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I don't think my car has spark plugs

mandown

Poopdeck Repost
Jun 1, 2004
20,277
7,807
Transylvania 90210
Yup, that is what my coworker just said to me. I mentioned something in passing about plugs, and he said he didn't think his car had any. I asked him if his engine was diesel, and he said no. His reasoning was that he has never had to change his spark plugs, so they must not be there.

 

Serial Midget

Al Bundy
Jun 25, 2002
13,053
1,896
Fort of Rio Grande
Youngsters have no idea how little maintenance cars need these days... back in the day my first cars where from the late 60s to mid 70s; you had to have basic mechanical knowledge to keep your POS running right.

I have no problem with anyone who does not know what a spark plug is or what its function is. The memories of my mid 70s Toyota leaking oil into the spark plug wells are only slightly better than the sheer frustration involved in calibrating the twin SUs on my 1974 MG every 500 miles.

I don't want to know the minutia of what happens when my foot hits the pedal...
 
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Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,351
7,758
Steam Engine.
The company that I worked for in 2002 actually owned the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park… Stanley as in the Stanley Steamer. There was one in the lobby.



Not my photo, but that's the car outside one of the side buildings of the hotel.
 

splat

Nam I am
Youngsters have no idea how little maintenance cars need these days... back in the day my first cars where from the late 60s to mid 70s; you had to have basic mechanical knowledge to keep your POS running right.

I have no problem with anyone who does not know what a spark plug is or what its function is. The memories of my mid 70s Toyota leaking oil into the spark plug wells are only slightly better than the sheer frustration involved in calibrating the twin SUs on my 1974 MG every 500 miles.

I don't want to know the minutia of what happens when my foot hits the pedal...
lets not forget the gapping the Points and mine had to be re-gapped about once a month because they were always slipping.
 

DirtyMike

Turbo Fluffer
Aug 8, 2005
14,437
1,017
My own world inside my head
Mercedes no longer come equipped with an oil dipstick.
Annoying **** right there. Now because I have issues with it, but every friggin time one of those fuggen asshat cars comes in for a lube, one of the lacky lube techs spends a friggin half an hour looking for the dipstick, after I dont know how many times I have explained this ****, that they need to grab the new book on how much and what type of oil to put into these cars...

Its not friggin rocket science, but the thing that pisses me off the most about it is the lack of common sense involved when it comes to simply asking were something is instead of wasting a half an hour plus looking for something that isnt there.
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,469
20,272
Sleazattle
The muffler bearings on my '78 Dodge Monaco used to wear out all the time. Thank god I don't have to change those anymore.
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,469
20,272
Sleazattle
as well as some audi's, bmw's and porches

http://jalopnik.com/5522543/why-the-dipstick-is-dying



i had a similar conversation with someone who didnt think they needed to replace their spark plugs on a 125k mile, dodge V8.....in the end, all the plugs broke off in the head

Makes sense to me. As a VW owner I'd really like to have a 55 gallon oil drum on the roof with an automatic oil replenishment system.
 

DirtyMike

Turbo Fluffer
Aug 8, 2005
14,437
1,017
My own world inside my head
I'm actually thinking about replacing the O2 sensor with a spark plug. I bet it would make a bitchin' afterburner.



Cool, please make sure to make video when you do this..... I want to see the outcome when you have a fireball flying into the cats!!!



Although, a fuel injector about a foot and a half from the tailpipe, with a sparkplug shortly after it really does make one hell of a show out of the tailpipe
 

DirtyMike

Turbo Fluffer
Aug 8, 2005
14,437
1,017
My own world inside my head


Maybe on older carbuerated, rich as hell running cars..... never on the new fuel injected vehicles, specially with cats alrady burning off any excess fuel...




Cool video though, gotta love a nice burnt to hell exhaust valve
 
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jdcamb

Tool Time!
Feb 17, 2002
19,845
8,449
Nowhere Man!
Although, a fuel injector about a foot and a half from the tailpipe, with a sparkplug shortly after it really does make one hell of a show out of the tailpipe
Do they make kits for this? Do they need to installed by a pro? I find that I can't always find someone to help me install some of my original ideas and modifications on my car.. Did you know that missle launchers are not appproved by the ATF/DMV no matter how fast your car is???
 

profro

Turbo Monkey
Feb 25, 2002
5,617
314
Walden Ridge
you dont even need the fuel injector, itll shoot flames without it.

or you can get a Ford diesel
That is not necessarily a Ford only problem. All after treatement (3way cats, DPFs, etc.) have some sort of oxidation catalyst. Given the right conditions unburnt fuel or carbon in a lean environment it will burn. Oxidation is a exothermic reaction. In diesels, which run extremely lean, once the oxicat gets going you can have a hot, hot fire. I saw an engine burn to the ground because a local municipality required an oxicat. Then when the injector tip broke the oxicat went to work oxidizing all that excess fuel. Because there was never a shortage of fresh air (lean exhaust) the reaction ran away and temps in the oxicat reached 2500F. Ultimately burning the vehicle to the ground.

