Why in the world would brand new plugs foul on me?

I've been trying to get this damn thing running for close to a month now and I just replaced all the spark plugs. Strill couldn't get the car to fire up and I just pulled plug #8, #4, and #1 and they all look just as bad as the ones I took out?

 

are you sure there fouled? how long have they been in there??

 

They're black and ugly and yes I'm sure. They have only been in there a day. And I haven't been able to get the car to run. I've cranked the hell out of it but it still won't fire. And now that I've pulled the plugs that are easy to get to I'm starting to get real nervous.

 

cant cranking the engine to much cause flooding? what is your car doing when you try turning it over? just clicking? turning over but just not firing up? you check your opti? starter? battery? alt? Autozone can check Starters, alternators, batteries and ignition control modules. and if it happens to be your battery they can recharge it. try getting it towed or if someone has a truck and trailer tow it up to autozone and have them check all that i listed.

 

Thats what I was thinking - too much cranking caused flooding - thus fouling the plugs. When I turn the key it turns over just never fires. The battery is fine, even have it on the charger when I try starting. In trying to figure this whole thing out I have replaced the opti, the plug wires, the starter, and the fuel pressure regulator. The alternator wouldn't keep the car from starting so I doubt thats the issue. I've followed the walk threw at the top of this forum and the ICM and coil tested out fine. And I know for a fact I have spark (pulled a wire and tested it while my wife cranked the engine with a spark plug)... I can't for the life of me figure out why it doesn't want to fire...

 

are you sure your getting spark? take out on spark plug, hook up the spark plug wire, ground it out and have a friend crank out it. just look for sparks.

 

Have you checked the fuel pressure? Is that why you changed the fuel pressure regulator?

Have you scanned it for codes? Is that why you replaced the Opti?

Did pcmforless tune it for the 30 #/HR injectors?

Use something other than the E3 gimmick spark plugs.

The Aeromotive LT1 AFPR is a major problem - known to fail.

Good chance it won't start because its too rich. Next time you try and start it, put the accel pedal on the floor, and hold it there while you try to start it. That puts it in "clear flood" mode.

 

Have you checked the fuel pressure? Is that why you changed the fuel pressure regulator?Yes, fuel presure goes to 42psi and holds. I put the stock FPR on after realizing my Aeromotive FPR wasn't holding the presure.

Have you scanned it for codes? Is that why you replaced the Opti?Yes, it's unfortunatly not throwing any codes. I used the walk threw at the top of this forum for testing the opti and wasn't getting the 1-4 AC volts I should have been - thus replaced the opti to eleminate that as being an issue.

Did pcmforless tune it for the 30 #/HR injectors?I told them too, they said they did, and the car (before all this) was running just fine on them so I figure thats ok.

Use something other than the E3 gimmick spark plugs.Those are the ones I just replaced. I put brand new Champion copper plugs in over the weekend. And now the three of those I pulled are as black and usless as the E3s I just took out...

The Aeromotive LT1 AFPR is a major problem - known to fail.Yup I realized that. See responce #1

Good chance it won't start because its too rich. Next time you try and start it, put the accel pedal on the floor, and hold it there while you try to start it. That puts it in "clear flood" modeI haven't tried that... never even knew that was a possiblilty. I don't hold out too much hope but I will try that.

 

Yup did this. I did visably see the spark.

 

I just read your post. My Z28 has had the exact same problems of OK fuel, OK spark, cranking OK but not running. I changed all the same stuff, Opti, plugs, wires, pcm. Fuel pressure, timing and compression checked out OK. My plugs were also black after one day. Did you ever get your issue resolved and get the thing started? Mine has been down for 5 weeks. Would really appreciate any advice.

thanks.

 

Plugs foul because of either too much fuel (or maybe too little air) or weak spark. Confirm spark, pull a couple plugs and hold them against the block with the plug wire attached and crank the engine. Should be a healthy regular-firing spark there. IIRC, there is a cut out that disables the ignition if there isn't oil pressure.

Make sure your air cleaner isn't clogged. An engine is largely an air pump, needs to have plenty of air passing through.

 

Plugs also foul if they are too cold to burn off the combustion deposits.

 

While overfueling can cause fouled plugs, a dirty air filter can not...on fuel injected engines. The PCM adds fuel to match the air it has measured on the way in. A cruddy filter robs performance for sure...

What heat range plugs are you using? What gap?

 

Maybe the opti is installed incorrectly, like the dowl pin is in the wrong slot causing spark at the wrong time.

 

Not on the F-Body LT1's.