Spark Plug Surprise

[Mike83]

Yesterday I changed the plugs on my 99 Alero. Unless I was crazy/seeing things as I removed the last plug on the transverse V6, there was an insect melted on to / bridging the gap between the electrodes! I wanted to take a pic but the bug fell off right after I saw it. I wasn't about to search the garage floor for it, either. Not sure how the bug got in there past the air filter...or maybe I'm just nuts.

 

[speed bump]

I pulled the spark plugs out of my welder which hasn't been run in at least a year and found spider webs on the plugs so I can believe it.

 

[bchee]

I pulled the spark plugs out of my welder which hasn't been run in at least a year and found spider webs on the plugs so I can believe it.

This makes sense if you haven't been running it. I think he was using his Alero though.

 

[autoclassicnut]

I think you might want to check for a hole in your air filter system or in a rubber plug on your carb as these creatures have to have a way to get in... If a valve is open, they can get in the cylinder and be near the spark plug. I'm no expert, but I think there is a leak for air somewhere in both of these cases.

 

[Costner]

So what type of bugs per mile ratio do you suppose you're pulling in the Olds? If you notice a mileage decrease after the plug swap you might just be on to something here!

 

[Scotto]

Maybe it was in the spark plug hole and it fell on the electrode when you were pulling it out?

 

[Mike83]

Maybe it was in the spark plug hole and it fell on the electrode when you were pulling it out?

That may be the most likely scenario. Who knows what kind of junk was accumulated behind the engine (the back 3 plugs are basically done by feel - I couldn't even see with a mirror.)

 

[lindaj448]

Sounds plausible, and a bit amusing. Something always could have snuck into their carb while you had the lid off the air filter and gotten trapped when you put it back on, but then it would've been crispy fried if you had turned the engine over since. But I'd be more inclined to agree with Mike and Scotto.

So what type of bugs per mile ratio do you suppose you're pulling in the Olds?

There are 'bug robots' out there that run on sugar. If you could build an engine that ran on honey you could keep a beehive under the hood. Just a thought.

 

[ozzy214]

It is impossible especially with throttle bodies on newer fuel injection systems. Even if a insect could get into the air box or hose, how the hell is it supposed to get past the closed butterfly plate? The only other "hole" I can think of in a modern engine is breather or pcv line, but all that leads is into valve covers, with no open hole inside into the combustion chamber.

There is no "theoretical" way for this happen, unless it was already there. And fell in the hole when taking the plug off.

 

[hillbilly]

Man, I've found bugs that look like tiny grasshoppers without hopper legs in the float needle/seat of not just one, but TWO rochester BC 1bbl carbs. They were
both being ran, on two different cars, and found about a year apart. Both cars had fuel filters, so they didn't get there from the tank, one was taken apart in the parking lot at a parts store, the other at a car show. Unless there were bugs at the factory that somehow stayed in place all that time before getting stuck in the needles, I can think of no other explanation.

But, for one to get in a spark plug? I'm wagering it was near the hole and got stuck on the way out.

 

[Torque1st]

Always blow the spark plug recess out with compressed air before you change plugs.

 

[Bull]

Maybe the bug didn't come in the front, through the air intake. Maybe he likes to come in through the back door. Right up the ol' exhaust pipe.

 

[pierre]

Doubt it unless there's a hole in the exhaust pipe before the muffler and cat.

 

[Bull]

A little bug couldn't crawl through a muffler or cat? Granted, it's been a while since I looked at a cross-sectional pic of a cat, but the muffler does not seem a big challenge to me for a little bug.