Best way to clean spark plugs
#1
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Best way to clean spark plugs
I have a chance today to remove and examine my plugs since I'll be a t a shop helping a friend work on his car. I've got about 11K miles on my 8, and I want to see how much buildup is on them. If they are dirty, how should I clean them? Any advice from folks who have a favorite product? Just soap and water? Thanks
#3
Mmmmm... Rotary Donut
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Originally Posted by brillo
I have a chance today to remove and examine my plugs since I'll be a t a shop helping a friend work on his car. I've got about 11K miles on my 8, and I want to see how much buildup is on them. If they are dirty, how should I clean them? Any advice from folks who have a favorite product? Just soap and water? Thanks
#6
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^^ In general, I tend to agree. Plugs should settle into a mode where enough self-cleaning happens to keep them viable. If that isn't happening then the engine or electrical needs work or perhaps needs different plugs (heat range). On the other hand, an isolated flooding incident can severely foul the plugs and it's possible they can be cleaned well enough to function and return to service, where the normal self-cleaning will bring them back to a normal state. Depending on your willingness to experiment, it may be worth it to save $120 on a set of plugs. I'd use a piece of wood to gently remove any serious gunk, and then an evaporating solvent to remove excess oil. Again, a metal implement such as screwdriver or wire brush is going to risk leaving conductive metal traces on the insulator.
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Mmmmm... Rotary Donut
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I don't disagree- I religously changed my Miata's plugs every 10k miles, but the rotary plugs are so damn expensive I can see why you might want to clean them up. I'm curious what mine look like... I believe I do a good job keeping them clean via the 9k rpm carbon vaporizer routine, but I haven't checked them yet.
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Originally Posted by Magic8
Why are they so expensive? What so special about the RX8 plugs?
There are some good pics of them in this thread:
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tech-garage-22/plugs-after-20k-miles-55005/
#10
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Originally Posted by brillo
I have a chance today to remove and examine my plugs since I'll be a t a shop helping a friend work on his car. I've got about 11K miles on my 8, and I want to see how much buildup is on them. If they are dirty, how should I clean them? Any advice from folks who have a favorite product? Just soap and water? Thanks
If you have dark deposit on the center insulator, try a little emery paper folded into a small enough piece to allow you to get down into the gap between the insulator and the body of the plug. Lightly rub the emery paper on the insulator to remove all the dark carbon material you can, then spray with a solvent. This is an old two-stroke, dirt bike trick I used many times successfully.
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Be Careful!!! Charles' idea is probably the safest. I have read in several places that the iridium plating can be damaged very easily. Probably why some Mazda TSB's simply say to replace rather than attempt to clean them.
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