05-06-2020, 02:57 PM | #1 |
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: queen creek az
Posts: 133
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Fouled plugs
My truck has been parked since 2013, and before that it had barely been driven for a year, so let's say it's been parked 8 years.
Anyways on and off through the years I've kept tank near empty and add a couple of gallons of gas here and there and pour a little gas in the carb and start it, mainly idle. I pulled the plugs this fall and all were fouled, but dry like charcoal, was doing compression test. Later after new years on a cold day needing to move it for house painters, I apparently put too much gas in carb and flooded engine, waited a couple hours still nothing, so pulled out the 4 on the passenger side and used my propane torch on each one, each ignited from the gas still in them and I let them burn with the torch, the carbon got red hot, hit plugs with wire brush while hot and all carbon came off, plugs looked brand new. By the way those plugs were new in 2010 and maybe had 300 miles on them. Put them back in and truck started, driver's side must have cleared out and it went from running horrible to smoothing out. Reason for not pulling driver's side the angle is hard to get on BBC, forgot if small block is same, probably is. I stopped pouring gas in carb and now use starting fluid. I'm thinking I fouled the plugs from priming carb with gas and let truck idle over the years, need to do the driver's side plugs. Anyways the torch and wire brush worked amazing for getting that carbon off, but I read somewhere that could damage plugs or make them load up with carbon again quicker. Also the Edelbrock Performer RPM quadrajet has a very rich idle that can only be leaned out so much, according to Cliff Ruggles Q-Jet expert, need to replace idle tubes in carb with smaller ones, it's set up that way to keep a wild cam idling, but my 396 is mild. Soon it's getting Edelbrock Pro Flo 4 multi port injection, might just buy new plugs again, but only put them on at time of fuel injection. Hopefully the rest of the carbon on the valves (assuming there must be carbon in that area) will clear off from driving with fuel injectors spraying on intake valves and maybe some freeway driving at high rpm, 3.73 gears and TH400. Possible it's oil burning, however compression test was decent. Does it damage spark plugs to heat carbon with propane torch and knock it off with wire brush? Plugs don't cost much but I'm just curious since it worked so good. |
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