Bob, Unleaded fuels (LRP is also an unleaded fuel) leave a very different burn colour on plugs than the old leaded super fuel, unleaded fuels typically burn a much deeper greyish tinge and I've seen LRP burn with what you'd call a rusty colour. I have real difficulty reading plugs these days as far as mixture goes, and I've also found that different brand fuels burn different colours probably due to the additives but oil burning is still recognisable as the deposits fill up the gap in the plug around the electrode cavity. I'd clean the plugs up and re-check them in 100k's or so and see if you can read them any better. A very clean plug can suggest there is moisture getting into the chamber but just one plug much darker than the others on a carbie fed engine is a bit harder to identify the cause - possibly a worn valve guide or seal or even a damaged piston ring. If there is anything major wrong there will be other tell tale signs such as the exhaust colour, coolant (bubbles, loss or colour), scum on the seal of the radiator cap, and the underside of the oil filler and signs of blow-by through the rocker breather etc. and even detecting any unusual odours when you stop the vehicle after a bit of a run. L series engines were very well built for their time but nothing like the tolerances of an engine built recently, and little things you put in them 30 years on like the type of oil i.e. viscosity etc can make a lot of difference to what they emit.
On the subject of oils - there was a discussion on this topic recently on another list and at the end of the day we seem to stick anything that we like in our 30 yo engines but that's another days discussion point for here. regards Terry -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Bob Sent: Friday, 9 August 2002 4:19 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Spark plugs? Head? Hello membersozdat, I just had a look at my spark plugs on the z, and plugs 1,2,3,5,6 all had rusty scaly crap on them, while plug 5 looked like it was running way too rich, all very black. Im thinking that the rusty colour cant be good, and I noticed I am loosing a bit of oil down the block from the head gasket. What do you all recon? Cactus head gasket? -- Best regards, Bob mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] --membersozdat------------------------------------------------------- OZDAT Mailing List Please Note:- Send (un)subscribe requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Send submissions to [EMAIL PROTECTED] No unauthorised redistribution of this email http://www.ozdat.com/ozdatonline/index.htm http://www.ozdat.com/ozdatonline/listindex.html http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------
