[alien]

Alright so this is weird... and i have an idea but would like confirmation, so here's what happened:

I grabbed a few cans of degreaser to clean up our driveway after my leaking axle seal left blobs everywhere.
Once i was done with the driveway i had some left so i decided to give my engine bay a wash (engine was still warm).
I gave everything a good coat of degreaser, left it for a few mins and blasted it off with the garden hose (nozzle thingo set to jet)
Noticed i'd missed a few spots so gave another coat of degreaser and hosed again.
Left the zuk overnight to 'dry out' in case i got any water in bits i shouldnt have.
Around 18hrs later i started it up and it ran fine, but when i went to take off it was missing and spluttering (i'm assuming i got water in a spark plug) so i gave it a few revs and it cleared up.
Driving around, now and then (mainly under load) it'd splutter for a moment then feel like someone had pressed a nitrous button and rev awesomely.
Later that arvo i drove it again and it was perfect, no spluttering or anything but it had (and has since) retained that extra power feeling... its REALLY noticeably more powerful, even the g/f noticed it was accelerating quicker.

Now, my theory would be some degreaser/water got into the spark plugs and gave them a clean? as the plugs on my engine are about 3 years old, so they could have potentially been a bit gunky... but that still doesnt sound right...

So, thoughts? =)

[jdk81]

I cant help you, but I am going to clean my engine

[alien]

yeah, the $2 a can performance mod for g16b engines... lol

[atari4x4]

i'm guessing would be something simple like you were getting spark jump from greasy & dirty plug leads/boots or they've been touching in one spot & the spark has been leaking from one lead to the other.

spark plugs are cheap, grab a set & gap them, you'd be surprised the difference new plugs can make.

[alien]

are those swanky platinum plugs worth the coin or better just to run standard replacement ones?

still weird that giving it a wash had this effect... still, i'd rather it this way around than the other.

[SuziBlu]

I agree with Atari, electrical leaks can be very noticable, or not at all. I pull my plugs regularly and clean them, the leads, cap and the block where the plug lives.

Id say after 3 years your plugs are shot anyway, go for NGK, get a multimeter and check your leads, or just replace, same cap n rotor.

[atari4x4]

fire it up at night time somewhere dark with no light pollution (powerlines at night) & pop the bonnet, you'll most likely see the spark leaks.

i've never bothered with platinum plugs.

[SuziBlu]

Most excellent lightning display hey, generally thats the leak you dont nitice, but in the dark, light city.

[BlueSuzy]

I've always used platinums as its something less to look at over time. Less pulling the coilpacks off my baleno motor the better.(they have fallen apart)

Normal Plugs are meant to be better though. But change them regularly.

I might be a nut, But to me a clean car always drives nice Mainly because im happy with the job and clean is relaxing

[JrZook]

Probs say that because it was running like balls to begin with after the clean, the change back to running smooth again has given you a false sense of an overall increased power

[alien]

JrZook wrote:

Probs say that because it was running like balls to begin with after the clean, the change back to running smooth again has given you a false sense of an overall increased power

nar not the case... i know how fast it accelerates to certain spot of road etc, as well as in traffic overtaking under power etc. Its more noticeable in the lower rev range (sub 3500rpm) that it just picks up so much faster.

i'll do plugs & leads and see what happens.

[larry]

i pulled my spark plugs out, reset to spec with a feeler gauge and i remember how awesome the engine ran and felt
might have to do plugs and leads soon, how often are you meant to change them?

[wolf_rt]

plugs every 20,000 or so.... leads when they are damaged...

i think people get a bit excited about replacing leads these days.. if they have no cracks/visible damage, and test ok with a multimeter, they are fine...

imo, distributor caps need replacement far more often than leads, but everyone these days seems more likely to replace leads.

[Shansh]

X2 on the dizzy cap

[alien]

i don't have a dizzy =) i'm pretty sure my leads are genuine suzuki, so theyre getting on a bit.

[atari4x4]

care to add the details about your engine set up seeing it's obviously not stock.

[alien]

<---- its under my name on the left there =)

[shakes]

wolf_rt wrote:

plugs every 20,000 or so.... leads when they are damaged...

i think people get a bit excited about replacing leads these days.. if they have no cracks/visible damage, and test ok with a multimeter, they are fine...

imo, distributor caps need replacement far more often than leads, but everyone these days seems more likely to replace leads.

Using a multimeter means you need to actually know stuff.

My call is you cleaned some crap out of some electrical connections. Initially wet causing the spluttering...