Read my plugs
 

454 Mercruiser MAG/EFI 385HP ...I have no clue what year this engine is.

These plugs were installed 3 years ago and they still look new, I don't see any carbon build up only a coating of engine oil.
Tyler Crockette retuned the engine back then and got rid of the rich condition Black transom.
I just did my first start for the season in my driveway and this could be fogging oil ? The engine idled for almost 10min.

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Ayuh,.... The oil is probably the foggin' oil,....

Only thing I've ever seen that'll clean plugs like that is Water ingestion,....

looks like fogging oil.runn good?no stumbling?I'd pull a couple of plugs after a good run,,plugs are hard to read w/ the ethanol fuel but you should see some color.Thats why I love my afr meter.

spraying fogging oil thru an MPI intake / throttle body is not recommended plus you are really coating the intake runners along with any sensors that can be with in the bodies. .

search for soup mix up here to see how to lay up engines especially MPI marine engines .coating sensors and especially if applicable 02 sensors is not a good thing. I understand that you would not have 02 sensors but whomever does.

Thanks for the replies. The boat runs fine so I'm honestly thinking its fogging oil. I'm also considering that the plugs were not gapped correctly that's why the fogging oil did not burn off.
I gapped these plugs to 40 inch 3 years ago, I had to post a picture of where the gap is. Not sure if I gapped them correctly.

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I read your plugs and I came up with NGK R .. hope this helps.

I was thinking the same thing. Lol

Temp of the plug needs to reach a certain temp for normal deposits to burn off. Not going to happen at idle, or in neutral at higher rpms for that matter.

Yeah big waiste of time to do a ten minute idle then pull the plugs and look at them. Hold it wide open for ten minutes turn the key off (without slowing down) then pull the plugs. That will give you a good wide open throttle read.

BTW, there`s no need to waste a bunch of fuel and a weekend trying to read plugs at different rpms.


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Sounds like a good idea. I'll take the boat out this week and get a true reading from the plugs.
Tyler Crockett reprogramed the mapping 3 years ago I think it's time for another visit. He had me install O2 bungs on the exhaust to clear up mercrusers rich condition.

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Reading a plug will tell you how much timing the motor wants and also the heat range it wants. Widebands are great tool but only help with a small piece of the puzzle.

Have to ask shutting down engine at full throttle - you never sucked water back - water reversion of any form or shape taking place ?

engine diesel and or huge wake running back thru the exhaust ? I understand you can turn the boat at shut down. If you have thru prop exhaust I do not recommend doing that. I realize most have thru hull exhaust but not everyone and silent choice apps. included.

95 mph shutdowns on my Donzi it it would sit down off plane better than if under power. This was with bravo style dry exhaust.

I had to do that once when my throttle linkage jammed. :eek: I was running along at WFO, and when I pulled back on the stick it just kept happily winding out. I had to pull the lanyard and steer it into a turn. Even then, ad BUP described, the engine dieseled, burped and farted. (the fart might have been me) Not the preferred way to shut down! It won't hurt anything to briefly pull it back to idle and slow down safely before you cut the key. Just don't idle all the way back to the dock.

That being said, as mentioned, with today's fuels it is almost impossible to get a good plug reading. And you really have to know what you are looking for. A buddy of mine farted around with his for half a summer and got nowhere.

You should change your name to plug whisperer if you can tell all that with 15% ethanol.

Ground strap will still show heat and little tiny aluminum sphere specks down in plug will still show detonation - no matter what fuel is used.

A wideband cannotshow that to you.

Speakin of wideband not showingeverything.

anyone ever think about the fresh air/fuel being pushed out into the exhaust and how this effects your wideband reading ?

Schit,anyone ever think about that with 100%+ VE on the dyno ? 110% VE (just to pick a number) does not mean trapped, 10% or more of that could have been pushed right thru unused.

Honestly I didn't know it was an issue reading plugs with any type of fuel until I got on OSO.

Everyone has a different way of doing things I guess .
Why run around for hours at different rpms trying to look for some sign of color on 2 motors burning $5/minute when I can just look at a AFR meter and know the exact fuel ratio down to the tenth of a point?
I still pull plugs after every weekend but it`s not for air fuel readings.

