Re: The Right Spark Plugs (thanks to IA)

[Sachelle Babbar <sbabbar@iris.nyit.edu>]

Yeah, same thing with me. I don't know about the horse increase, but the
turbo spool time is dramatically reduced to give the impression of more
power. I use the NGK tri electrodes. I prefer them just slightly over the
DTC's. Probably not much of a difference, if at all.

**************************************************************************************************************************************************							       
*Steve                                       Sachelle Babbar
*'84  5ksT 1.6-2.0 bar                    <SBABBAR@IRIS.NYIT.EDU>
*Cockpit adjustable wastegate, AudiSport badge
*
*Disclaimer:"Any information contained herein is based purely on my own
*personal experience and may not necessarily reflect yours. Use caution as
*your results may vary from mine."
********************************************************************************

On Tue, 24 Mar 1998, William Elliott wrote:

> I bought my 85 UrQ freshly tuned up in August and have put about 8000 miles on 
> it since then.  (Yes, I feel guilty about using it as a driver, but can think 
> of no car I'd rather drive for a 120mi/day round trip commute in WI.)  It has a 
> K24 turbo and IA stage 1 mods.  Otherwise stock.  It had always surged a bit on 
> full throttle acceleration, something I had always attributed to the higher 
> boost pressures.
> 
> On a trip down to Chicago this weekend (to look at two SAAB 900 convertibles 
> for my wife.. both sold in the two hours it took to get there... still looking 
> for an 87-94 turbo 5 speed with low miles...the Audi conv't, while much more 
> attractive, is simply two slow and lacks the proper number of pedals: why not a 
> quattro turbo convertible?) the UrQ started bucking sharply on any boost.  
> Started and ran fine, drove fine until boost starts.  I assumed I had blown a 
> hose somewhere (though they were all new) that was only leaking on pressure 
> vice vacuum.
> 
> Upon getting it home and carefully checking everything over, all I could find 
> was evidence of a slight valve cover leak which I had not noticed before.  I 
> then checked the distributor (new wires, new cap) and pulled the plugs: Bosch 
> Platinums.  (Although only a few months old, one also had a cracked insulator 
> on the center electrode.)  Now I can't get these plugs to run right even in a 
> Corvair...
> 
> I remembered seeing "tech tips" on plugs on Ned's page and rechecked it.  He 
> had the bad plugs figured correctly: WR7DP.  He suggested the W7DTC with the 3 
> ground electrodes. (I couldn't locally find the F5DPOR.)
> 
> What a difference!  I must have gained at least 50hp across the board, even on 
> low end.  No surging; smooth power all the way to redline.  And I thought the 
> UrQ was fast before...   I had never seen plugs exhibit symptoms such as these 
> and wanted to pass along the hint for any troubleshooting of surging/misfiring 
> under boost.   (Oh, I replaced the valve cover gasket while under the hood as 
> well.)
> 
> Bill Elliott
> Lake Mills, WI
>