Replacement Sparkplug Query

Hey all. My Lycoming O-360 is finally in need of a new set of plugs. Any
thoughts on replacement flavors? They're currently massive electrode Champions, and I
run autogas most of the time so fouling isn't much trouble. PMA'd replacements?
Fine-wire? Not looking to incite a flame war, just pinging collective experience.

-Cory

--

************************************************** ***********************
* Cory Papenfuss *
* Electrical Engineering candidate Ph.D. graduate student *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
************************************************** ***********************

wrote:
Hey all. My Lycoming O-360 is finally in need of a new set of plugs.
Any
thoughts on replacement flavors?

I put fine wires in my O-360 one time and noticed a slight improvement
in idling and lower mag drops in runups.

However, the plugs were subject to lead fouling. Lycoming recommends a
hotter plug to cure this problem (it did) but the fine wires were not
available in that heat range. I had to go back to massive electrode
plugs.

--

Dan
C172RG at BFM

Aircraft Spark Plug Service (Van Nuys CA) will sell you a set of plugs with
more than 80% of service life left, clean, painted, and ready to go for less
than half of the discount store new plugs.

They are also a fountain of knowledge on the care and feeding of plugs. You
might do well to google on the name and call them up.

Jim




wrote in message
...
Hey all. My Lycoming O-360 is finally in need of a new set of plugs.

I've got a complete set of Iridium fine wires ready to go into our IO540
Aztec engines. They were recommended to us by our friends in the crop
dusting business. They use them in everything they can. They told us that
the gap simply does not change and they last over 2000 hours. They love
them in the top holes but sometimes use missives in the bottoms if they have
fouling problems, but aggressive leaning and rotating top to bottom at every
oil change keeps them clean. The main reason I bought them was they had a
heck of a deal on them... They buy them by the case lot and I paid less than
1/2 price from what you see advertised. I couldn't pass it up.
Jim Burns

Quoted from Avweb:

" For years I cleaned and gapped my own spark plugs. But I fly a twin, and
doing preventive maintenance on 24 plugs is a lot of work. So I've started
sending my plugs off to Aircraft Spark Plug Service (818-787-5680) in Van
Nuys, Calif. They'll clean, gap, bomb-test and recertify your plugs, and
return them sealed in plastic with new copper gaskets, for $3.50 per plug,
with turnaround typically a week or less. Given today's hourly shop rates, I
consider this a real bargain. "

Jim



"RST Engineering" wrote in message
...

They are also a fountain of knowledge on the care and feeding of plugs.
You might do well to google on the name and call them up.

Dan Luke wrote:
: However, the plugs were subject to lead fouling. Lycoming recommends a
: hotter plug to cure this problem (it did) but the fine wires were not
: available in that heat range. I had to go back to massive electrode
: plugs.

I thought about fine-wires, but I've heard that they have fouling problems,
and tend to need a hotter version to minimize that. Since I do run autogas
(high-compression, 91 AKI minimum and I run 93), I would be concerned about
preignition with a small, hot, pointy thing like a fine-wire. I haven't had any
issues yet, but I know that the autogas in the engine is pushing things a bit. Also,
since I do my own maintenance (and there are only 8 plugs), having to diddle with the
massive electrodes every year or 100 hours isn't that big of a deal to me. The hourly
cost of the fine-wires are about the same IIRC (3x as long for 3x the price?).

I'm leaning towards PMA'd equiv like Autolites. I've been happy with PMA'd
oil filters, air filters, vacuum filters, etc so far. Something about paying for a
name bugs me.

-Cory



--

************************************************** ***********************
* Cory Papenfuss *
* Electrical Engineering candidate Ph.D. graduate student *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
************************************************** ***********************

Before you use a PMA plug, get your hands on one and see that your spark
plug wrench is deep enough to get onto the hex. Some plug manufacturers put
the hex all the way down on the bottom, and a standard plug or deep well
socket bottoms out before getting to the twisty part.

Jim




I'm leaning towards PMA'd equiv like Autolites. I've been happy
with PMA'd
oil filters, air filters, vacuum filters, etc so far. Something about
paying for a
name bugs me.

In article ,
"RST Engineering" wrote:
Before you use a PMA plug, get your hands on one and see that your spark
plug wrench is deep enough to get onto the hex. Some plug manufacturers put
the hex all the way down on the bottom, and a standard plug or deep well
socket bottoms out before getting to the twisty part.


This is true with the Autolites, but it's a problem that is easily
solved with a trip to Sears and an extra-long deep socket.



JKG

"Jim Burns" wrote:

I've got a complete set of Iridium fine wires ready to go into our
IO540
Aztec engines. They were recommended to us by our friends in the crop
dusting business. They use them in everything they can. They told us
that
the gap simply does not change and they last over 2000 hours. They
love
them in the top holes but sometimes use missives in the bottoms if
they have
fouling problems, but aggressive leaning and rotating top to bottom at
every
oil change keeps them clean.

I liked the fine wire plugs; the engine definitely ran better with them.
However, I was having to pull and clean them every 10 hours or so. If
Champion made a fine wire plug as effective in eliminating fouling as
the REM-37-BY, I'd replace my massive electrode plugs immediately.

--

Dan
C172RG at BFM

"RST Engineering" writes:

Before you use a PMA plug, get your hands on one and see that your spark
plug wrench is deep enough to get onto the hex. Some plug manufacturers put
the hex all the way down on the bottom, and a standard plug or deep well
socket bottoms out before getting to the twisty part.

I have the Champion brand socket, which contains a strong magnet and
which will help you from dropping an expen$ive plug on the floor and
ruining it.

Available at Chief Aircraft...

-jav