billzorn

2008 c4 82K. no smoke or sooty tips. might use half a quart per 4K. arrow points to front, driver's side should be on top.

Wayne Smith

How many miles on those plugs?

Bruce In Philly

2009 C2S 197K miles

They differ from what I pull out of my engine... I have a .2 DFI engine so not sure how that plays here. I have done all my plug changes (except one). My plugs looked the same except for one time where they looked more like yours here. Mostly, they looked incredibly similar to each other in that they had a cinnamon micro-dust look to them.... very consistent across cylinders and changes. The one time they looked more like yours, and I could tap them on a table and cause carbon to drop off, was when I was driving daily a short distance to a train station where temps never got up to normal and the route was all stop signs. This drive went for about two years before my change... so.... not driving at temp and at higher revs makes things look very different... OK?... I doubt it. Again, I have a .2 engine.

Peace
Bruce in Philly (now Atlanta)

billzorn

82,000, thanks

billzorn

i've had her since 66K. previous owner rode the brakes, i expect she rarely drove it hard. thanks!

Wayne Smith

That's miles on the car. But how many miles on these plugs?

And Bruce points out another need to know ... what type of driving.

On my phone interface the plugs look OK. But without more information that assessment doesn't really mean much.

billzorn

records don't mention plug change. front discs are glazed, i suspect this lady's daily driver wasn't driven hard, but don't really know. thanks, wayne

billzorn

i'm in watkinsville, bruce. stop by the elder mill covered bridge and knock on the door. maybe see you in suches....

BillB128

I would not get too hung up if you don't know if or when the last time the plugs were changed.
As you note, the previous owner most likely didn't "drive" the car.
Plug #5 looks the best (passenger side middle). The others look slightly fouled to my eye, but not bad.
If you're curious and pulled the plugs yourself last time, you could pull a plug from each bank for inspection
after you accumulate some miles, say 5K and see how they look.

Hope this helps,
Bill

billzorn

thanks, bill. i'm hoping this is carbon fouling from low revs. maybe we'll see when i pull them again. i can't wait, it was so much fun last time.

Wayne Smith

Modern plugs have sacrificial coating to replace anti seize. But since it is sacrificial, it is one-time use. If you pull the plugs to inspect them, then use new ones to replace them.

Jaws1

Just looks like really old plugs to me, as in 2x more mileage than they should have on them.

BillB128

Ha! It is a little bit of a knuckle buster project. The last time around I removed the rear bumper and side mufflers to make things easier.
I'm betting those are the original plugs. I know I'd make sure to have a record of it, whether I paid out of pocket
or did it myself .

Bruce In Philly

Those don't look old (you can't tell the age by looking at them IMO).... they look low-rev, short trip fouled. Old, if run correctly will look the same throughout its age so I've been told.

Peace
Bruce in Philly (now Atlanta)

Wayne Smith

Hard to tell on my phone if those tips are rounded off and corroded or not. That would indicate age. My initial opinion from what you've said is that you don't need to be worrying.