What Causes a Spark Plug to Fail to Ignite?
2 Answers
Spark plug failure to ignite is caused by a damaged spark plug. A damaged spark plug can directly lead to issues such as leakage in the vehicle's ignition system, increased fuel consumption, reduced power, and most importantly, difficulty in ignition, affecting the normal operation of the vehicle. Severe erosion of the spark plug, including blistering at the top, damage, or melted and eroded electrodes, indicates that the spark plug is damaged and should be replaced. Methods to determine if a spark plug is damaged: Remove the spark plug and observe its condition based on the following appearance colors. A normal spark plug's insulator skirt and electrodes should appear grayish-white, grayish-yellow, or light brown. A properly functioning spark plug has a reddish-brown insulator skirt, with an electrode gap between 0.8-0.9mm and no signs of electrode burn. If the spark plug has oil stains or deposits but is not damaged, it can continue to be used after cleaning off the oil and deposits. If the spark plug is severely damaged, showing signs such as blistering, black streaks, cracks, or melted electrodes, the cause of the damage should be identified. After troubleshooting, replace the spark plug with a new one. Additionally, if the spark plug appears black as if smoked, it indicates the wrong heat range was selected or the mixture is too rich, with oil creeping up.
Don't rush to curse when your car won't start - it's probably the spark plugs throwing a tantrum. I ran into this exact headache last week, only to find out after hours of troubleshooting that aging ignition coils left the spark plugs powerless. A quick resistance check with a multimeter exposes the truth; normal readings should fall between 5k to 20k ohms. Excessive cylinder carbon buildup can also short-circuit spark plugs, clogging them up like a chain-smoker's lungs. The worst scenario? Weak battery voltage - my cousin's car had this issue, and after jump-starting, we discovered the spark plug gaps were completely fouled with oil sludge. Pro tip: Check your dashboard warning lights first. A flashing yellow light means the electronic control system is protesting, while a solid red light screams for a tow truck. With shady repair shops everywhere these days, keeping a spark plug wrench in your toolkit can save serious cash - a full set replacement for a 4-cylinder engine costs barely over 100 bucks anyway.
