2013 spark plug colors?

[hotglue]

Some folks with 2013 RT's and ST's are having high heat and melting of parts, and some are not.... I know when I pulled my rear spark plug ( it is easy to get to) it was CHALKY WHITE. ....and we are having heat issues. Would be interesting to see the color of the plugs on bikes that are not having heat issues. I remember Scotty telling me he had an ECM change and went from lean to fouling plugs due to too rich. Is there that much difference between the A/F mixes bike to bike? Post a picture in this thread of your rear plug, and say if you are having heat problems or not.... might give a little insight.

 

[BajaRon]

Some folks with 2013 RT's and ST's are having high heat and melting of parts, and some are not.... I know when I pulled my rear spark plug ( it is easy to get to) it was CHALKY WHITE. ....and we are having heat issues. Would be interesting to see the color of the plugs on bikes that are not having heat issues. I remember Scotty telling me he had an ECM change and went from lean to fouling plugs due to too rich. Is there that much difference between the A/F mixes bike to bike? Post a picture in this thread of your rear plug, and say if you are having heat problems or not.... might give a little insight.View attachment 75443

Looks lean to me. I know some have had mixture issues on one cylinder and not the other. Anything is possible.

 

[DrewNJ]

Ok, I will play. 2012 RS. Here are my stock plugs at 5k. At About 1k I went to an HMF pipe with only an o2 modifier. Spyder runs flawless...
I don't remember which is front and back but do know that it is very common for this motor to show a bit different coloring on plugs as per the Aprilia peeps.
Doug

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[Bob Denman]

Ok, I will play. 2012 RS. Here are my stock plugs at 5k. At About 1k I went to an HMF pipe with only an o2 modifier. Spyder runs flawless...
I don't remember which is front and back but do know that it is very common for this motor to show a bit different coloring on plugs as per the Aprilia peeps.
Doug
View attachment 75450

Doug,
That looks like a good burn! :thumbup:

 

[jcthorne]

Ok, I will play. 2012 RS. Here are my stock plugs at 5k. At About 1k I went to an HMF pipe with only an o2 modifier. Spyder runs flawless...
I don't remember which is front and back but do know that it is very common for this motor to show a bit different coloring on plugs as per the Aprilia peeps.
Doug

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Where might one find one of these 02 Modifiers for a Spyder? This sounds similar to the Xied device used on Harley's but I have no idea if the connectors are the same on our o2 sensors.

 

[hotglue]

What I am really looking to find is if 2013 RT and ST models that are running hot are also running lean, and if the ones with no heat issues are running fatter... (but your plugs do look good....wish ours had some color.)

 

[Bob Denman]

You've also had "problems" with lousy fuel mileage; haven't you?
I've got a quesiton about that...
If the bike's sytems sense an overly lean condition or a situtaion where the engine is running hotter than it should; do you think that they'd try to dump more fuel into the mix to cool the combustion chambers? Could that be why your fuel mileage was so low? :dontknow:


EDIT: Do you know of a way to "fool" the temperature reading taken, into thinking that it's colder than it really is? If you could; that would force the injectors to throw some more fuel into the mix...

 

[NancysToy]

What I am really looking to find is if 2013 RT and ST models that are running hot are also running lean, and if the ones with no heat issues are running fatter... (but your plugs do look good....wish ours had some color.)

I hope you find some answers, Mark, but please understand that very few owners have the determination to go through the hassle of pulling the Spyder plugs...especially the front one on an RT. It does seem odd that the ECM was able to be "corrected" on FB's Spyder. They are pretty well set in stone and the programming cannot be adjusted. Perhaps reflashing the ECM kicked it out of some sort of stalled mode, and back to reading the fuel management tables and O2 sensors where it belonged. The plug readings after the flash are what I would expect from a smog motor.

 

[hotglue]

Scotty, I'm not sure what they did to the ECM.. or if they tricked the o2 sensor, or what. And you are right, folks will not check their plugs.... even with the recall, most will not even look at their master cylinder. I was just trying to see if there is a big difference in A/F ratios between bikes, and if there is a correlation to the extra heat some are experiencing.

 

[Lamonster]

Scotty, I'm not sure what they did to the ECM.. or if they tricked the o2 sensor, or what. And you are right, folks will not check their plugs.... even with the recall, most will not even look at their master cylinder. I was just trying to see if there is a big difference in A/F ratios between bikes, and if there is a correlation to the extra heat some are experiencing.

For sure a lean burn will run hotter. I wouldn't be surprised if the air fuel ratio was changed for some reason in 2013 and I also wouldn't be surprised if there wouldn't be a change coming down the line as a fix. I have no proof one way or the other but my 2013 ST runs hotter than any of the 6 Spyders I've had in my possession, that's for sure.

 

[spyderyderjim]

Appears 2013 RT/ST running hot have a lean white sparkplugs; my 2013 RT-S runs rich

What I am really looking to find is if 2013 RT and ST models that are running hot are also running lean, and if the ones with no heat issues are running fatter... (but your plugs do look good....wish ours had some color.)

Mark,
Is that a #9 Iridium sparkplug in rear cylinder that is white? This is after Len re-flashed her ST?
Len flashed my new 2013 RT-S Lamonster Spyderfest special after installing Cat bypass pipes and 2 Bros muffler.
My RT runs a little rich to where I can wipe soot out of muffler tail piece.
I do not have running hot/lean on 2013 Spyder RT-S.
When I pulled the bypass pipes & put in new gaskets, the #2 rear exhaust pipe was lean white compared to #1 front pipe tan color.
I put in #9 Iridium sparkplug in #2 rear cylinder & sparkplugs are a med tan like DrewNJ color plugs.
Len said ECM reflash allows computer to recognize the bypass pipes & 2 Bros free flowing muffler & runs a little richer.
I am surprised you are still having a lean condition on ST after Len reflashed yours.
Are you running stock air filter? (Because free flow air filters run lean).
Hope service mechanic finally finds a fix for Char's nightmare lean 2013 ST.
I ride in Tucson, Az 105 deg heat like you have in Tx.
Jim

 

[Sny]

For sure a lean burn will run hotter. I wouldn't be surprised if the air fuel ratio was changed for some reason in 2013 and I also wouldn't be surprised if there wouldn't be a change coming down the line as a fix. I have no proof one way or the other but my 2013 ST runs hotter than any of the 6 Spyders I've had in my possession, that's for sure.

One concern I've heard on this is that if BRP changes the fuel map, they need to run it through all the EPA testing again (and the equivalent in Canada as well) so they can get their 50 state certification. That costs money...

More likely they'll fix it in the 2014 models, which need to go through testing anyhow.

But where does this leave the 2013 owners?

O2 modifiers, intake temp sensor swaps, juice box, power commander... here we go again!

oh, btw, I don't have a pic, but my rear cylinder was ash white. The front wasn't looking so great either.