A fouling plug can be from a variety of individual failures or the sum of several lesser problems. A poor spark will certainly bring about fouling of the particular plug. Seems odd to me that you have been in and around this engine for the last 6 months or more and just discovered it has a fouled #1 plug.
Low compression will also foul the plug. Low compression can be the result of a burned valve (which could be from a bad lifter), a cracked head, bad head gasket seal, or some condition relative to the piston ring and cylinder wall interface. And, a bad plug wire leading to poor spark, leading to poor combustion, leading to filling the compression rings with crud can all conspire to make a simple problem worse.
Anyway, I would do a compression test and find out if #1 is significantly different than 2 through 4. If you have already done this, I missed it in your list of events.
We did a compression test on all cylinders. They all showed pretty much the same reading and held pressure until I hit the tool's bleeding button.
I have to go back to the garage now... I have a CIS and fuel pressure checking to do in addition to using my new mityvac to check for vacuum leaks. I have a feeling, like I posted on the first time ever in the Stalling Again thread that I have a vacuum leak.
Cio
I did not know you guys were working in the morning. I drove by at 2:30 pm, and just saw Andrew's 560 SEL and the the other 190E. Since there was no one, I thought there was no GTG. Should have checked this page.
A fouling plug can be from a variety of individual failures or the sum of several lesser problems. A poor spark will certainly bring about fouling of the particular plug. Seems odd to me that you have been in and around this engine for the last 6 months or more and just discovered it has a fouled #1 plug.
Low compression will also foul the plug. Low compression can be the result of a burned valve (which could be from a bad lifter), a cracked head, bad head gasket seal, or some condition relative to the piston ring and cylinder wall interface. And, a bad plug wire leading to poor spark, leading to poor combustion, leading to filling the compression rings with crud can all conspire to make a simple problem worse.
Anyway, I would do a compression test and find out if #1 is significantly different than 2 through 4. If you have already done this, I missed it in your list of events.
Jim
From the way the motor ran, I surmised that it had none of these problems.
Also, from the way the motor presented, it bore the classic signs of an overheat somewhere in its history. In these motors, typically, the heater core to head return (above the oil filter) hose pops off its nozzle because the clutch fan magnet fails to work and the persistent 110 C temperature level weakens that hose. This leads to ventures into "cooling" the motor (like electric fan add-ons) without resolving the magnet problem.
Following this, the typical 2.3 motor's head warps and the oily residue in the overflow tank appears quickly weakening all the other hoses by the presence of oil in the coolant. The loss of compression immediately leads to a stalling problem because of the head warp. A sloppy repair causes the removal of the mechanical fuel delivery system, the introduction of air and chemicals into the fuel delivery system and a loss of calibration of the fuel mechanism. After the repair, the car continues to hard start and stall frequently but unpredictably. An improperly handled electrical system blows the OVP.
Drew's 190 motor had the signs of overheating followed by a hasty repair plus a totally fouled number 1 plug. So, it is impossible to conclude that collapsed tappets, a blown head gasket or bad fuel pressure is causing the stalling. That clogged and fouled plug speaks the loudest and tells the best story of why the motor dies all the time.
In my opinion, we need to correct operating temperature first, monitor fouling second, isolate the reason for the fouling and correct it, and lastly, calibrate the fuel delivery.
Anything else is just fishing for a solution and creating tons of extra work that may cause further departure from the real reason for the stalling.
I did not know you guys were working in the morning. I drove by at 2:30 pm, and just saw Andrew's 560 SEL and the the other 190E. Since there was no one, I thought there was no GTG. Should have checked this page.
We were done at about that time and left for Cecil County.
We did a compression test on all cylinders. They all showed pretty much the same reading and held pressure until I hit the tool's bleeding button.
I have to go back to the garage now... I have a CIS and fuel pressure checking to do in addition to using my new mityvac to check for vacuum leaks. I have a feeling, like I posted on the first time ever in the Stalling Again thread that I have a vacuum leak.
Cio
Did you pull the plug on number 1 and see if it is fouled again?
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