Gas engines typically don't have this problem because the exhaust mixture is oxygen limited and the reaction stalls.
 

IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
24,524
494
Im over here now
I'm thinking an electronic oil level gauge in an Audi is the WORST IDEA EVER. :D
lolz.
every Audi/VW should come with a yearly supply of free oil

That is not necessarily a Ford only problem.

Gas engines typically don't have this problem because the exhaust mixture is oxygen limited and the reaction stalls.
well it was a Phord problem on their Super Duty's. GM and Dodge have never had their diesels recalled for the same reason Ford didn.
 
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Jason4

Monkey
Aug 27, 2008
338
0
Bellingham
That is not necessarily a Ford only problem. All after treatement (3way cats, DPFs, etc.) have some sort of oxidation catalyst. Given the right conditions unburnt fuel or carbon in a lean environment it will burn. Oxidation is a exothermic reaction. In diesels, which run extremely lean, once the oxicat gets going you can have a hot, hot fire. I saw an engine burn to the ground because a local municipality required an oxicat. Then when the injector tip broke the oxicat went to work oxidizing all that excess fuel. Because there was never a shortage of fresh air (lean exhaust) the reaction ran away and temps in the oxicat reached 2500F. Ultimately burning the vehicle to the ground.

Gas engines typically don't have this problem because the exhaust mixture is oxygen limited and the reaction stalls.
You speak the truth...what do you do for work?
 

profro

Turbo Monkey
Feb 25, 2002
5,617
314
Walden Ridge
You speak the truth...what do you do for work?

I used to work at Southwest Research Institute, then Oak Ridge National Lab, then the University of Tennessee doing aftertreatment research. I even own a patent for a Lean NOx system that will never see the light of day. Thankfully. Then I started my own data acquisition/control contracting. I ended up being better at building tools for research than actual research. Now I work in the PET imaging field doing control and software. Pretty far off my MS in thermal engineering. But I'm pretty good at it. More of big fish in a little pond kind of thing. ;)

You?
 

Pesqueeb

bicycle in airplane hangar
Feb 2, 2007
40,337
16,812
Riding the baggage carousel.
Yup, that is what my coworker just said to me. I mentioned something in passing about plugs, and he said he didn't think his car had any. I asked him if his engine was diesel, and he said no. His reasoning was that he has never had to change his spark plugs, so they must not be there.
What do you do again? I hope its not work that affects other peoples safety, your co-worker is a moron.
 
That is not necessarily a Ford only problem. All after treatement (3way cats, DPFs, etc.) have some sort of oxidation catalyst. Given the right conditions unburnt fuel or carbon in a lean environment it will burn. Oxidation is a exothermic reaction. In diesels, which run extremely lean, once the oxicat gets going you can have a hot, hot fire. I saw an engine burn to the ground because a local municipality required an oxicat. Then when the injector tip broke the oxicat went to work oxidizing all that excess fuel. Because there was never a shortage of fresh air (lean exhaust) the reaction ran away and temps in the oxicat reached 2500F. Ultimately burning the vehicle to the ground.

Gas engines typically don't have this problem because the exhaust mixture is oxygen limited and the reaction stalls.

Hey Profro you really sound like you know your stuff. I have a diesel that i really want to maintain well and have just changed all the fluids. Its running a little rough so i thought it would be a good idea to change the sparkplugs and wires. When i open the hood i can't find what i' looking for. Can you help me out?
 

profro

Turbo Monkey
Feb 25, 2002
5,617
314
Walden Ridge
Hey Profro you really sound like you know your stuff. I have a diesel that i really want to maintain well and have just changed all the fluids. Its running a little rough so i thought it would be a good idea to change the sparkplugs and wires. When i open the hood i can't find what i' looking for. Can you help me out?
Absolutely. But if you want it to run real fresh add 2-stroke oil to every fill up. :thumb: