Post fog spark plug replacement?

[Thor]

2018 VXR and we are coming up on starting our second season of fun!

Quick question for those of you who fog your cylinders (and put the old spark plugs back in) as a part of your winterization or long term storage process:

When (after how much engine run time) do you swap out the old plugs out and replace them with new plugs?

Or, perhaps another way to ask: HOW LONG does it take to burn the fogging oil off the cylinders and old spark plugs so that new spark plugs will perform optimally?

I have two options:

First is running the ‘18 VXR on a hose for a couple minutes, with a rev or two; and, then swapping the old plugs out for new OR,

Second is, it is about a 10-minute cruise from the public input ramp to where we dock our skis for the riding season - right now, swapping plugs out with the ski and I atop on a floating jet ski port (think EZ Dock, etc.) is not my first choice but, sooner or later, I’m gonna get good at doing basic preventative maintenance “down at the dock”

(instead of having to go through the hours-long process of having to pull three different skis outta the lake and drive them around to the house, garage and driveway and ten back again :-/


Thanks in advance!

[pro1200]

Why do you think the spark plugs need to be changed after fogging? The fogging oil just burns off on start up.

[WaterDR]

I believe they recommend plugs every 100 hours. With that said, I put new ones in when I winterize. I don’t worry about the fogging oil.

[Erierunner]

I fog in the Fall and put the old plugs back in. Usually just 50-60 hours on them. In Spring, the engine gets started with the old plugs while on the hose to make sure everything is ok. Never had a problem starting. Then I install new because I like new plugs each year. The old plugs are clean when removed after a couple minutes on the hose so the cylinders should be clean from the fogging oil too. I did buy a Waverunner in August and only had 15 hours on it. I ran the same plugs the next year without a problem.

[nmpeter]

plugs can glaze if fogging was overly aggressive. after startup I'll let the engine Idle for just a minute and then replace the plugs for the season

4-tecs seem especially prone to this problem of glazing. It's one of those cases where more isn't better. Lazy hacks that don't pull the fuel rail or plugs off to fog seem to have the problem more then most, as the entire intake is just loaded with that stuff.

[Thor]

pro1200, WaterDr, Erierunner, nmpeter, - thanks for the feedback!

I did not pull the fuel rail but, I did pull the plugs to fog but, hindsight being 20/20, I probably was aggressive.

That and I seem to recall seeing posts regarding performance falling off on different models by each of “the big 3” mfrs but, restored with install of new plugs, well before 100 hours so, I pretty much decided I was gonna just throw new plugs in the start of each season (I’ve always considered plugs, lubricants and filters to be “cheap,” relatively speaking

And, next winterization, I’ll keep in mind, “more isn’t necessarily better.”

Thanks again!