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The black sooty color is a sign of a rich mixture.
That really obscenely fouled plug says there’s oil getting into that combustion chamber, and has been for a while. The amount of crud on the plug says that plug hasn’t been sparking for a while and the engine has been running on 5 cylinders. Why wasn’t the plug sparking? Either the rate of oil ingress into that combustion chamber is so high that it overwhelmed the plug’s ability to burn off the buildup as it was accumulating, or, through coincidence, there’s an ignition problem to that cylinder which prevented the plug from sparking.
Maybe it’s the lighting, but the plug on the bottom left appears shiny, like it’s wet. That could be a sign that oil is getting into that cylinder too, but obviously not as much as that fugly mofo.
The rust on the plug shells says these plugs have been in the engine for a long time. I’m going to speculate more than usual on this point. The plug gaps seem curiously narrow for long term plugs. (Electrodes erode and plug gaps increase over time.) Maybe the plugs were seriously under-gapped when they were installed, or somebody has removed them and mis-gapped them since their initial installation, or the ignition system is supplying a weak spark to all cylinders. Maybe the vehicle just hasn’t been driven much at all, but that fouled plug kind of contradicts that possibility.
You obviously need new plugs, and I would replace all the plug wires too. But that won’t do much for you except waste money if you don’t establish why the engine is consuming oil and get that fixed. To begin with, you should do dry and wet compression tests, and a cylinder leakdown test. The usual suspects are worn piston compression rings allied with worn, sticking or broken oil control rings, with a heaping helping of cylinder bore wear. Worn valve guides with worn or missing valve stem oil control seals are other real possibilities, and in a high-mileage engine you can likely have both the piston-related issues and the valve issues together. Any of those scenarios requires varying but substantial amounts of engine disassembly, machining, and, of course, new parts.
[quote=”Evil-i” post=140073]The black sooty color is a sign of a rich mixture.
That really obscenely fouled plug says there’s oil getting into that combustion chamber, and has been for a while. The amount of crud on the plug says that plug hasn’t been sparking for a while and the engine has been running on 5 cylinders. Why wasn’t the plug sparking? Either the rate of oil ingress into that combustion chamber is so high that it overwhelmed the plug’s ability to burn off the buildup as it was accumulating, or, through coincidence, there’s an ignition problem to that cylinder which prevented the plug from sparking.
Maybe it’s the lighting, but the plug on the bottom left appears shiny, like it’s wet. That could be a sign that oil is getting into that cylinder too, but obviously not as much as that fugly mofo.
The rust on the plug shells says these plugs have been in the engine for a long time. I’m going to speculate more than usual on this point. The plug gaps seem curiously narrow for long term plugs. (Electrodes erode and plug gaps increase over time.) Maybe the plugs were seriously under-gapped when they were installed, or somebody has removed them and mis-gapped them since their initial installation, or the ignition system is supplying a weak spark to all cylinders. Maybe the vehicle just hasn’t been driven much at all, but that fouled plug kind of contradicts that possibility.
You obviously need new plugs, and I would replace all the plug wires too. But that won’t do much for you except waste money if you don’t establish why the engine is consuming oil and get that fixed. To begin with, you should do dry and wet compression tests, and a cylinder leakdown test. The usual suspects are worn piston compression rings allied with worn, sticking or broken oil control rings, with a heaping helping of cylinder bore wear. Worn valve guides with worn or missing valve stem oil control seals are other real possibilities, and in a high-mileage engine you can likely have both the piston-related issues and the valve issues together. Any of those scenarios requires varying but substantial amounts of engine disassembly, machining, and, of course, new parts.[/quote]
Very, VERY good analysis! And much better than I would get on some rather UN-helpful other forums…
Ok. Firstly, the “running on 5 cylinders” thing.. makes a lot of sense. Also, the truck has been driven super-seldom these past.. 2 years. Looking to change that.. We also suspect the Fuel Pressure Regulator OR spider injectors themselves failed, causing the ultra-rich (yes this truck had black smoke before.)
IF I can disable fuel and spark (I will Google the fuses?,) then, sure.. Compression tests can’t hurt. My biggest fear is that I don’t have the means AT THE MOMENT to deal with issues, IF they are there.. IF there are problems. I know oil pressure is good on this and previous nay-sayers on other forums can’t get around that my Coolant Temperature Sensor melted (again) and the gauge that reads ZERO is NOT the Oil Pressure; rather the coolant.. since it has no signal.
Tomorrow will be a splendid day. 🙂
Well, without spending all night on it.. trying to get closer to the plugs. Please excuse the cat hair.
And that ultra nasty one is going in my collection of unique automotive failures I have had over the years.
As with all advice I am not liable for anything.
Well hopefully you kept them in a certain order so you know which goes to what cylinder. As long as you did not use penetrating oil it points to oil/excess fuel getting into at least 2 cylinders by the shiny black if not a 3rd with the mat black. The one cylinder is running hot due or lean due to the burn marks on the porclean right behind the flats on the one.
Considering my nose does not work over the internet you would have to smell the 3 dark ones and smell for oil or fuel. Considering the age of the vehicle I am leaning more towards oil. If it is fuel I suggest using a good fuel system treatment on next fill up. Some good ones are gumout, techron, and slick 50. Remember you want the system one not the injector cleaner. You also want to read the directions and put in the appropriate amount.