You don't and can't that exactly. Like I mentioned above, some fresh air/fuel goes right out into the exhaust.

The more boost and/or cam you use, the less exact it is.

Now, that said,once you get the motor to run exactly how you wan, everywhere, you not what those measurewd A/F's are and use that to see if anything changes later on.

It's a tool, pretty damn good tool, bu hardely anabsolute..

All my opinion with some fast thrown in.

Sorry guys...alot of my butons are sticking. I think some poppyseeds / sesameseeds from my bagels this week-end got jammed under a bunch of buttons...Especially my T buton and space bar.

LOL.

Come on tell the truth what's the real reason for the sticky...ing keys?

Would you believe I had 4 egg sandwiches and 7 bagels ?

I don't eat breakfast all week. I load up on the weekends. LOL.

You should see my keys roll than crack.

Definately seeds.

Oxygen sensor readings aren`t accurate. When you buy a new sports car none of the manufacturers depends on 02 reading to keep their motors safe or to run their fuel curves and maps, they send a Tech out every few months to read the plugs and make adjustments .
Got it!
:bong:

Dan, I have yet to have a tech guy come. Its been over six months since I got my Vette. Should I call the dealer or does GM send the techs out? If its GM, do you have the number for them?

Bananarama, I`ve heard we could have a repeat of the Great Plug Readers Strike of 1908. Oh the HORROR and grid lock!! No piston was safe!


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Ok so now we are comparing a motor that has had millions of dollars of engine analysis done at an OEM's level to a "custom" motor with $500 worth of dyno work.

Don't forget all the "desktop" dyno hours BB.
Makes all the difference man!

I do agree a plug reading can give a good indication of the heat range, timing, aluminum speckles, etc.

I just will not, in this day and age, tune a high performance marine engine, looking at plugs. A basic 400hp deal, maybe. But certainly not going to build a 700,800,900, 1000hp + pump gas marine engine, and go out "plug reading", trying to get the ideal timing and fuel mixture. I remember back in the days before guys would use widebands, whether on the water, or even the dyno, and many many times, engines were being pulled due to carnage. Thats why in this hobby, 15-20 years ago, very few running around with a pair of 1000HP pleasure use marine engines. Now, its the norm.

Yes, some guys will expire an engine a half dozen times trying to play engine builder/tuner.

And blame the builder who did everything but put the induction / ignition on.

BB, how ? By reading the ground strap & porcelain, how will that tell you what the motor "wants". I believe it will tell you where your at with heat range & timing (kinda). I am not trying to be D-bag, but please educate me on this if you will.

BB is this what you are saying?

Heat Range = Ground Strap, the ground strap indicates the heat-range of the spark plug. If the "color" of the ground strap "changes" too close to the ground strap's end, (which is above the center electrode), then the heat-range is "too cold" , meaning that the strap is loosing heat too quickly to the base ring, and is not able to burn off deposits until near its end. If the "color" of the strap changes near where it is welded/attached to the base ring (last thread ring), then it means that the plug heat-range is "too hot", because heat is not being tranferred/cooled from the strap to the base ring quickly enough !!!! The strap might begin to act like a "glow-plug", eventually causing preignition and/or detonation later on. Proper heat-range is when the "color" is at the half-way point on the strap, neither too cold or too hot.
But some say thats the way to tell where your timing is at. So what is correct? Reading ground strap for timing or heat range of plug?

The ground strap shows both timing and heat range. If the plug is to cold and you give the motor timing it really will not show up on the ground strap. If the plug is to hot the strap will start to melt away. The best way to learn how to read a plug is by doing it. Put a new set of plugs and retard the timing a little do a good blast shut it down and pull the plugs. Pay close attention to the ground strap. Take a picture if need be. Install plugs give it 3-4 degrees of timing do another blast shut it down and pull some plugs. You don't have to go and pull them all just pull a few and compare. After you move the timing around a few times you will easily see what's going on with the ground strap. What I've found is not all cylinders want the same timing and heat range plugs... It's interesting if you really start getting into it. I agree a wideband is great. But when you spend the kind of money we spend on these motors it really the responsible thing to do by pulling some plugs and trying to get a better idea of what's going on inside the cylinder.