Larry Brumfield
BANNED
....not the DemoRats and the RINO Republicans but used spark plugs! (he-he-)
It is normal for the electrode center tip to wear round and erode as tiny particles of metal are removed by use (high voltage sparks and corrosive gases formed by combustion) and as the electrode wears the gap increases. The amount of wear to sufficiently widen the gap takes many miles but eventually it will wear beyond the gap specs and the coil has to work harder to jump the gap. This requires more voltage and under hard acceleration the system may be able to supply it and it may not. Performance can decrease or become severely affected.
The remedy is to re-gap (and clean as necessary) or replace the plug. However, re-gapping can be done repeatedly until the center wears down fairly close to the insulator and then that's it, the plug's life is over.
When cleaning and re-gapping, the tip of the center electrode (where is has worn round) should be carefully filed just enough to make it flat like it was when new. This can be done with a small file like a point file used to file ignition points. The reason for this step is that less voltage is required to jump the spark between sharp corners than between rounded edges.
The gap is adjusted by carefully bending the ground strap (or ground electrode as some call it) and measuring with a feeler gauge. Be careful not to put any pressure on the center electrode or insulator area. The insulator can crack off and you can also loosen the plug up where it fits against the center electrode. Use a feeler gauge with round wires if you can obtain one. It's easier to be more accurate with a round wire feeler gauge than a flat feeler gauge when measuring plug gaps.
Larry B.
It is normal for the electrode center tip to wear round and erode as tiny particles of metal are removed by use (high voltage sparks and corrosive gases formed by combustion) and as the electrode wears the gap increases. The amount of wear to sufficiently widen the gap takes many miles but eventually it will wear beyond the gap specs and the coil has to work harder to jump the gap. This requires more voltage and under hard acceleration the system may be able to supply it and it may not. Performance can decrease or become severely affected.
The remedy is to re-gap (and clean as necessary) or replace the plug. However, re-gapping can be done repeatedly until the center wears down fairly close to the insulator and then that's it, the plug's life is over.
When cleaning and re-gapping, the tip of the center electrode (where is has worn round) should be carefully filed just enough to make it flat like it was when new. This can be done with a small file like a point file used to file ignition points. The reason for this step is that less voltage is required to jump the spark between sharp corners than between rounded edges.
The gap is adjusted by carefully bending the ground strap (or ground electrode as some call it) and measuring with a feeler gauge. Be careful not to put any pressure on the center electrode or insulator area. The insulator can crack off and you can also loosen the plug up where it fits against the center electrode. Use a feeler gauge with round wires if you can obtain one. It's easier to be more accurate with a round wire feeler gauge than a flat feeler gauge when measuring plug gaps.
Larry B.
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