Jeep: 76 Wagoneer - fouls plugs _often_

On Tue, 8 Mar 2005 19:58:00 -0800, "Marc" <net>
wrote:
 

I would check EVERYTHING for a vac leak and go from there.

Drifter
"I've been here, I've been there..."

Is the fouling black and dry (powdery) or black and oily? If the deposit is
powdery then I would look for ignition and carb/intake problems. If oily
then I would suspect rings and valve guide seals.

Tom
"Drifter" <com> wrote in message
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Black and dry. What kinds of ignition or carb/intake problems should I be
looking for?

Marcus

"Tom H." <nospam*.net> wrote in message
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My understanding ... dry and black ... mixture too rich or plug too cold.
And my understanding, as an engine gets older (not that yours is old) a
hotter plug can help to burn off any oil leaking by the rings.

"Marc" <net> wrote in message
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deposit 
the 

How much can you adjust the mixture on the carb? It could be set too rich.
Generally you can adjust idle richness with a screw, while mid-throttle
adjustments are made by changing jets. Smog regulations that started in the
'70s put limitations on how much adjustment a person could make to idle
mixture. Is the choke opening up properly? When hot, the choke blades
should be vertical (on a downdraft carb).

I am not sure if ignition timing would produce your problem without
something else being more noticeable.

I don't know for sure what a clogged PCV valve would do, but it is routine
maintenance to check or clean or replace them.

Tom
"Marc" <net> wrote in message
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Disclaimer: I used to do my own work, that was a long time ago :-) If it was
me, I'd do a compression test for valves (dry), rings (squirt some oil in
the cylinders). My guess ... valves are the cause of the incomplete
combustion ... relatively painless/inexpensive to fix ... I'd pull the head,
drop it off at the local machine shop for a valve job. If it's not the
valves but the rings I myself would forget it (I never was up to
rebuilding/paying someone to rebuild a motor that's that old) and just keep
getting by as you're doing (new plugs every coupla months). I'd maybe put in
thicker oil (#80 gear oil ... just kidding) and hotter plugs. What you might
try, is go buy one hotter plug, install it, and see how it compares to the
others after say a week or so ... maybe it'll be a nice light brown in which
case go buy a few more :-).


"bowgus" <com> wrote in message
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be 
If 
over 
I've 

I concur with "bowgus" that a compression test makes a lot of sense. If you
go to hotter plugs, just don't go so hot you get ping (pre-ignition), which
I think is the sign you have gone too hot on the plug, but if the plug color
is brown like bowgus mentions, that is a sign you are not too hot--- too hot
would be white.

Tom
"bowgus" <com> wrote in message
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