Roasting your spark plugs - true or urban myth?

Post by **Orkney** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 7:41 am

Read somewhere the other day that it was better to put spark plugs in a really hot oven for a while rather than clean them.
Must say I'm a bit sceptical about this. Cant see that theres anything on a plug to dry out so whats it all about?
Anyone use this method?

Post by **paulhumphries** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 9:08 am

I think that it used to be a method used for oiled up plugs where if you tried to brush them off all it would do is move the gunge about.
Heating baked it so it became brittle and they could clean easier.
I know with two stroke motorbikes from my youth that an oiled up plug was best cleaned by heating on the domestic gas cooker hob

Although I haven't used one for many years the little 12v operated sand blasters did quite a good job of cleaning up plugs.

Slightly OT I also use the old trick of heating plugs and reinstalling them sometimes with older vehicles that are reluctant to start.
At one time, many years ago, I had a Hillman Imp and if I was away fom home I'd splash petrol into one of the hub caps and heat plugs in the fire - it worked

Paul Humphries

Post by **bmcecosse** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 12:22 pm

Hub cap fire! I like it - just petrol or did you mix it with some sand or earth ? I do know that wire brushing plugs is very bad for them - and a less 'domestic controversial' method is to heat the plugs with a wee gas blowtorch - soon burns off any oil/petrol residue.

Post by **Orkney** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 2:51 pm

Whilst the subject is going this way, wire brushing is/can be bad - always been 'learned' that it was OK with a brass wire brush.

Sidenote - recently heated some with a little propane torch to burn off the petrol i'd just washed them in (so as not to make the range oven stink) and the damned things ended up blacker than when they'd been wire brushed after dipping in petrol !

Post by **Kevin** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 3:17 pm

it was OK with a brass wire brush.

You are not alone I thought that was OK as well.

Post by **Alec** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 7:31 pm

Hello all,

when my wife's mower (2 stroke0 gives trouble I 'burn' the plugs with my Oxy\acetylene torch, works every time.

Alec.

Post by **bmcecosse** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 10:31 pm

" my wife's mower " I like it!! Kind of you to sort out the plugs (it's got more than one?) so she can get on with the grass!

Post by **Orkney** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 6:25 am

Why did G_d invent men ......
Because 'personal massaging devices' cant mow the lawn
as the ladies saying goes

Post by **Alec** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 11:06 am

Hello BMCE, Orkney,

I'm blessed with a wife that loves gardening, which includes lawns, my only involvement is fixing the tools.
(should have been plug, by the way)

Alec

Post by **bmcecosse** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 4:33 pm

Lucky you Alec! Though maybe you had a multi-cylinder ride-on lawn mower!
BTW Alec - That TR7 I got from Oswestry gave me sterling service all summer - never missed a beat - waltzed through it's MOT and it's now hiding in the garage until the sun comes back!

Post by **dalebrignall** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 8:51 pm

does cooking the spark plugs with the roast potatoes make the plugs taste funny

Post by **dalebrignall** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 8:53 pm

i have got a ride on tractor mower with a twin cylinder briggs and stratton engine and a 39 year old david brown who baught astin martin out that drives a 4 ft grass topper all of 43 hp

Post by **RogerRust** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 12:39 pm

Good old David brown and his brother JCBrown I wonder which made the more money.

Post by **Orkney** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 1:01 pm

Know which one i'd rather have a vintage/old model of from worth point of view

Post by **bmcecosse** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 3:36 pm

JCB was Bamford - not Brown.

Post by **paulhumphries** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 4:40 pm

RogerRust wrote:Good old David brown and his brother JCBrown I wonder which made the more money.

JCB is a firm local to me.
They don't employ new people any more but use casual labour.
Of course qualified UK workers want more per hour than Eastern Europeans so guess where the bulk of the causal labour sent by agencies comes from ?
Lower labour costs means more profit and higher unemployment for locals as nobody is offered work there any more whether full time or casual via agencies.
One of my neighbours works for them and was employed years ago before they decided to use foreign workers.
He says language is contant problem as few speak English and you have to find the "leader" who does.
This year they announced record profits

Paul Humphries

Post by **Kevin** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 5:47 pm

Good old David brown and his brother JCBrown I wonder which made the more money.

Neither Charlie Brown made the most money

Post by **alex_holden** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 7:21 pm

Kevin wrote:
Good old David brown and his brother JCBrown I wonder which made the more money.
Neither Charlie Brown made the most money

I hear Gordon's doing pretty well for himself.

Post by **dalebrignall** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 1:46 pm

charlie brown flys spitfires from duxford

Post by **Nadir** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 2:02 pm

You're thinking of his dog - and it's a kennel, not a Spitfire