Plenty of spark F-14

Dave Allgire · Sep 9, 2012

OK, I"ve got 2 F-12"s and 3 F-14"s. I was doing my quarterly startup and it was just at dusk. I noticed one of my F-14"s was missing slightly. I revved it up to full throttle, no load, and noticed that intermittently the spark from the magneto would jump from the the #2 plug to the manifold. It has a distillate manifold. The valves have recently been set, the plugs have recently been set, the timing is correct, and it starts on the 2nd or 3rd pull. Is the plug fouling out? I"m using Champion W14. Is my mixture too rich? On my second F-14 the #3 plug has a continuous red glow at the plug/wire connection. I"m assuming I have a loose connection but could not verify it due to the lack of a flashlight. I will check the connection tightness tomorrow. Any thoughts?

Oldiron29 · Sep 10, 2012

Dave, I was alway told electric or spark will take the path of lest reistance. so could the plug be bad? or is the wire to close to the manifold? oldiron29

John M · Sep 10, 2012

ID say the connection is loose on both of them, but one the second one, it could be a bad termianl on it, assumin gyour using the origial type terminal.

Dave Allgire · Sep 10, 2012

The wires are the twisted wire type, not carbon. The spark is actually jumping from the tip of the plug to the manifold. The manifold is the original and not been modified. And I might have a loose connection. I'm using the nut that came with the plug and the wire has a crimped ring on its end. I'm going to pull the plug and look at it/change it and tighten connections. More later.

Bill in NJ · Sep 10, 2012

First off, your spark jumping and red glow problems have nothing to do with fuel mixture or for that mattter your fuel delivery system. Sounds like the #2 plug wire is either cracked or too close to the manifold. Could be both. If posible, reposition it so the terminal is as far away from ANY metal as possible. The red glow problem is more than likely dirt and/or rust at the terminal causing resistance which will create heat. Old rule of thumb = clean, bright and tight.

teddy52food · Sep 10, 2012

Set the gap a little closer on that plug. Maybe it is too wide to start with.

F-Dean · Sep 10, 2012

Try Autolite 3077 plugs. I have had good results with them in my F-Series tractors. They look strange but work well. They are available on line from Advance Auto.

Plenty of spark F-14

Dave Allgire

Member

Oldiron29

Well-known Member

John M

Well-known Member

Dave Allgire

Member

Bill in NJ

Member

teddy52food

Well-known Member

F-Dean

Well-known Member

Similar threads