Gary Lewis Posted July 6 Author Share Posted July 6 Rusty - Your plug diagram matches what I've read, and both say the timing is about right - for part throttle usage. I've not done any full throttle runs in a long time, and certainly haven't stopped on the side of the road to read the plugs. And I agree that the UR5's may have been causing pinging or detonation at low RPM. I have a corner in the neighborhood that is fairly tight and the engine would rattle if I took it in 3rd and gave it any throttle at all. That was down just below 1000 RPM. But yesterday I tried it after we'd been on the highway for 90 minutes and it didn't rattle. Maybe tomorrow I can pull #1 and see what it looks like. Here are pics of the new UR6, on the left, and the old UR5 for #1 cylinder. Just about 200 miles on the UR6, and all of it running 10% ethanol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_S85 Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 I've had problems out of the box with Autolite. Ceramic not crimped into body, cracked insulators, twisted ground or flat against the center conductor. And I can never seem to get 8 that are correctly gapped. I've been using NGK V-power since the mid '70's in dirt, and then street bikes. Now the bikes take crazy $25 plugs but I keep using V-power in my truck. I use UR4, and am surprised that Gary needed to go colder with his far more efficient F3TE heads. Some people don't understand how they change the heat.range.... The ceramic cone in the plug goes deeper, making for a longer path to the head, where the heat is pulled away. Therefore the tip stays hotter. Like you said, if you read the carbon ring you can tell where it stays hot enough to burn away. Ive heard horror stories about Autolites but I have used them before, they just arent my prefered plug. I do have a NGK DSII Coil for my truck but I never been a huge fan of NGK for plugs, I do like their O2 sensors how ever. I know some plugs are hard to read the carbon ring, I found out that if you are careful a band saw at the threads can remove the threaded portion and separate it from the porcelain so you can see the band, this is something youd do more with a hot plug that has the porcelain a lot further down and out of view which mine would have. Correct, people dont fully understand that a hot plug has less porcelain in contact with the metal body so it doesnt dissipate heat as easily and a cold plug has more contact to dissipate heat more easily If I change my plugs to another brand when I will most likely destroy this to chop the threaded portion off to inspect the porcelain I dont know what brand I will go with but I will probably stick with copper plugs however as they seem to be highly recommended for daily street use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_S85 Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 Here are pics of the new UR6, on the left, and the old UR5 for #1 cylinder. Just about 200 miles on the UR6, and all of it running 10% ethanol. https://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/file/n156387/UR6_vs_UR5_-_Side_View.jpg https://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/file/n156387/UR6_vs_UR5_-_Head_On.jpg https://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/file/n156387/UR6_vs_UR5_-_Back_Side.jpg The bluing by the weld, Id keep an eye on that, if I am remembering right thats a sign of too much timing that is causing the ground strap to get hot enough to anneal the metal creating a blue line on the strap at this point.. You are still good as the bluing is above the weld still, but you are at about the limit you can advance your timing before the bluing will disappear from the strap and the ground strap is super heated and has a good chance of causing detonation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted July 7 Author Share Posted July 7 Here are pics of the new UR6, on the left, and the old UR5 for #1 cylinder. Just about 200 miles on the UR6, and all of it running 10% ethanol. https://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/file/n156387/UR6_vs_UR5_-_Side_View.jpg https://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/file/n156387/UR6_vs_UR5_-_Head_On.jpg https://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/file/n156387/UR6_vs_UR5_-_Back_Side.jpg The bluing by the weld, Id keep an eye on that, if I am remembering right thats a sign of too much timing that is causing the ground strap to get hot enough to anneal the metal creating a blue line on the strap at this point.. You are still good as the bluing is above the weld still, but you are at about the limit you can advance your timing before the bluing will disappear from the strap and the ground strap is super heated and has a good chance of causing detonation. The timing is the same as with the hotter plugs, and it is controlled by the computer so I won't be adding any. But I'm wondering if it is just too early to really read the plugs. The hotter plugs had some color to them, but this one looks brand new. I'm hoping to drive the truck more soon, but there aren't any longer trips in the near future. Maybe this fall/winter we will take it to Arkansas and do some of the forest service roads. So it'll be quite a while before I get enough miles on it to make much difference. But I've not done any WOT runs with these plugs. How long does any color added then stay on the insulators? There were quite a few WOT runs done with the hotter plugs, so maybe that's where the color came from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 The timing is the same as with the hotter plugs, and it is controlled by the computer so I won't be adding any. But I'm wondering if it is just too early to really read the plugs. The hotter plugs had some color to them, but this one looks brand new. I'm hoping to drive the truck more soon, but there aren't any longer trips in the near future. Maybe this fall/winter we will take it to Arkansas and do some of the forest service roads. So it'll be quite a while before I get enough miles on it to make much difference. But I've not done any WOT runs with these plugs. How long does any color added then stay on the insulators? There were quite a few WOT runs done with the hotter plugs, so maybe that's where the color came from? You want to read a fresh plug. Not one that's had time to eat oil or wear at all. WOT is only because if you're racing that's where you hope to be all the time. In that case idle doesn't matter, and for many types of racing you're only concerned that you'll run lean on top and hole a piston or seize. Throttle response matters in road racing, but you are never pulling hard enough for the computer or injectors to be overwhelmed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted July 7 Author Share Posted July 7 You want to read a fresh plug. Not one that's had time to eat oil or wear at all. WOT is only because if you're racing that's where you hope to be all the time. In that case idle doesn't matter, and for many types of racing you're only concerned that you'll run lean on top and hole a piston or seize. Throttle response matters in road racing, but you are never pulling hard enough for the computer or injectors to be overwhelmed. I'm only asking 'cause I'm trying to figure out where the little bit of color came from on the UR5, therefore hotter, plugs. The AFR sits at about 14.9:1 when crusing, gets down to 13:1 on a steep hill when the cruise tries to make up speed, and maybe as low as 11:1 at WOT. The UR5's had some WOT runs on them several thousand miles ago, but since then it has all been cruising and maybe dipping to 13:1 every once in a while. But they have a bit of color. The colder UR6's have the same cruising and maybe dipping to 13:1, but only for ~200 miles, and no WOT runs. And at least the #1 plug has no color - and the hotter #1 did. So did the color on the hotter plugs come from the WOT runs several thousand miles ago? Or is it just too early to see color on the colder plugs? This isn't a big deal, I'm just curious - tan, not yellow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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