How to clean spark plugs: practical tips

2024 Author: Erin Ralphs | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-19 11:42

Today, almost every third car enthusiast is trying to revive spark plugs that have become obsolete. This is done in order to save money, as well as due to the sudden failure of the machine on the road. There are several ways to clean spark plugs. While this is easy to do, there are a few rules to follow.

How to clean spark plugs

There are quite a lot of products that are used for cleaning. The most popular of them is ordinary sandpaper, as well as a metal brush. But such a tool can only help when the amount of carbon deposits and the residual mixture of gasoline is insignificant. Also, it will not help if the candles are flooded, as they must first be dried, and only then cleaned.

You can try to heat the products to a high temperature. It is recommended to do this until the metal turns red. However, during such manipulations, ceramic insulation is broken, so such a candle will not last long, but it should be enough for 5,000-7,000 kilometers. After heating, carbon deposits and mixture residues are easily removed.using a metal brush.

There is also another very interesting and effective way to clean spark plugs using improvised means. To do this, it is necessary to pour detergent into the vessel, and then lower the damaged product into it by about half with the contact surface down (the place where the spark is generated). Hold for about 8-10 minutes, after which the soot becomes soft, it can be removed even with a toothbrush.

How to clean spark plugs

So, we have already figured out what can be used for cleaning. And now I would like to say a few words directly about the process. You need to understand that often after cleaning 100% performance is not restored, however, efficient operation of the engine can still be ensured.

The use of household chemicals allows you to effectively clean the candle from carbon deposits, as well as restore the spark gap so that the motor runs stably. To do this, the candle is kept in a special solution for a day, after which the electrodes are mechanically cleaned, then the spark gap is restored and everything is put back in place.

But the most effective cleaning method, which we haven't mentioned yet, is using a device called a sandblaster. In this case, sand is used, but here you need to know how to properly clean the spark plugs. To do this, it is desirable to unbend the side electrodes of the candle, which guarantees complete cleaning of carbon deposits.

Cleaning iridium spark plugs

Currentlytime, not everyone has heard about this type of spark plugs, and even more so about how they should be cleaned. It is worth noting that iridium products have a cost of about 2,000 rubles per set. However, when using high-quality fuel, they provide effective ignition of the working mixture even at -30 degrees Celsius.

And now a little about how to clean iridium spark plugs. Since it is easy to damage them, sandpaper must be completely eliminated. The same applies to detergents, as well as other "chemistry". It is recommended to use compressed air at a pressure of 6 atmospheres. Sandblasting is also suitable, but you need to be extremely careful. During sanding, the candle must be rotated periodically to better remove the abrasive.

A few more good ways

There are a huge number of ways to clean spark plugs, but not all of them are appropriate. Therefore, almost half of the methods completely disable candles, which we do not need. Today, ultrasound is used to destroy carbon deposits, but performance drops by about 30%, and this is fraught with poor ignition of the working mixture at sub-zero temperatures.

In most cases, special preparations are used that contain chemically active substances. Most often they are used to clean injectors. The candle is placed for about a day in a specialliquid, after which they are cleaned with a brush and blown with air. The result is good. There is also soaking in gasoline or thinner, followed by cleaning with a brush. A good way, but it is effective only as long as the soot is not clearly expressed.

Instead of a conclusion

So we looked at how to clean spark plugs in various ways, each of which is used today. But it is worth noting that not all of them provide the desired result. Some don't allow the spark plug to perform as well as it used to, while others are so expensive that it's easier to buy a new set.

Sandblasting has been the best option for many years. The results after such cleaning are optimal. The candle is almost completely cleared of various kinds of contaminants and restores its former characteristics, which, in fact, is what we need. You can also use household chemicals, but you still should not count on long-term operation, the maximum is 10,000 kilometers. As for iridium candles, according to the manufacturers, they can last a very, very long time, but only with high-quality fuel.