fouled plug

[jj4u3]

1972 2.4 fouled plug - can anything be done about fouled plugs. I changed my plugs about one month ago along with new wires, points dist. cap and rotor and the car ran best it has since I have owned it (about one year). Let the car sit for a week or so and started it with some popping and coughing but it warmed up and drove it about 50 miles with no low end torque and low power. Car cooled off so I checked plug wires for current and checked the point gap things looked fine. Pulled the plugs and #6 cylinder had a wet plug. I changed out the wet plug fired up the engine and it is running great again. Is there anything that can be done for this problem? 110,000 miles on the engine as far as I know

[ael911]

Check fuel mixture, carb settings, and maybe leakdown on #6. Does it smoke at all?

[jj4u3]

only smokes at start up
can a single cylinder be repaired or replaced if necessary?

[stlrj]

Mixture?

[ael911]

Mixer problems usually don't fowl up just one plug, unless there is a problem with the carbs. Smoking at start up is not necessarily a bad sign as small amount of oil sometimes seep past the rings after not running for a week. A single cylinder can be replaced but requires a complete top end tear down so you might as well leave that for the last option. Valve guide could also be another possiblity for an original motor with that kind of mileage. That would require an engine drop and top end tear down as well (rebuild heads), but not as much work as pulling cylinders and pistons.

[ael911]

Forgot to ask if your plugs are fouled by oil or just wet with fuel? If it's black and oily it's bad news, chances are valve guides are shot. If it's just wet with fuel, then it's a fuel mixture/delivery problem. Have you checked the obvious that #6 is getting a hot spark? Also, do you have MFI or carbs?

[jj4u3]

have weber carbs. It was black and wet but maybe not oily. I have never adjusted the carbs before. What would be something good to read first or should I look for someone that has done this before?

[Early_S_Man]

If you have the OEM-style Beru spark plug wires, check for end-to-end resistance on all six wires, and do a 'shake' test of the spark plug connector after unscrewing it from the wire ... shake the connector up and down while holding it securely to the test lead clips. The end-to-end resistance should be 3000 Ohms or 4000 Ohms +/- 10% at room temperature, depending on whether the distributor ends have a 1000 Ohm resistor incorporated.

Fouling of a single spark plug can often be traced to an open Beru connector.

[jj4u3]

drove the car again today. Ran fine but I had changed #6 plug yesterday. At the end of the day after cool down I pulled the plug and it had black dry carbon on it. Even though it was still running ok the plug was not looking good and the others still looked fine with no carbon on them. I contacted the former owner by email and he replied saying to just put a hotter plug in #6. The tear down work that was mentioned sounds like major time and investment.

[Early_S_Man]

jj,

Please read my posting above and check your spark plug wires before worrying about tearing anything down!

[jj4u3]

thanks S man, I am definatley going to check the wires and connectors before considering any tear down. I have too much money in this car already. I didn't count on engine trouble. I do appreciate the knowledge that everyone shares in the forums

[jj4u3]

I bought a digital ohms tester and tested end to end resistance and they were all almost identical. I am getting numbers like 1395 - 1400? I may have it set on the wrong setting? I am not sure how to unscrew the wires from the connector? Do you just twist counter clockwise where the wire goes into the connector?

[Early_S_Man]

If your wires look like these OEM wires, yes, unscrew the connector from the wire counter-clockwise:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/shopcart/911E/POR_911E_ELignt_pg4.htm#