What is carbon fouling on spark plugs?
Carbon fouling on a spark plug is when the insulator nose at the firing tip is coated with a foreign substance such as fuel, oil, or carbon, resulting in the engine misfiring or failing to start. Instead of bridging the electrode gap and firing normally like it is supposed to, this coating makes it easier for the voltage to follow along the insulator nose, leak back down into the metal shell and ground out.
What causes carbon fouling on spark plugs?
Common reasons for this include the wrong spark plug heat range, a non-optimal engine combustion process and poor running conditions like continuous low-speed driving and short trips. A spark plug must reach a temperature of 450°C before it starts to self-clean by burning off carbon deposits. Regular short trips and continuous low-speed driving, however, result in the spark plug being unable to reach this critical temperature, making conditions for fouling ripe.
