Modifying your spark plugs

[philmcneal]

i wonder if doing this voids your warrenty...

[krousdb]

Originally Posted by philmcneal

i wonder if doing this voids your warrenty...

It might void the plug warranty buy I can't imagine it would void your car warranty.

[SVOboy]

I agree, I don't see how it can void it. Unless the spark plug explodes and destroys a piston or something silly.

[GasSavers_gashog]

I have a metro wagon and I have been running around 52 mpg in town I would like to know more secrets to getting better MPG. what mods can I do to the car moter . I am doing the shut off as mutch as possable but the alternator removal is kind of inpractial for the driving I am doing.

[GasSavers_gashog]

I have a metro wagon and I have been running around 52 mpg in town I would like to know more secrets to getting better MPG. what mods can I do to the car moter . I am doing the shut off as mutch as possable but the alternator removal is kind of inpractial for the driving I am doing.

[Freedom_man]

Originally Posted by davens

I had previously done a little research into this...if I wasn't running iridiums in 2 of my 3 cars, I would give it a try.

First off, a gap that is too small means that the spark duration will be very quick and the spark will be thin and weak. If the gap is set too large, the ignition system will not manage a spark and a misfire will occur.

From what I understand, sidegapping maintains a decent gap but allows more mixture-to-spark exposure area.
Team sidegapping up with indexing and its supposed to provide a modest improvement in power and mpg.

I switched from stock coppers to denso Iridiums and got much better MPG on my 1968 VW Bug

[jef4ers]

Larry is correct as are most of the other posts regarding a narrow spark gap.....but only for high RPM engines. High RPMs are addressed by racers by way of dual coils and or hi-output ignitions to help prevent spark blowout at speed.
Now the best part, most of the engines being discussed here already have hi-output electronic ignition systems capable of producing consistant spark.
Our goal is FE, right? Gap the plugs about 10 over and the spark will form a nice flame. Our engines rarely see over the torque range in normal driving.
File the outside conductor may help as the electrons jump from the outside to the inside conductor and this practice may allow the spark to fire directly at the center conductor.....again spark plugs are designed for all speed ranges, and we are primarily working at LOW speeds.
Hint on this: Ever wonder why the old worn out SPs got better mileage than the new platinum replacements? Nice new plugs require less voltage to cross the gap and hence a smaller compact spark.

Keep in mind that coil packs will work harder and hotter to jump the increased gap.
J

Originally Posted by diamondlarry

I think if a gap is unreasonably small there could be problems. Although, I've heard that some racers set gaps at .010 or so for extra power. I wouldn't do this in a daily driver type car. The theory is that with a smaller gap it will take less voltage to bridge the gap which means the current will be higher thereby producing a hotter spark. The spark may be smaller but it will be stronger.

[hondaguy72]

Holy five year old thread batman!

[madnessspirit]

Since you bumped a 5 year old thread, I'll clear a couple things up.

Grinding the electrode of the plug puts more of the spark into the mixture by increasing the angle between the electrodes. You can accomplish the same thing by increasing the plug gap.

Decreasing your gap won't do anything. You can only expose as much fuel to the spark as your spark is long. Your spark is MORE than hot enough to ignite your mixture. Increasing the size of the gap increases the thermal transfer efficiency since you are transferring heat to a larger amount of fuel at a time. Your coil is going to have the same output of electricity no matter how large or small your gap is. Overgapping means no spark, undergapping means you will have a hard time igniting fuel.

Think of why warm air intakes work so well for increasing fuel efficiency. Not only are you putting less fuel and air in the cylinder when you don't need it, but the charge is warmer, which means it takes less thermal energy to ignite it, so more of the energy of combustion is transferred into mechanical force.

[GasSavers_Scott]

First off, plasma is what happens in a neon light, excited electrons conducting across a gas. Light sabers use some sort of plasma controlled by an electromagnetic containment field. If you held one, you would burn your face off and everyone elses in the room. There are industrial plasma cutters, that use an arc and air, to blow away molten metal. A plasma tv, is filled with neon gas. When the neon glows, it is the plasma creating the light. They could call the sets Neons, but nobody would buy them.

A spark plug can creat plasma by burning the air or fuel around it, hense ignition. Dual plug heads start ignition on both side of the head. In racing they can add more mixture, to get more power. In a street car, they can make a more effient burn.

Clipping a spark plug electrode exposes the flame kernel. In the millionth of a second it takes for ignition, changing the flame kernal can increase the amount of time the flame has to travel through the combustion chamber.

Iv'e done it on mopeds, motorcycles, and a few cars. It can give you a mile or two more per gallon. Split Fire does the same thing with a split electrode. Bosch two and four electrodes serve the same purpose.

I have had the best luck with Bosch platinums, and the new Iridium plugs, (Non-modified).

If you search youtube, enter combustion chamber. They stuck a camera inside a Ford Taurus V6, you can see the valve open and the fuel spray in. Combustion chambers are a dirty place. You can see droplets of fuel hover around without burning. You can see the flame propegate around in a swirl, like a camp fire. Those suspended droplets then blow right out the exhaust, unburnt.

I think research into making an injector create a finer mist is whats needed. Super heating fuel to a vapor, stuff like that. Fuel injection is not perfected yet, but is getting better.