Such a beautiful day yesterday I decided to do some pattern work & GPS approaches at a near by airport. During the climb out after a long approach from the GPS fix 5 N of the runway, I developed a rough running engine. Not real rough, but rough enough that when I killed the Plasma II ignition it ran smooth. I thought to myself I must have fouled a plug on the long approach, I wasn't keeping a real close eye on EGT's and I may have had the mixture full rich. I had plenty of power, just running a tad rough. So I climbed up to a safe altitude and headed home on one mag.
I pulled the top coweling and pulled the plugs. They looked fine. Was it the injectors? FUEL! Dirty fuel, clogged filter, vapor lock, clogged airfilter, a million things went through my mind as to what the problem was. Then I thought I would just clean the plugs and try them again. Something in the back of my mind said; "Do it right." so I took them to the FBO shop and borrowed the fancy $2,200 spark plug cleaner / tester.
Well, to make a short story long, I tested them
before cleaning to see if I could discover the problem. The last plug I tested was defective and the entire insulator would "glow" from the spark during the compression test. The shop was dark so I left the lights off which really gave the electrical display a glow. One silly spark plug, thats all. Replaced it and all is well.
The moral of the story; "Look for simple things first." ..... OH Yea! ...listen to that little voice in your head, unless there are several talking at once.
Look For Simple Things First
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