Truck felt down on power recently so I decided to do a plug change today. Took just under hour and a half to do them from start to finish. Here's how they looked.

plugs are in order from firewall to front going from top of pic down. same for the passenger side pic below.

drivers side.


passenger side.

 

What kind of plugs are they how many miles, and did you figure out what the deposits are on the ground strap. What are your mods.
jeff

 

They were motorcraft 12FM1 plugs. The truck has 16k miles on it. Current mods are 4lb lower, intake, headers, high flow mids, SB catback, ftvb and psp chip. Not sure what the buildup is was hoping someone here knew.

 

No wonder you are down on power.

 

They don't look that bad to me. That almost looks like ash deposits? Have you been using fuel additive?

Rich

 

I ran some race gas a few months back.

 

If it was leaded then that could be lead deposits.
jeff

 

Those plugs look like they have oil on them. Going from your list of mods I would suggest that you install an oil seperator on the line going from the PCV to the manifold on the passenger side and the line from the valvecover to the intake boot on the driver side, with the increased boost you are causing a lot of blowby and a increse in manifold vaccuum(pre blower). Doing this should stop your oil problem. I had the same problem on my truck with about the same mods. This will also help to stop oil consumption and keep your intercool from clogging up with oil scum.

Dave

 

I think your all right ( hows that for staying neutral )

http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/engine/plugs.html

ASH FOULED



As shown below, a buildup of combustion deposits stems primarily from the burning of oil and/or fuel addatives during normal combustion.

These are normally nonconductive. However, when heavier deposits are allowed to accumulate over long mileage periods, they can "mask" the spark, resulting in a plug misfire condition.

http://www.spark-plugs.co.uk/pages/t.../diagnosis.htm

Deposits



Insualtor nose and electrodes encrusted with a build of deposits - usually off white in colour.

This is often caused by oil leakage through the piston rings or valve seals. Could be due to the wrong viscosity of oil being used.


And as Rich said, they're not too far off off normal wear depending how long they've been in there ???

Normal life



Growth of the plug gap during a plug's working life is normal. However, the increased gap will mean the spark is less efficient and hence fuel is wasted and strain is put on the ignition system. Plugs are at the end of servicable life. Replace plugs as a set.


Either way I'd go with a diff plug to see if it burns diff,
what did you put back in ???

 

NGK TR6 gapped at .036"