spark plug residue, what is it!?

[fireguy12117]

hopefully i did the pic right. ive been trying to troubleshoot a number of problems for a while and one of the things i did was pull the plugs. all 6 plugs looked like they had red residue on them, almost like brick dust. is this a sign of anything, imply certain things going on in the cylinders? i did a couple searches and didnt come up with much of anything concrete.

 

[almostclueless]

Looks like fairly normal deposits caused by the funky stuff they put in gas these days to me.....


From everything I've read, red/pink is fairly normal, as is a light coating of tan (as long as it isn't hugely thick).


Are the other three the same way?

 

[fireguy12117]

all 6 were the pretty much the same, so i figured whatever it is, its in all cylinders. i did see something that mentioned if a vehicle had sat that it could be crud that devloped in the fuel system. the truck did sit last winter while waiting for an engine transplant. i never did get it running right, and right now i am looking at a faulty FPR...

 

[therieldeal]

thats strange, thats the same color deposits you get from running race fuel... LOL

my plugs (on my escort anyway) come out nice and clean every time. they arent putting THAT much weird stuff in the gas yet.

 

[Doofy]

Looks the same color as diesel fuel additive that was used in home heating oil to keep people from using it in their diesel vehicles. (avoiding fuel taxes)

 

[rangerbum]

I just changed my plugs a week ago and mine looked just like that.

 

[Giant squid]

i had an older oldsmoblie cutlass calias that i ran 94octane in and the plugs allways looked like that, i figured the it was the fuel

 

[shadetree]

Possibly this:

Some fuel refiners in several areas of the United States have introduced a manganese additive (MMT) for unleaded fuel. During combustion, fuel with MMT causes the entire tip of the spark plug to be coated with a rust colored deposit. This rust color can be misdiagnosed as being caused by coolant in the combustion chamber. Spark plug performance may be affected by MMT deposits. shady

 

[fireguy12117]

so given these possibilities, is it safe to say that since all 6 plugs look the same that there is probably not a weak or non-firing cylinder? i certainly was thrown off by the possibility of coolant in the cylinders but everything i read was for GM's orange coolage. ive got the plain jane green stuff and the level hasnt changed since i fired this thing up. I was originally troubleshooting detonation so i was trying midgrade fuel and it has now spiraled out of control to where i cant keep it running when i put it in drive, so something is screwy....

 

[therieldeal]

MMT in road fuel? thats the additive in unleaded race fuel that makes plugs look like that, as i mentioned... but i've never heard of it being put in normal fuel.

 

[woodyedmiston]

Check this out: http://www.partsamerica.com/Maintenance/MaintenanceSparkPlugTips.aspx

 

[MAKG]

thats strange, thats the same color deposits you get from running race fuel... LOL

my plugs (on my escort anyway) come out nice and clean every time. they arent putting THAT much weird stuff in the gas yet.

That makes a bit more sense than the thought I had ... it looks like TEL. Where the *F* would one get TEL these days? AvGas? Mexico? "Octane booster?"

 

[97ranger4x4]

Maybe they are just Red Hot!!!!

Uhh, jk.

 

[93ranger420]

my plugs look identical to that, the ones i replaced and the new ones as well.