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What's wrong with my Spark Plugs? Help!

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by GreenSpeed, Mar 31, 2010.

  1. GreenSpeed

    GreenSpeed New Member

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    Hi All,

    Been a long time lurker in the forums and decided that at 127,000 miles my dear Prius needed a change of spark plugs. Did my research and went and got four plugs from the dealership. Much to my horror when I pulled the last and final spark plug I had a ton of bronish/orangish dust around my spark cover. Pulling the actual plug resulted in the pictures below. Can anyone tell me what this might be?! Worried that I might have some major problems/hassles in my near future.

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    [​IMG]
     
    #1 GreenSpeed, Mar 31, 2010
  2. ursle

    ursle Gas miser

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    Notice the position of the plugs, if any water gets on the engine it sits right on the plugs, looks like the case here, some water dripped onto the engine down into the spark plug chamber and rusted-condensed but it doesn't look like it affected the business end of the plug, unless you noticed a skip on acceleration.
    Did you remove the windshield wiper assembly to get at the plugs ?
    I do, time consuming but better access IMO
    If not water maybe a mouse latrine:eek:
     
    #2 ursle, Mar 31, 2010
  3. jayman

    jayman Senior Member

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    Yes, water got into the tube for the spark plugs. This is a known issue. For example, not just from rain getting past a defective hood seal, but if you ever wash your Prius motor, you should always pull the coil packs and use an air compressor to blow out the tubes
     
    #3 jayman, Mar 31, 2010
  4. dogfriend

    dogfriend Human - Animal Hybrid

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    [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_Never_Sleeps"]Rust Never Sleeps - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]


    Bad news, one plug got rusty - check to make sure rubber seals are in place to keep water away

    Good news, plugs look really good for 127k miles. How are the gaps compared to new ones?
     
    #4 dogfriend, Mar 31, 2010
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