ryan:

5 mi is an extremely short distance to produce fouled plugs.

if dry deposits, then carbon fouling due to incomplete combustion, perhaps
very rich mixture, perhaps other - would expect black smoke out tailpipe.

if oily, then poor oil control and time to check compression - would
expect bluish smoke out talpipe.

hate to bring it up, but oil level too high in engine could possibly be
culprit.

i wouldn't take van camping, but if i did for some reason, i'd bring tools
and a fresh set of plugs.

don't pay any attention to single vs multi-electrode spark plug debate -
no relevance here.

dan

On Thu, 10 Jun 2004 08:10:06 -0400, Ryan Dawson <rdawson@UOGUELPH.CA>
wrote:

>Hi everyone,
>
>Well, I thought that I had made the neccesary repairs and replacements to
my
>fuel mileage problem.  Below is a list of the adjustments that I have
made:
>
>1. new fuel injectors (manufacturer - Echlin)
>2. new air filter
>3. new spark plugs (platinum)
>4. new oil and filter
>
>There are no leaks in the system, as far as I can tell.  The problem is, I
>installed the spark plugs yesterday evening, and then drove about 5
miles, and
>when I came back I realized that I forgot to check the gap spacing on
them.
>So, I took the plugs back out, and they were BLACK again!  I'm going on a
>camping trip today and am hoping to get better fuel mileage than a Hummer!
>Does anyone have any ideas?  Could it be that they are dirty due to the
>previous incomplete combustion?
>
>Any thoughts or theories are welcome!
>
>Thanks in advance,
>Ryan