996 Fouled Plug

[Benjamin St.G]

My 996 had been sitting from Wednesday until yesterday afternoon, and when I started it yesterday it sounded terrible. When I shut it off, it backfired and smoked a little out of the right pipe, so I pulled the front plug and it was badly fouled. It looks exactly like the second one down on NGK's site:
http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/techinfo/spark_plugs/faq/faqread2.asp

I haven't been able to get new plugs yet since all of the bikes shops are closed, I figure that new plugs should get it running again. But I'm more worried if this indicates a bigger problem. The previous owner said it is running rich and that I should get a power commander and have it tuned, is this the likely cause, or do I need to check something else?

Thanks,
Benjy

[motodave]

Benjy,
You should be able to pick up a ngk plug at a auto parts store,the number would be dcpr8e ( I beleive) or stop by Eastside on monday's As far as it fouling the only way to tell if under normal operating conditions ( warmed up) check w/ an EGA tester.if the plug is fouling due to warm up not long enough and then shut off. This causes the plug to foul over time even if the bike is running w/ normal emissions.

[Benjamin St.G]

Thanks, Dave, but I've called all the local auto parts stores and nobody stocks that NGK plug or any of the brands that it cross-references to. And living in Mt. Vernon makes it kinda of hard to get to Eastside during the week. I guess I'll have to wait another day :mad:

Once I get the new plugs, I'll have to get it tested and go from there.

[Benjamin St.G]

I called Skagit Powersports today, and they have the "genuine Ducati" spark plugs in stock, for a mere $25 each :eek: And of course they don't have the NGKs.....so it looks like my bike is gonna sit while I wait for them to come from Napa :mad:

[Torben]

you know those plugs can be cleaned up? grab some fine grit wet/dry sand paper (500 grit or so) and polish off the fowling. that will remove the buildup and get you running again until you can find the new plugs.
$25 for a spark plug is sick! :rolleyes:

[foggy123]

My suggestion is to call/email Chris at California Cycleworks.

$4/pair
http://www.ca-cycleworks.com/shop/catalog/ducati/elec.html (http://)

Or go to the iridium for 30/pair. keep a couple spares in stock.

[Benjamin St.G]

you know those plugs can be cleaned up? grab some fine grit wet/dry sand paper (500 grit or so) and polish off the fowling. that will remove the buildup and get you running again until you can find the new plugs.
Yeah, I tried sanding off the build-up, and then tried starting it again, and it seemed to idle ok for a bit, but then dropped the cylinder again. I don't want to risk getting stranded somewhere, so I'm going to wait until I get fresh plugs and hope I don't have bigger problems....

[Benjamin St.G]

My suggestion is to call/email Chris at California Cycleworks.

$4/pair
http://www.ca-cycleworks.com/shop/catalog/ducati/elec.html (http://)

Or go to the iridium for 30/pair. keep a couple spares in stock.
Thanks, but I already ordered some from Napa, I'll keep this link handy in the future. I ordered 6 so I shouldn't have this problem again in the future :happy57: