RE: Spark Plug Carnage

From: Bernd D. Ratsch (bernd@dodgetrucks.org)
Date: Tue Jan 08 2008 - 23:20:30 EST


Wonder how long the coppers were in there. I've seen NS and RS vans (Town &
Country/Caravan) come in with 130K+ miles on them with the original
Platinums (worn to hell - no electrode left) but still running. A lot of
the smaller shops around here do put standard plugs in there and don't tell
the customers about the change - they just don't last. The average lifespan
of the platinums in these vans is about 60-65K miles (gap is at .070"+ by
then).

BTW: The easiest way to remove the rear plugs is to remove the cowl and
wiper assembly (takes only an extra 5 minutes to remove). On the '98
models, some people also remove the upper plenum for ease of access.

- Bernd

-----Original Message-----
From: Terrible Tom [mailto:silvereightynine@aol.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2008 9:13 PM
To: dakota-truck-moderator@bent.twistedbits.net
Subject: DML: Spark Plug Carnage

Today one of my regular customers came in with two spark plugs out of
his 98 Chrysler T+C Minivan with the 3.8L. I couldn't believe what I
saw. The plugs were REALLY F-ed up! The side electrodes were melted
into stubs - no longer extending over the center electrode. The center
electrodes were melted down, the ceramic insulators were bubbled and
looked like swiss cheese. Signs of severe detonation I would assume?

According to the catalogues - it calls for a double platinum spark plug
- whoever owned the van before him has put copper champions in there.
I'm wondering if the copper plugs alone were enough to cause this level
of destruction?

I'm going to take my camera with me tomorrow in hopes I can get pics of
the plugs - if he still has them. He had not pulled the rear plugs yet
- but 2 of 3 fronts he pulled.

He said it didn't really run all that bad - it had a slight hesitation
and stumble at certain speeds.

Blown head gasket? Lean air-to-fuel? I've never seen a plug mutilated
that badly before and either had he.

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