. Maybe the lead contamination is more like a film over

the electrode
surface?

Perry, When most people see lead "fouling" it is seen on the insulator. Look at
your plug with a good mangnifer, if you see little tracks down the insulator it is
likely to be a leading problem. This tracking causes occational misfires. If oil
or mixture is your problem you will see 1 of 2 problems, first; if you see fluffy
dark deposits or wiskering between the electrode and side wire then you have
a mixture problem. Second; Using a magnifier again, look at the area on the
nose of the insulator. If you see glazing, that is a shiney surface usually in a
ring around the electrode, you have a overheating of the plug tip, oil in the mix
or too hot a plug will cause this. On some plugs if they are overheated you will
see little bubbles of the glaze they use to seal the plug. This will show up right
at the area where the electrode and the ceramic insulator come togeather.
Over heating can be caused by either oil burning hot OR the wrong heat range
plug OR both. Good Luck. If you are going to try to "read" the plugs it is best
to start with a new set, not cleaned or sandblasted. Bill Jepson

 
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