Did I screw something up???

[msbaugh]

  So I just replaced my spark plugs on my 440 with some of the NGk iridium plugs.. everything seemed alright before the tune up, but now it's white smoking like crazy out of the tailpipe! I did them one at a time, so I know I didn't cross any wires to the wrong place... A few of the old plugs looked really bad whenever I pulled them, and I put anti sieze on the new ones so maybe I got some on the tip, so that could be why it's smoking... Not sure...

Can someone give me some advice? I want to make sure it's running on all cylinders, I definatelty dont want to hurt anything... I was thinking maybe the new spark was burning gunk out of the engine, or maybe something else... Would it hurt to run it around the block to see if the smoking goes away?

[67vertman]

Does it feel like it is hitting on all eight cylinders?  Running ruff?

If not, you could run it around some to see if it clears up.

Doubtful, that just changing the plugs would cause it smoke that much.

[msbaugh]

I decided to just run it around for a little. Ran great actually... Smoked real bad at first and ended up slowing down. There was a lot of oil in the plug holes so it was probably just burning everything off I assume...

[GoodysGotaCuda]

Sounds good, but next time just get the regular cheap copper plugs. Less likely to foul over the small spark face fancy rare metal plugs.

[msbaugh]

Hmmm... I hear a lot of good things about NGk though. I guess the cheap ones could perform just as well, i just figured Id try them out.  With all the oil that gets burned in this motor I'll probably have to change them out every year anyways..
By the way it's still smoking a little bit, not once it gets running, I guess it's still burning off whatever's left in there

[GoodysGotaCuda]

Nothing wrong with NGK, just the iridium isn't quite necessary for what we work with. Changing the plugs is not going to affect your oil consumption. Rings, valve seals, intake gaskets, etc can all lead to oil consumption and require additional diagnosis.

[msbaugh]

I don't think you were quite following what I was saying... I know spark plugs dont affect oil consumption.. 
I'm saying that they'll probably foul quick because of the shape my motor is in. It burns lots of oil due to other issues, which in turn causes the fouling. I'll post a picture of one of my old plugs. They were pretty bad. Might be interesting to look at.

Also what spark plug wires are recommended for a regular points dist for a 440? Doing shopping there too, mine are very worn out.  Thanks, I love this site makes everything so much easier

[67vertman]

Before you spend a bunch of money on tune-up parts, you should perform a compression check on all cylinders. Your rings and valves may be so worn out that the tune-up is useless. 

[msbaugh]

here's one for anyone whose interested

[Chryco Psycho]

If the engine is tuned correctly there is no advantage to expensive spark plugs , I have had a terrible time with NGK plugs , Nothing will foul & quit firing as fast so I stay away .
I can repeat my story ..........  years ago we were tuning a SS Hemi & looking for any HP we could find anywhere so we took as many types of spark plugs with us to the dyno as we could get our hands on & the ratio was exact , the more $ the plug cost the more HP we lost , the best power was made with the Autolite & Champion plugs

[Cooter]

Lemme get this straight, you know that 440 is in poor condition. Burning oil, and yet you swap plugs and want to know why it's smoking?? Hmmmm....

[msbaugh]

.. Never any smoke before the change, and I always put 93 octane in it, yeah the motor burns some oil, but most big blocks will burn a little, I changed the plugs anyway it couldn't hurt... I'm hoping that this motor can make it with out a rebuild a while longer! I'm just doing all I can to make it last. Here's the results of the compression test: Over all the compression is not too bad, they are all 180 PSI or above

Cyl #1: 180 PSI
Cyl #3: 180 PSI
Cyl #5: 180 PSI
Cyl #7: 190 PSI
Cyl #2: 190 PSI
Cyl #4: 195 PSI
Cyl #6: 180 PSI
Cyl #8: 195 PSI

[msbaugh]

BTW that picture I posted was the nastiest of the plugs I pulled, all of them weren't that bad

[Chryco Psycho]

Most big blocks do not use oil , with compression like that the engine is not in bad condition , oil use could be from valve guides or sucking oil up from under the intake , bad intake seal .

[PlumCraZRT]

Most big blocks do not use oil , with compression like that the engine is not in bad condition , oil use could be from valve guides or sucking oil up from under the intake , bad intake seal .

Would be interesting to see if there is oil in the intake port in the head or on the back of the intake valve...