red tint to spark plugs
Turbo Mini Forums

Hey guys,

Pulled my spark plugs out yesterday and found the ceramic and electrode parts of each plug had a red oxide tint to them. its standard 998, just wondered if anyone knows the cause.


Chris

1972 998 TURBO SLEEPER

just had a think and could the redness be caused by redex ?

1972 998 TURBO SLEEPER

yes

If something is worth doing, it's worth doing half of.

some of the octane boosters can cause this too.

cheers guys, had concerns that something like fueling was to fault, but glad its just the redex

1972 998 TURBO SLEEPER

used to run the spi on tesco 99 which gave the plugs a nice red colour.

Strange, the plugs in my turbo road mini have the same thing, but its running on straight 95 unleaded

"So wat we gonna do tonight Brain?"
"Same thing we do evernight Pinky!"
"Try to take over the world!"

chris ,have you got a big 'his masters voice' air inlet funnel in the grill ?



if so you have probably been digesting birds and small furry creatures with your engine .

Medusa + injection = too much torque for the dyno ..https://youtu.be/qg5o0_tJxYM

Dont know what causes it. But my crappy old Volvo 940 turbo was the same when I pulled the plugs not long after buying it.

The porcelain but was very red. Nothing like what octane booster does colour wise. And I'd just driven it over a thousand miles from buying it on regular unleaded.

9.85 @ 145mph
202mph standing mile
speed didn't kill me, but taxation probably will

Robert i haven't got one but i want one if it looks like that !!!

1972 998 TURBO SLEEPER

when stripping my car the day i have 1plug with a red tint (just the 1)

is it that bad

Edited by scott the joiner on 12th Oct, 2011.

I have the same thing when ever I change the plugs on the pug 206 always tinted pink it's totally stock can and hasn't missed a beat in 100k miles so nothing wrong with it but always pink plugs

"Tuning should be a compromise between what is possible and what is necessary"

10)Thou shalt always quest for more power

I think it has something to do with the modern blends of fuel.

I'll ask the question tomorrow. The guys at the job i'm going to should know as this is there specialist field. If they don't have an answer, no fucker knows!!

I regularly fill up at tescos and have heard their 95 ron has a high level of water in the mixture, i wonder if this could be contributing factor. Id be very interested in what they have to say sprocket thanks

1972 998 TURBO SLEEPER

most the time i fill up at shell and use their fuel save and shell fuel is pritty good normaly its a very odd one as none of the other cars we have do it only the pug 206

"Tuning should be a compromise between what is possible and what is necessary"

10)Thou shalt always quest for more power

Funny enough i have a 206 too and cant say ive ever had the same issue with it

1972 998 TURBO SLEEPER

Funny enough i have a 206 too and cant say ive ever had the same issue with it

1972 998 TURBO SLEEPER

Well it looks like we are not going to find out why as the guys at the Engine testing center for Shell have never seen, or at least noticed this, and if they noticed it, it woud have been flagged up and investigated. These guys basically test the fuel blends and oils day in day out. Tests include an invasive engine inspection so that the combustion chamber, valves and piston crowns can be scraped clean. The carbon deposits are then collected and weighed to determine effects of their additive packages. They also have a modern OEM petrol engine they use with a split fuel rail, one half of the engine runs a low grade fuel without the additives, and the other half uses the fuel with the additives. This allows them to accurately judge the effects on the combustion chamber carbon build up on the same engine. Thet really is a head to head test!

So if those experts test fuels exhaustively before anyone can buy it, have not seen or noticed this plug discolouring (Shell products at least) perhaps its other manufacturers additive packages, additive you have put in the fuel, oil contamination, or coolant contamination. Either way I don't think we will know for sure.

I must admit that I never saw any pink or red tint on my plugs on the 16 valver, and I only ever used V Power, but, I have seen a pink tint on the plugs on the 1400, and I used Tesco 99 in that before I knew any different.

MMT (Methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl) used as an octane booster, burns and leaves manganese oxide, which is this colour.

On 16th Oct, 2011 Joe C said:
MMT (Methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl) used as an octane booster, burns and leaves manganese oxide, which is this colour.

Medusa + injection = too much torque for the dyno ..https://youtu.be/qg5o0_tJxYM

That rock is giving you the 'bird' Robert

I get this woth the 106 they are always pinkey, both hg faliures they have been red tinted which was odd but not sure of thay was due to coolent mixing, the minis were always clean

Drives
-Ford S-max Mk2 Ecoboost
-Rover 100 VVC #2 - track project

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