couple questions, I do not know if they are related or not.

whynot · Post by **whynot** » Sat Dec 28, 2013 12:27 am

I have been having hard starts lately, so I pulled the plugs and they are NGK-P plugs, they were covered in white ash. looks like ash from a fire. (go figure)
What can cause this. do I just change them or what?

also the heater issues that I have been having. I pulled the radiator cap, and ran the car up to temp. and you can not see the coolant flow in the hole. I would suspect that you should?

I had the timing belt and water pump and head changed when I got the car due to a bad valve. but that was about 10K miles ago. but now I am curious if he did it or not? is there a way to pull the cove enough to check if the belt is new without disassembling anything?

thanks
Doug

NyNeon0813 · Post by **NyNeon0813** » Sat Dec 28, 2013 10:24 am

Yes I would just buy new spark plugs. You should fill the coolant, when car is COLD, to the top. You may be able to pry the cover out some with a flat head screw driver. But they are brittle so that's at your own risk. There's also a little plug at the top of the cover that you can pop out and look in it with a flashlight, maybe u can satisfy your curiosity of the belt that way.

r/tguy02 · Post by **r/tguy02** » Sat Dec 28, 2013 4:33 pm

Get rid of those platinum crap plugs, go with a copper plug either from champion or ngk.

Post by **occasional demons** » Sat Dec 28, 2013 5:59 pm

White stuff on the plugs is just from fuel additives. Pretty much normal.
I have run platinum plugs for 40,000 plus miles without any issues.
Sometimes I think ppl just blame stuff on them for problems they can't figure out. Been running platinum plugs for the last 20 years and never had a problem. Beats changing plugs every 15,000 miles.

As far as the belt, there is no way to tell from looks if it is "new" or not. After 10,000 miles, it will probably look like one with 100,000 miles.

As far as the coolant, did you run it until the fan(s) came on the second time? (Sometimes they will cycle before the thermostat opens)

If the engine is not overheating, the thermostat is probably fine. It will not flow until the t'stat is open. If you really want to check it to see how well it flows, just pull the fan relay, or unplug the fan. If it is not flowing nicely at 3/4 gauge, or begins boiling by then, then you have a t'stat/water pump/hose/radiator problem. Reconnect fan, and let cool to normal gauge position.

Coolant must be at least 50/50 mix to do this, because straight water will boil over nearly right after the t'stat normally opens.

whynot · Post by **whynot** » Mon Dec 30, 2013 12:49 am

thank you for the information.
The reason I wanted to look at the belt was to see if it was a factory belt or not, as he was to change it. at least I would think he did the work.

I did change the thermostat, but the car always runs at about 1/3 of gauge, and the heater does not work very well. I also flushed the heater core and changed to green long life antifreeze when I did the thermostat. The temp gauge never moves after it gets up to temp. But I have noticed that if I keep the RPM above about 2300 the heater is working better. That is what is making me think it may be a pump issue. I did run it until the fans cycled twice when watching the flow.

The white build up on the plugs is pretty heavy, so I thought it may be causing issues, I buy Costco gas almost exclusively, as they are the closest place to work. is there an issue with their gas? Thought I would just change them and then monitor them, and see how it goes.

I have the day off tomorrow and Tuesday to get this ready for the trip, so I will try again tomorrow.

neonrog · Post by **neonrog** » Mon Dec 30, 2013 6:47 am

Anymore, gas is gas is gas. The only real difference is the bottle the driver pours in at the individual station. I tend to buy from the same place and same pump as much as possible, buts thats more my low grade OCD than any proof of anything. Like was said, the whitish stuff is more additive burnoff and pretty normal these days.

I run the Champions, same as it came with new. Thats a carryover from my short time with the 80s & 90s Dodge turno cars. Replacing a set now while the car is laid up.

You might have an air bubble in the cooling system somewhere. Happened to me a lot with my 94 3.5 liter Concorde.