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MG MGA - New Spark Plugs

During all the idleness caused by lockdown I found I was having increasing difficulty firing up for the first time if the car had not been used for say 3 weeks. I put this down to stale fuel in the carb pots.

I recently did a full service. The plugs looked to be in good condition but had been in the car for a few years so in went a new set. The car has since been laid up once again for over 3 weeks whilst I had the differential out and rebuilt. Fired up immediately!

Must be a moral to this story somewhere.

Steve
Steve Gyles

Steve,
I often hear things like don't replace things like spark plugs if they're working but just because they're working doesn't mean they're working at their best and could be long passed their optimum. Looking at them tells you very little and unless you have very sophisticated technical equipment you can't test them much.

Same with HT leads, some will say if they test well on a multimeter and look fine then they are fine which again doesn't mean they're not passed their optimum or long passed their best.

With both the car engine and engine bay environment in use puts much greater demand on them in use than off the car for cosy testing and visual examination.

Last year I finally persuaded a mate to change his spark plugs even though "the WSM said they're good for 30k-miles" and he got great improvement from just doing that at a cost of £12.

Last week I persuade another mate to replace his HT leads and he got good improvements from just doing this.

I'll be honest and tell you that with neither did it fully sort the problems they had but with the first he's allowed a sportscar to run with a problem for for too long and only done the engine oil change type of servicing and won't go back to basics to resovle the issue (if it's not already to late). And with the HT leads replaced the improvement has pointed to another part that needs looking at. I'm sure if we test his old HT leads they pass the test for running but not as well as with the new leads, again on a sportscar.

It's beyond me why anyone with a sportscar style classic doesn't want the parts and components running well and not too far past their best, bimbling in some sunny Sunday afternoon saloon perhaps but not if you're going to drive them as designed.

I was going to put a post on your diff oil thread but wasn't sure you'd appreciate it and I get fed up sometimes of going against the old-fashioned views of others including builders.

As you've perhaps seen the improvement from changing the plugs, nothing proven for others of course, and if you don't mind going against more conservative views I can put what I put in another diff thread and give you a bit more info about diff oil, here on on your diff thread if you want.

Nigel Atkins

This thread was discussed on 11/06/2021

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