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Showing results for tags 'Champion'.
Found 3 results
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Want to get your opinion on what I am seeing. Went to fly tonight and had a rough mag that I couldn't clear. The JPI indicated it was the #2 cylinder, right mag. If i remembered the cylinders orientation correctly, this should be the front left cylinder on the pilot's side. Since the JPI was indicating an issue on one mag, I pulled the lower plug. I found a very small amount of lead in it (I lean aggressively so seeing lead fouling is unusual for me). I decided to pull both plugs on this cylinder. The top one had no lead. I pulled out my trusty ohm meter and found the article Daver posted last year with the Champion plug changes that addressed the high ohm readings. I always carry a couple of new plugs with me and pulled one of them out and measured the resistance. The article said it should be between 800 and 1200 ohms. The new plug was exactly in that range (keep in mind this is a 24 year old plug). Put the ohm meter on both plugs I pulled and found them both wide open! So, obviously these plugs are toast. Right? Since I have two new ones, is there a gap spec that I need to set for them? It is clear the old plugs are getting worn. The new plug:
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Had to abort a flight due to cyl 6 EGT going to zero on mag check. Turned out to be not a fouled plug , but a defective Champion plug on the M20K, TSIO 360LB. 2 months ago all plugs checked OK at annual. After engine rebuild 500 hrs ago, have had to replace 8/12 plugs. Have read a lot of negative posts and press on the Champion plugs going bad with ultra high resistance. This plug had over 12K ohms, the others 5K and below. This am changing all plugs to Tempest on next oil change in May. Strongly considering the Tempest fine wire. Although 3X as much, they are said to last the TBO life of the engine. The other indirect financial consideration is the cost of scrubbing a mission due to one out of 12 bad plugs. If the failure factor of massive electrode plugs are that much higher than fine wire, the dispatch reliability is probably worth the extra $600 over the next 1000 hrs. Anyone with experience with this engine and fine wire plugs and/or Tempest v Champion, please chime in.
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The last 30-40 hours, I've been dealing with a plug that kept fouling. Each time I did a mag check, one of the plugs on the left mag was causing an excessive drop and roughness. A high power burn always cleared it, but then after takeoff, a "little roughness" would set in again. Hard leaning, then enricheing would smooth things out, but it was getting to be a nuisance. I only had about 400 hours on the plugs. I tried inspecting, cleaning, gap-checking, etc. Each time, just a waste of time. No long-term improvement. It was one of the four plugs, but which one? So.....I bit the bullet, went down to Aircraft Spruce and bought eight Tempest fine-wires. Magic! All is well again. And I can lean further before the roughness begins. (O-360). When I removed the Champions, I looked a little closer. And look what I found! I'd been paying all my attention to the "business end" of the plugs, but should have been looking at the other end! The burn mark inside says I'd had a spark jumping where it wasn't supposed to be. I didn't enjoy buying those fine-wires, but the improved operation is making me feel better about it.
