[s-cars] Dodging the bullet; a short story -

[Mike Claire]

hmmm.  I've seen them in Harbor Freight for cheap.  And I bet the electode
is ferrous, so maybe I can get it out with a magnet.

I'll look into that (pun intended)   :)


Mike

On 8/10/06, Bob Frizzell <bobfrizzell at shaw.ca> wrote:
>
> Mike,
> Can you get your hands on an inspection scope to look inside the cylinder?
> You might find and be able to retrieve the center electrode.  With luck
> there is little or no significant damage.
> Just a thought,
> Bob 93//S4
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mike Claire" <mike.claire at gmail.com>
> To: <Djdawson2 at aol.com>
> Cc: <i.rautenberg at waratap.com>; <s-car-list at audifans.com>
> Sent: Thursday, August 10, 2006 5:20 PM
> Subject: Re: [s-cars] Dodging the bullet; a short story -
>
>
> > Dave:  I just STFA and found your post.  Ever figure out what it
> was?  I'm
> > asking of course, because I had a similar experience today.  Engine has
> > always run smooth, but today developed what sounded like a lifter tap.
> > Figured I was a little low on oil since I've heard that noise only once
> > before when I was a little more than 1/2 qt down.  No big deal I though.
> > About 1/2 later it gets louder and now for the first time ever - the
> engine
> > begins to stumble.
> >
> > Coincidence?  I figured maybe an ignition problem, but why the noise?
> > Broken valve spring?  I limped it home and pulled the cover and started
> > pulling plugs.  They were all tight.  But upon inspection the #4 plug
> was
> > missing the entire center electrode (all the porcelain was intact
> though).
> >
> > Not too happy - this is a proper F5DPOR.  The insulator is completely
> loose
> > and slides back and forth about a full 1/8".  So what I thought was
> tappet
> > noise was really the insulator slamming up and down on every stroke.
> Until
> > finally it lost the electrode.
> >
> > How concerned should I be about internal damage?  I don't know how long
> that
> > electrode is, but I don't think the chances of it getting out of the
> engine
> > without wrecking a valve seat or scoring the cylinder wall can be very
> > good.  If it damaged anything, I hope it's the turbine blade since I'm
> > running the original K24.
> >
> > I have never tracked the car, and although it sees high boost all the
> time
> > (Uncle Bob's 1+), I bet I baby this car compared to a lot of you
> guys.  Wh
> at
> > bothers me is that I don't think I did anything wrong, and there's
> nothing
> > we can do differently to avoid this from happening again.
> >
> >
> >
> > Mike
> >
> > On 3/4/06, Djdawson2 at aol.com <Djdawson2 at aol.com> wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > In a message dated 3/4/2006 1:33:01 PM Mountain Standard Time,
> > > irautenberg at comcast.net writes:
> > >
> > > Any update, Dave?  Did you switch  injectors?  Still intrigued.
> > >
> > > Ingo
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Ingo (or, Out-Come),
> > >
> > > Update...
> > > Well, I left LA yesterday at noon mountain time.  Unfortunately,  I
> had
> to
> > > return to Boise.  The trip was fun, being predominantly back roads  in
> CA
> > > and
> > > NV... very empty... a "little" over the posted limit.
> > >
> > > I was driving up route 95 after a 50 miles stint on I-80.  No sooner
> did
> > > I
> > > cross the OR state line, the WORST snow storm I have ever driven
> > > in  began.
> > > Thank goodness for my Audi.  This road is remote enough that  plow
> > > equipment was
> > > not seen anywhere that night... except as I neared  I-84.  Started as
> a
> > > heavy
> > > wet snow, and eventually turned into near white  out conditions, with
> very
> > > high winds.  As such, the tracks from previous  vehicles began to
> > > disappear, and
> > > soon, I was driving through nearly 1 foot of  snow, hoping I was going
> the
> > > right direction.  Sometimes it was deep enough  that the snow "plowed"
> by
> > > the
> > > front of my car started blowing up over the hood,  rather than passing
> > > underneath.
> > >
> > > Now to your question... during this storm, the intermittent miss
> started
> > > again.  I pressed on, knowing I shouldn't, but had no desire to get
> out
> > > of  the
> > > car and change a plug in that storm.  After about an hour, the miss
> "went
> > > away."  I arrived in Boise at 3:30am, 15.5 hours after
> my  departure...
> > > probably a
> > > new record worst for me.
> > >
> > > Now that I'm here, I will be pulling the #4 plug to see if the post is
> > > beginning to drop out.  If it is, I am going to change the plug, and
> > > swap  the #4
> > > injector into a different cylinder.  I will be driving 830 miles  back
> to
> > > Denver on Monday... so I'll be able to see if the problem moves with
> > > the  injector.
> > >
> > > It would be nice if it did, as I'd like to narrow this down.  As
> a  side
> > > note, I'm going to be getting a couple of different flavors of NGK
> plugs
> > > to  try
> > > in this engine as well.
> > >
> > > Take care,
> > > Dave
> > > _______________________________________________
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> > >
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