So I found the cause of my valve tap

[adjake]

Any ideas as to how this happened. I am guessing that the cheap *** wires I had on there had something to do with it. Also just replaced a really dirty air filter... detonation? a/f off a bit? That was a Bosch platinum 2 ie dual electrode also note that the top terminal is completely gone, never found it, disintegrated?

Any way to clean out the chamber and sealing surface of the plugs without getting all the, whatever black stuff is in there into the cylinder? This was out of the #4 cylinder closest to the firewall. The other plugs looked pretty good.

Funny thing is that it did not seem down on power and ran pretty good. It is now only marginally smoother. Really hope that I did not do any other damage.

[metalman]

Holy moly!

[RotorNutFD3S]

:eek:

It could have been detonation, but if it was, you're going to have some damage on the piston head as well more than likely.

[Doppelgänger]

I don't trust all of those "fancy" plugs, I just run the regular NGK plugs.
So how bad is the misfire now that you've replaced the plugs?

[metalman]

I don't trust all of those "fancy" plugs, I just run the regular NGK plugs.

My thoughts as well. NGK wires too.

[adjake]

It's running pretty smooth right now. Learned my lesson the hard way, never ever buy cheap ****. Funny how I keep learning that over and over and over and over and......

Put in ngk plugs and wires everything seems ok for now

[metalman]

Hopefully you have no significant piston damage.

[Doppelgänger]

^ or valve seat damage...

[adjake]

Kind of just hoping at this point that everything is cool.

[RotorNutFD3S]

Find someone with a borescope (make sure it's one with a light!), take the spark plug out and take a look in there. Detonation on the piston will be immediately evident as it looks like chips or chunks missing out of the metal. If the scope is really flexible, you should be able to look up at the valves and seats as well.

[MoD_Scotty]

It's running pretty smooth right now. Learned my lesson the hard way, never ever buy cheap ****. Funny how I keep learning that over and over and over and over and......

Put in ngk plugs and wires everything seems ok for now

yet the NGK plus are way cheaper than the Bosch ones are

[ben91]

4 is running hot. Needs at least one of the following
more timing
better coolant flow
better fuel distribution

*I'm assuming it's not detonation because you would have heard it right? Plus car's got a knock sensor.

"cheap" plug wires won't do this.

[jester911]

I found out that at least on my Pcar the multielectrode plugs are crap.
When I first got the car I let the guy at the parts store talk me into them. I put them in and for the first week the car ran fine. Then it started misfiring like mad. I finally pulled the plugs and reinstalled the old ones that I had removed and the car ran fine.

I took the new ones back and exchanged them for the original spec Bosch plugs. I found out later from a buddy that races Pcars that they found the multielectrode plugs can actually ground out on the head and burn up a piston. This may happen in other cars as well but I have no data to back that up.


I learned my lesson on plugs though.

[adjake]

4 is running hot. Needs at least one of the following
more timing
better coolant flow
better fuel distribution

*I'm assuming it's not detonation because you would have heard it right? Plus car's got a knock sensor.

"cheap" plug wires won't do this.

Never heard anything other than what sounded like a valve tap. I am going to flush the cooling system today. I'll have to keep a close eye on it. Is there any way to clean the plug sealing surface without getting the crud into the cylinder? Never through a code other than my ongoing egr issue.

[jesseealexander]

multielectrode plugs are crap for the reasons jester stated, and the fact that you will most likely make less power and the fuel would burn irregularly because instead of one spark in the center, and depending on the plug, there could be up to 4 much smaller sparks that are offset by the placement of the electrode.