Has anyone installed a spark plug non-fouler in their 1FZ-FE?

[RescueU]

Has anyone installed a spark plug non-fouler in their 1FZ-FE?

I've searched the site and found little to no accounts of folks using these to help mitigate (even if temporary) plug fouling issues.

My '97 engine's (160k ODO) 6th cylinder plug fouls up in short order after replacing it. It appears there's good spark, and enough fuel is coming out of the injector to cause the VTV filter to saturated with gas from un-burnt gas.

This condition has been going on for a while now. It is constantly popping P0306 (6th Cyl misfire), and P04xx EGR System failure codes. Not a shocker based on the description above. While driving, in OD the engine/truck shudders like a plane reaching a stall point. Turning OD off helps a bit, along with mashing it to WOT. Engine still is producing overall good pressure (per the instrument panel's top left idiot gauge). Haven't found any evidence that there's a compromise of the wiring harness @ the firewall pass-thru, or at the wrap near the EGR. If that was the case, the 6th Cyl's fuel injector shouldn't be squirting fuel in, and thereby I wouldn't be finding gas in the VTV filter and vacuum tubes heading back to the TB.

Short of a engine rebuild to resolve what could either be a valve tube seal failure or blow-by at the piston rings (both cases having been suggested by guys based on my description of the symptoms), I was advised to give the spark plug non-fouler a chance, if at least to provide some relief and time while searching for a replacement/donor engine to rebuild/replace. If that doesn't help, I'll have to yank the harness connector to the #6 injector and truly run on only 5 cylinders. It beats wasting gas and the potential for an engine fire, eh?

So if anyone has used the spark plug non-foulers, I'd like to hear about your experiences. How much did you torque it down? I've picked up the Dorman 14mm tapered non-fouler (#42006) to use.

Thanks, fellas.

 

[Tools R Us]

What is the compression numbers? Have the injectors ever been serviced?

 

[inkpot]

So, what plugs are you running? John

 

[RescueU]

ToolsRUs,

I had a compression test done last summer, but of course...I can't find the paperwork on it anywhere. Doh! IIRC, the #1-5 were normal, and #6 was a little low. I also think it was done with the engine cold after it'd been sitting all night, FWIW. Time to get it done again.

No, the Fuel Injectors have never been serviced to my knowledge when I bought the LC in 2006, with 102k miles on it. It now has 165k on the ODO.

 

[RescueU]

So, what plugs are you running? John

John,

I typically use Mr. T OEM. Right now I have NGK BKR5EYA installed.

I've got a fresh set of Denso Platinum TT (PK16TT 4503) on hand that I'm about to install.

 

[landtoy80]

I have used one on a chevy 350 with a dead cylinder. The cylinder was full of carbon crud. What ever was fowling the plug and contaminating the cylinder was blocked by the non fouling part. After using it and selling the vehicle to my boss, he asked why I used that snake oil part? I told him that he was buying a V7 not a V8 but he said that the cylinder was clean and running fine so it works at least in a V7-8 motor.


Give it a try and if that doesnt work try one of those anti foul spark plugs in place of the plug in that cylinder.

 

[flow]

The first thing I would do is take apart the manifold to get those injectors serviced and then thoroughly check the intake tract for leaks.

 

[86tuning]

pics of the fouled sparkplug? I wonder if you're somehow burning oil in there, and it's oil ash... but that wouldn't explain why it's only one cylinder

 

[RescueU]

pics of the fouled sparkplug? I wonder if you're somehow burning oil in there, and it's oil ash... but that wouldn't explain why it's only one cylinder

The black crud caked onto the 6th plug is like sludge build-up.

Sorry the pic's not sharper.

 

[Tools R Us]

You have a miss problem, can resolve it or mask it, non-fouler isn't going to make the miss better. To fire it needs spark (in the proper timing), fuel (in the correct air fuel ratio) and a usable amount of compression. Yours sounds like ether a spark problem or more likely an injector problem?

