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Engine question

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agenttnk

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I've been using afterrun oil after everyrun and kept the temps below 300 and maybe 5 minutes over 300 when i was tuning and I've noticed that my glowplug and the piston that i can see through the glow plug hole are BLACK i have a motor saver airfilter and i usually run it on grass in my backyard.. and I'm pretty sure the colors are suppose to be close to silver right? please help did i ruin my engine?
 
I dont understand you question but from what i do understand you need a new plug.
 
the glow plug still works and I'm wondering if my glowplug and piston being black is bad
 
For one thing, the after run oil after each and every run is a bit much. After run oil is intended for use at the end of the day or when you intend to lay the truck up for any great length of time. If you over use it you will over work and most likely burn out plugs left and right trying to get the engine started. Too much oil in the chamber is a bad thing.

As for the coloration, that is called carbon. The blackened remains of too much burnt up oil. Yes, you may want to get a new plug. Yes, you may want to remove the head and give the inside of the engine a little TLC by way of cleaning it. Yes, you should take it easy on the after run oil.

As for your running conditions, the grass in the back yard might be okay if it is short (like under an inch in height), but running for great lengths of time on grass can cause a lot of strain on the drive train and thus the engine. That will lead to higher than normal temps and cause other issues down the road.
 
oo, ok.. what should i use to clean the piston and all that some non-chlorinated engine cleaner?
 
Just curious to know if you know... My OS engines carboned up like that, my orion engine just turned brown and my Omega engine is still shiny inside. Any idea as to what causes excess carbon or brown laquer looking finish on the piston?

I've maintained the engines all the same and used the same fuel in all the engines for the majority of their lives.
 
agenttnk said:
oo, ok.. what should i use to clean the piston and all that some non-chlorinated engine cleaner?

I would try something a little more benign. Perhaps some WD-40 or some denatured alcohol. It should not be hard to remove the discoloration.

olds97_lss said:
Just curious to know if you know... My OS engines carboned up like that, my orion engine just turned brown and my Omega engine is still shiny inside. Any idea as to what causes excess carbon or brown laquer looking finish on the piston?

I've maintained the engines all the same and used the same fuel in all the engines for the majority of their lives.

Different engines have slightly different burn characteristics. The browning is natural wear and tear on the engine. It is usually a sign of running slightly rich.

The blackened appearance is usually a sign of too much heat or too much oil. Either instance is usually not healthy for the engine.

Note that the timing of the combustion can change the coloring also. If you use certain plugs, the burn characteristics within the chamber change in timing and can lead to either a very accelerated burn (which can cause carbonization) or a very slow burn which can lead to poor performance. Kind of a freaky science and hard to really explain without getting overly technical, but the bottom line is chosing the right plug for your engine, tuning for performance and using a temp gun as a good sanity check, and proper maintenance should keep the engine looking like your Omega or perhaps a little on the browned side like the Orion you described.
 
Thanks. I've only been doing this for a couple years and I don't have anyone really to compare things with. All I can do is trial and error... mostly error.
 
olds97_lss said:
Thanks. I've only been doing this for a couple years and I don't have anyone really to compare things with. All I can do is trial and error... mostly error.

LMAO!! :spit:
 
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