If it is oil it could be valve stem seals or piston rings.
With the lean one it could be a clogged fuel injector once again, a weak fuel injector, too much air. I would clean your MAF if it has one and use fuel system cleaner if you do not do so because of the other plugs.
I would also make sure I use anti sieze and dielectric grease on new plugs. Regap them even if they are supposedly gapped from the factory as they are often off a little. I would also ohm out all your cables and make sure they ohm good and with around the same reading.
You should also do a close up of the tips in the cylinders next time as there may be evidence of other things going on. I also check the gaps when they come out and see how off they are but, that is just me.
You should also look for cracked porclean especially at the tip that goes into the piston as that can indicate preignition or detonation.
Some Info on spark plugs for ya:
Excellent advice across the board here.
That one plug is horribly oil fouled as has already been stated and there is for sure an oil consumption issue. However for one to be THAT bad compared to the rest it could be from that plug getting no spark or poor spark and not burning the oil off as much as the other ones are.
[quote=”GearheadTool” post=140357]You mean consumption-wise yes?
I could just have an oil burner..[/quote] Naturally, the older an engine gets, the more worn down it is. This means valve seals and rings no longer hold their seal as well. This means blowby as well as leaky seals. Oil will also get burned, because the rings can’t manage it as well any longer.
[quote=”Chevyman21″ post=140359][quote=”GearheadTool” post=140357]You mean consumption-wise yes?
I could just have an oil burner..[/quote] Naturally, the older an engine gets, the more worn down it is. This means valve seals and rings no longer hold their seal as well. This means blowby as well as leaky seals. Oil will also get burned, because the rings can’t manage it as well any longer.[/quote]
My uncle used to have a K5 Jimmy. Why do I want to say 1975 model…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmB4WNB8xjw
*for that “weird stuff” I mentioned: I was referring to the “misting” you could see in the first two cranks.
Now is it just me, or does that starter start to slow down kinda fast. Or is that normal. ?
And I’m STILL not 100% on how it could have been “partially hydrolocked.” the “5 cylinders” comment makes sense.. it probably was…
About the starter slowing down, that’s probably due to the battery becoming depleted with all that cranking. Also, starters will get hot and slow down when they are cranked for long periods.
Is that raw fuel being pumped out of the plug holes? Not a wonderful thing. Gas is a solvent, and it’s diluting the oil on your cylinder walls, accelerating engine wear.
If that’s water, it points to head gasket failure and coolant is being sucked into the cylinders during the intake stroke. Unless, of course, the water is in there because of that engine fire you mentioned earlier. I imagine you might have used a garden hose to solve that particular emergency.
[quote=”Evil-i” post=140416]About the starter slowing down, that’s probably due to the battery becoming depleted with all that cranking. Also, starters will get hot and slow down when they are cranked for long periods.
Is that raw fuel being pumped out of the plug holes? Not a wonderful thing. Gas is a solvent, and it’s diluting the oil on your cylinder walls, accelerating engine wear.
If that’s water, it points to head gasket failure and coolant is being sucked into the cylinders during the intake stroke. Unless, of course, the water is in there because of that engine fire you mentioned earlier. I imagine you might have used a garden hose to solve that particular emergency.[/quote]
Stuff (water) is still coming out passenger side holes.The worst part: I *may* have to get a new FPR… I spent $90 on it and HALF the lines are now BURNED THROUGH. (I really have no idea why mechanic wanted to do that. I should make him get another.) So either I re-use 3 of the 6 lines from old spider (!) Or.. I cant BELIEVE the NEW spider I bought was in there.
Imagine if that was a NEW spider.
CAN my old Spider donate 3 lines?
Pic:
[IMG]http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/06/24/b2cbf800925c5210dec0e8bdc13d6cf3.jpg[/IMG]
Vid.. 3rd time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEPjIY48BGw
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I527 using Tapatalk
As much as it sucks, if it was me in your shoes, I wouldn’t mess with swapping lines and just replace the spider. For one reason, this isn’t the kind of repair I would want to repeat in the event one of those swapped lines should fail. And with my luck, they would.
[quote=”GearheadTool” post=140432]3rd time[/quote]
At this point, I wouldn’t worry about drying it out any more. As long as more water isn’t getting in, there isn’t enough in there to lock up the engine, so as soon as you are able to start the engine the combustion will dry it out super fast. I’d be more worried about decreasing the life of the battery and starter with all the repeated cranking.
[quote=”cap269″ post=140437][quote=”GearheadTool” post=140432]3rd time[/quote]
At this point, I wouldn’t worry about drying it out any more. As long as more water isn’t getting in, there isn’t enough in there to lock up the engine, so as soon as you are able to start the engine the combustion will dry it out super fast. I’d be more worried about decreasing the life of the battery and starter with all the repeated cranking.[/quote]
I did a 4th time and the video is uploading. My battery appears strong and is getting a nice, long, slow, automatic 2A charge; It has been “cycled” once so it will be as strong as it can be.
Sucks about that injector.
If I could I would bolt on 1996 heads and change it to TBI, with this http://www.summitracing.com/parts/EDL-3713/ – which costs as much as a NEW unit. I have to chance it on reman….
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