no power is actually gained by having new electrodes(plugs)

the revs feel smoother becuase the spark doesnt have to burn past the deposits on the plug..
youll also gain smoothness by replacing your cap and rotor..


those plugs look like my plugs when i pulled them out of my car..

according the the haynes that would be a too hot.

Sorry for the blurry pics. But, they all look like picture #2. Ashy, light tan deposits everywhere.

I put these plugs in in May, after the CAI, but before the header. I checked the Denso plugs that I put in Friday (before I raced 4 passes at the track....figure they are about 250 miles young) and they still look brand new. I don't know if that's enough time for them to actually build up deposits. . .

Thanks for the replies. keep em comin :)

how many miles on those plugs? 10-15k?
they look like you've been using some gas additive (orange/rust color on the grounds) but maybe that's because they're gapped way too wide.
i'd suggest a new set of bkr6e's or ngk plats (gapped correctly)

Ric
97 se-r w/bkr6e's @ .035"

Good call Teal. Yes, they have a little over 10K miles. I did use a fuel additive: Redline SL-1, but that was just recently. These plugs looked like that before the additive, but I hadn't used any additives before then.

Looks like I'll be making my gap smaller....

could the fouling be created from having cold range plugs and idling in the staging lanes for a long time?

those plugs aren't fouled, just a bit used ;) iirc, heat range #6 is the standard isn't it? #5 being hotter and #7 colder.
none of them would/should foul in the staging lanes, on an otherwise decently running engine anyway.

Ric

ok, sounds like the consensus is that the plugs are alright, just in need of replacement with a smaller gap. thanks!