> I guess when I took them out there were particularly sooty or oily or
> something, and I can only guess that I cleaned them off with
> something like
> a tiny dremmel wire wheel.
>
> Apparently I didn't really clean them . . . instead I smeared an
> electrical
> path of less resistance all over the insulator and between conducting
> surfaces.
>
> So what I was getting was pulses of electricity to the plugs, but no
> "spark."
> The electricity just dispersed across the aforementioned "smear."
> That's my theory anyway .. Dave or Randall can tell me if it sounds
> plausible.
Yup, makes perfect sense!
BTW, it's possible for plugs to do this all on their own, without the Dremel
... it's called glazing and can be difficult to see. Thus it's always a
good idea to swap plugs if you're working on a strange "no start" problem.
I save the last set I took out for a tune-up, they're "known good" even if
they are a bit worn.
Never use a steel brush (like the Dremel wire brush) to clean the insulator
of spark plugs, it does leave a thin layer of steel behind on the ceramic
that may cause problems later.
Randall
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