Spark Plug Readings

[pbblaster]

This is a picture of the spark plug from my 07MS3 with 40K miles. It has Devils Own meth injection, Hypertech OTS tune and Mazdaspeed CAI. I track the car a couple times a year. The plugs in the pic are from left to right 4, 3, 2, 1. I think the shiny deposits may be from the turbo housing where the compressor wheel rubs the housing. I am wondering about the difference between the plugs. # 2 looks like I would expect from the 25K miles on them. the rest are much cleaner except the deposits. Iam wondering if the meth spray is missing # 2 altogether. I have the meth nozzel located in the cold pipe on the aft side at horizontal. Also note the wear on #3 on the ground side of the plug.

Comments?

[SilverDemon]

Wow, you have been here since '08 and have 52 posts? Man of little words I suppose. hahaha!! What part of Cincinnait? I live about 45 mins east of Cincy.

The plugs look ok for the mileage. 4,3,1 look to have oil/carbon contamination on them, 2 looks like an incomplete burn. The chocolate brown on the porcelain looks fairly consistent across all of them, with # 4 just a tad richer

Can't tell if the shine on the plugs is from the oil/carbon or aluminum specks from detonation. Although I do not see any sings of deto on the porcelain. The gap looks to be a bit on the big side. Did you happen to check them with a feeler gauge?

The wear on # 3 might be from the cylinder running leaner than the others from the flow imbalance of the intake mani.

[pbblaster]

I noticed the compressor blade rubbing the housing at 15K. There should be a post about that. The Mazda dealer told me they have no specs on shaft side play tolerance (convienent for them) so I have been living with it hoping the damn thing wold start to smoke. No luck yet. I assumed the meth was cleaning the brown from the plugs leaving the aluminum that I know is being injested on the plugs. I have not checked the turbo wear since the last 2 track days. I will do that soon. I will replace these plugs before the next track day in October (10/10ths @ Putman if your interested) and see what they look like.

I am originally from Bethel so I have been to Sardinia many times. I may have even seen you on 32 at some point. I am currently in West Chester as the drive to work in Evendale was more than I could take. I missed the country so much I bought a KTM 690 Enduro to replace the quads I can no longer ride here.

Thanks for the input

Ian

[Mizzle]

lolwut?

I call b.s. on that dealer. If it's rubbing the housing, they have to replace it.

[SilverDemon]

I'm with Mizzle on this... the dealer needs to replace the turbo if the blades are touching the housing. Which dealer did you take it to at 15k?

It's nice to see someone on here that is from my neck of the woods.

I, too was also into the ATVs, dirtbikes, and street bikes. I gave the street bikes when my son was young. It was just too easy to do something stupid on them.

ATVs was given up when it took longer than a day to heal up from the punishment of an all day adventure... hahhaha

Shoot me a PM if you ever want to meet up and BS about the car.

[pbblaster]

I was Jake Sweeney Mazda in the tri-county area. Do you know of a better dealer?

[SilverDemon]

Unfortunately, no, I was always under the impression that Jake's Weeny was one of the better dealers in the Cincy area. I never had to take mine in to the dealer for warranty work, so my experience is limited. I am just glad you did not take it to Wyler..they are crooks...

[world famous z]

I've read and seen mixed results regarding meth. A LOT of variables both with install and with the actual meth and gas variances.

What are the plugs gapped at? I would imagine that you should be running a different than OEM gap measurement due to running meth ?

[pbblaster]

The plugs were gapped at .030. I plan to remove the intake manifold to inspect the valves which should give me a better idea of what the meth is doing. I am considering doing a port meth injection upgrade. I will make my decision after the intake removal. I will be sure to post my findings.

[pbblaster]

I took the car in to Jake Sweeney with the spark plug photos and more recent images of the turbo compressor wheel. I talked to the service manager about the likelyhood of Mazda covering this out of warranty (in leiu of extended turbo smoke covreage). He said "I find Mazda covers more warranty claims like this than they deny". So I dropped it off for the turbo and the VVT problems. The service advisor called me in a week saying it was all covered. Problem solved. I just wanted to share a good experience with Jake Sweeney.

[SilverDemon]

That's awesome man!! Glad they was able to help out