 

[RescueU]

Kevin,

I agree that installing a spark plug non-fouler into Cyl #6 is not a solution for the long run. I'm just trying to get an interim relief to help the spark ignition there, thereby mitigate the risk of continued unburnt fuel being forced up into the EGR system (which it's currently doing and creating a fire risk), or down into my relatively new EMS-Powered Cat.

My originally posted question still stands...has anyone ever installed the Dorman 14mm tapered non-fouler? If so, what was it torqued down to before or with the spark plug?

 

[86tuning]

Shouldn't be a tapered one. Should be a flat seat with a crush gasket/washer

 

[RescueU]

I found two versions at my local AA store. The model you're describing (Dorman #42004) with the washers... And the long tapered version (Dorman #42008) which I was advised to use between the two choices from a staff member.

Who has used either one of these two, and what was the experience? Why select one vs the other?

Thanks!

 

[landtoy80]

The chevy plug looked just like your plug.

I would say try it and then try and resolve the problem.

 

[86tuning]

The cylinder head has a flat spot for the washer on the Toyota style sparkplug.

Cone seats are for GM type sparkplugs that don't use washers.

Using a cone seat sparkplug in the 1fz can damage the sparkplug seat and seal. Just like using the wrong lugnuts on a rim can cause problems (wheel fall off).

Hope that helps.

FWIW I have zero experience with nonfoulers. In fact, I had to google it to find out what they were.

 

[Howard705]

Old-school workaround for oil-burning cylinder on old cars that always had these problems. Yours looks oil fouled. I believe the idea is that the antifouler keeps the plug electrode up out of the oil slop that would foul it. Just a temp patch up to keep the cylinder from immediately fouling until you can tear it apart or sell it. Serious piston/ring/cylinder problem.

 

[itbrokeagain]

Would a hotter plug on that cylinder help?

 

[landtoy80]

E3 spark plugs are suppose to be foul free are are some others that say they even fire in oil. If the non fouler doesn't work try finding a spark plug that says it wont foul and use it for testing.

 

[IdahoDoug]

I wouldn't be too quick to give up on the basics. If something's amiss on the ignition to 6, the poor/weak spark would not provide the cylinder pressure to keep oil out of the cylinder. Remember, the cylinder walls always have a film of oil that the oil ring is supposed to control. With poor combustion, oily residue will accumulate. So, check the resistance of your plug wires, pull the cap and make sure a dist cap post isn't cracked or shows uneven wear on #6. Wire resistance values are in the FSM and you don't have to remove them - unclip each end and leave in place while checking.

The other option is the fuel injector, again providing poor combustion and letting normal oil presence go unburnt. This one I like much better. Why? Because you are aldo finding fuel where it does not belong. To me, it is a classic sign of an injector leaking. Each time you shut down, that 6 injector is dribbling into the cylinder. Start it up and some raw gas is getting past the valves due to turbulence/cavitation and into the intake/vacuum lines. A leaking injector is a simple fix if you find a Mr Injector type franchise around you. Ask a few good garages who cleans their injectors and bring yours there. They check for leaks, then chart their flow, then clean them and fix leaks and rechart the flow for a before/after. Around here that costs $12 per injector. Comes back with new seals and ready for another 20 years.

So, consider those two options first. I'd pull the injectors in a New York minute.

DougM

 

[Timpanogos Slim]

E3 spark plugs are suppose to be foul free are are some others that say they even fire in oil. If the non fouler doesn't work try finding a spark plug that says it wont foul and use it for testing.

I call BS.

Excess hydrocarbons that don't get burnt = fouled plug.

If you want to see all six fouled, start with a cold engine, drive around the block ONCE, and pull the plugs out.

Then put all six back in, zip up and down the freeway for 10 minutes, and pull them again. All better.

If oil is getting into the combustion chamber somehow, enough that it doesn't burn, the plug is going to be fouled.

What's our other option, too rich of a mixture? Valve not opening properly? I don't think any special spark plug can fix an imbalanced fuel/air mixture.