devongarver

Ok, so lets assume you have a boosted motor, running a twinscrew, no intercooler, 7-8psi max. You never change out the spark plugs from factory, what are some possible issues that could arise? I assume detonation obviously, but that can be tuned around, or can it? What also, assume the gap was left at stock, not closed slightly for boost, would this cause only spark blow out>or are there other side effects that could be caused by this? I know this may seem like a dumb question, but please, humor me will ya?

lizzyfan

Who did this, I ask?

cbbass123

well if it was tuned with stock plugs...then it probably would work ok considering he/she was not pumping too much boost...just not efficiently as we all would want them to be...
cooler plugs...smaller gap...more efficient.

devongarver

Well, let me explain a little more...

This is regarding a motor in my ranger I used to own a few years ago. I really had no clue about boost yet, and this was my first time adding a blower to an engine. I order the x-charger, and at the time, it was pretty new to the industry, I was one of VERY few people who were putting it on a ranger, so I didnt have many options for help. I had just changed the plugs out in the vehicle before I put on headers and the blower. I know they were NGK plugs, but I just can't remember for the life of me what heat range they were. Any who...from day one I had issues with the tune. It was making squat for power, and had no bottom end at all. LESS than when the truck was N/A. When it was N/A, I had a superchips tune, headers to 3in full exhaust, and a K&N intake. Thats all. When I changed it over, it was like a dog compared to before, couldn't even spin the tires from a dead stop, where as before I could floor it and kick it sideways...This was a 4x4 auto BTW. I ended up talking with Doug at BamaChips, driving my truck all the way down there(Ohio to ALabama) to have him tune it personally at his house. Still hardly any improvement, but he never asked about the plugs, and the kit never said I needed to change plugs. I'm thinking about this now as I learn more and more...After Doug couldn't get it workign right, I drove down to Dan desio at Pro-dyno in SC. This was at the same time I had Nick fromPDP Racing replace my transmission and torque converter, and mod my valvebody, because the previous tranny overheated like whoa! The entirety of the internals were blued and multicolored. Anyways, Dan got me really the closest it would ever be, and with the new 3200 stall in it, it felt pretty good. problems arose with cold start issues though, and other quirks, mostly related to the tranny or the tune. (hence why I will never drive an Auto again) I was a tard, and had no clue what detonation was, and kept telling Dan i was hearing strange tapping/tinny noises at the top of the RPM range and we finally realized it was detonation. But he was having a hell of a time eliminating it. When he finally did, the truck was back to feeling like a dog, and it was too late. One morning I started the truck and is sounded like i had a ceramic tea cup shatter in my motor and rattle around for a bit. It progressively got worse and worse, and I eventually pulled the motor. I replaced the motor, got a new tune at Powerhouse in PA, and i thought i was fine. Then one night I dropped the pedal to pass someone, and wham, revs hit the limiter and it felt like I hit a brick wall...That was the torque converter shelling itself apart. That was the last straw, i gave up, threw a stock converter in, and sold the dam truck. So....all this time later, I had oe of those holy sh*t moments, and I realized all along, that no one ever mentioned the plugs to me, and that could have been my problem all along. Obviously I had other issues with the truck, but still, if that was my whole problem with the motor all along...I wanna kick myself in the face. I just had no clue...

So basically, I am asking, could factory plugs have caused all that trouble? I thought for sure the first thing a tuner would have checked was the plugs...

I guess it was an expensive lesson on my part..