Plug fouling problem

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Longroof79

Rocket Powered Basset Hound
Oct 14, 2008
12,176
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Gainesville, Fl
Hi Guys.
I have had an ongoing issue with one plug that keeps fouling. It's #2 plug. It's usually wet or sooty. When I put a new plug in it, it runs fine. I used to be able to clean the plug and reinstall it. and it would run fine again. Cleaning it doesn't seem to help anymore. There's no smoke, no oil burning.
I have ohm'd out the wires, and it seems okay. #2 being the longest wire out of the bunch.
I set the ohm meter to 20k ohms. It reads 1.25. other shorter wires read around .84 and in that range. I guess that would be a normal range.
What other things should I be looking for? Could it be the coil going bad? It's definitely an ignition related problem.
The car does not get driven like it used to. I start it up, let it run, and usually move to to the side of the house. I would work on it in the shade. It's been more or less off the road to do some bodywork, etc.
The gas is maybe two weeks old. I know gas goes stale and could cause it to run like crap. I sometimes throw in a bottle of dry gas when I put fuel in it.

I'm open to suggestions. Could a bad coil affect the misfiring of one plug? It doesn't seem likely. :?
 

Longroof79

Rocket Powered Basset Hound
Oct 14, 2008
12,176
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Gainesville, Fl
:bump: any thoughts? :?:
 

67rstbkt

G-Body Guru
Sep 30, 2010
556
7
18
Reno, Nevada
A picture of the plug might help. Does it smell like it's covered in gas? Did you make sure you are getting spark to that wire? Have you looked under the distributor cap at the connection there?
 

RockSS

Master Mechanic
Oct 24, 2010
276
2
0
Enfield Ct
I know this might sound weird but try compression test the cylinder. I had an engine years ago with a broken compression ring and it would foul out the plug about 2-3 weeks.
 

Longroof79

Rocket Powered Basset Hound
Oct 14, 2008
12,176
9,795
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Gainesville, Fl
Thanks man, that's a good suggestion. I appreciate your input.
 

Longroof79

Rocket Powered Basset Hound
Oct 14, 2008
12,176
9,795
113
Gainesville, Fl
67rstbkt said:
A picture of the plug might help. Does it smell like it's covered in gas? Did you make sure you are getting spark to that wire? Have you looked under the distributor cap at the connection there?
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Sorry I overlooked your post. A few separate times the plug was gas fouled. The one time it was dry, black and sooty.
Good points. Either I'm getting lazy or it's old age creeping in... :lol: I did think about looking under the cap and checking the contacts..but I didn't. Something to look at tomorrow. I'll also try putting a plug at the end of the wire and see if it fires.

I would have taken a pic of the plug, but I had already cleaned it.
Thank you very much for your input. Once again. much appreciated.
 

custom442

Royal Smart Person
Jul 4, 2008
1,889
4
0
Houston
Longroof79 said:
The car does not get driven like it used to. I start it up, let it run, and usually move to to the side of the house. I would work on it in the shade. It's been more or less off the road to do some bodywork, etc.

there's your first problem. But of course its only masking the real problem. Are the wires separated well, not arcing or sitting on a header, have you tried a different dist/stronger coil, more advance? Step up one step heat range plug, carb could be too rich

if nothing else it may be an oil/compression problem like rockss said. New valve seals never hurt anyone :idea:
 

Longroof79

Rocket Powered Basset Hound
Oct 14, 2008
12,176
9,795
113
Gainesville, Fl
custom442 said:
Longroof79 said:
The car does not get driven like it used to. I start it up, let it run, and usually move to to the side of the house. I would work on it in the shade. It's been more or less off the road to do some bodywork, etc.

there's your first problem. But of course its only masking the real problem. Are the wires separated well, not arcing or sitting on a header, have you tried a different dist/stronger coil, more advance? Step up one step heat range plug, carb could be too rich

if nothing else it may be an oil/compression problem like rockss said. New valve seals never hurt anyone :idea:
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Wire separation could be another issue. I've tried to isolate them the best I could using clip on wire looms. There still may be one or two that may be crossing each other. However, using the stock HEI cap configuration, you don't have too much choice. Nothing laying across a header, I learned about that the hard way.

I still have my old HEI distributor with stock coil that I could try. I'm using NGK V-power plugs. I think I actually went a step hotter on the heat range. I will go over the timing as well. A big factor could be that the car isn't driven on a regular basis. It was much happier when it was driven everyday. It doesn't smoke on start up, which I know would generally be valve seals.
But I guess you can't discount anything.

Thank you for your input. Once again, I appreciate it. Got to get crackin'.
 
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