Changed my plugs the other night, and I've noticed some discolouration. It looks like a dry black light deposit.

History:

• Plugs have done 45,000 miles (overdue I know!)
  
• Plugs are NGK PFR6Q (OE) gapped to 0.7mm when fitted (measured gap of old plugs below and it hadn't changed)
  
• Cars done 125,000 miles (doesn't burn any oil)
  
• 6,000 miles since last oil change (Edge 5W-30)
  
• No running problems as far as I'm aware
  
• Car does some very short trips around town during the week (10-15 mins), then maybe 2-4 4 hour motorway marathons a month
  

What do you guys think? I'm not sure if it's just a result of the age of the plugs and all the short trips, or that there's an underlying issue. Obviously I'm using plugs and gaps for a standard (10psi) car, and I have a Stage 1 remap (19psi).

Pix suggest the car's running a little rich, so I'd think the main issue is short trip syndrome, particularly with the remap.

Could be worse mate

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/103191-spark-plug-question/page__p__1278075__hl__spark__fromsearch__1#entry1278075

No problems with mine back then

Pix suggest the car's running a little rich, so I'd think the main issue is short trip syndrome, particularly with the remap.

Thanks for the feedback Ken, I think you're probably right. I guess I just got a little paranoid! I need to stop driving short distances....

They don't look too bad, & the short trips are probably to blame for them looking a bit darker than usual.

look perfectly fine to me tbh not overly dark i've seen FAR worse

They look fine TBH mate. Had the car been fully warmed up when you took them out? I know if you take them out before the car has warmed up, it will look like th engine is running rich (runs rich on startup).

That, and they've done 45k which can't help lol

Out of interest, did yours have a slight red tint to them? Mine are bright red, and apparently it is V-Power and tesco 99 additives that discolour them.

How short is short with the trips??

Could be worse mate

OK yours win! I guess your oily one was due to a weeping rocker cover gasket, and the blacked one was just a bit loose then. Instead of using a torque wrench I used NGK's tightening angles to do them up (180-240 degrees for our plugs). http://www.ngk-sparkplugs.jp/english/techinfo/qa/q18/index.html

They look fine TBH mate. Had the car been fully warmed up when you took them out? I know if you take them out before the car has warmed up, it will look like th engine is running rich (runs rich on startup).

That, and they've done 45k which can't help lol

Out of interest, did yours have a slight red tint to them? Mine are bright red, and apparently it is V-Power and tesco 99 additives that discolour them.

I had moved the car a couple of hours before, and run the engine for about 5mins, so it would have been running rich then. Ties up with what you say. Pretty impressive for 45k huh! I was surprised that the gap was still the same after all that time. Plus the general condition of the plugs looks good.

The insulators do actually have a slight red/orange shade to them. I mainly use V-Power, and Momentum when I can't get that.