Glad to see I'm not the only one to have NGK plug problems. I put a brand new set of BP6ES in my 1275 only to have one fail after around the 500K mark. I have had the same problem a couple of years back with them but took it as an isolated occurence but now I think that this is the last time I buy them.

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1964 998 Cooper , 1968 Morris 1100

Of the common spark plugs NGK are the only ones i know of having a backwards heat range (5 is hotter than 6).

I generally expect a bit of rough running when cold, especially with load.


One step up on this,
Has anyone tried iridium plugs in there mini? I haven't yet, but i think due to the very fine centre electrode they will clean themselves better leading to less fouling.

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Dean Hutton's first car was a Mini.

yea i tried them but was told the mini didnt have enough juice in the ignition system to make any difference.

everyone has a different opinion about what brand plugs are good and what are dodgy.

i had a lot of problems with plugs but that was when my engine was tired and the tune was incorrect.

i dont care as much now what brand so long as its tuned properly. It took awhile but i did finally find someone who could tune a mini right after a burnt valve from one place and hundreds in wasted dyno fees at another.

I've been having problems with Caltex / Safeway fuels.
The fuel seems to quickly loose it's octane (after only a few days in the tank) causing pinging and rough running when cold.
I now use only Mobil or Shell.
Had it that it was running really bad after one batch of caltex fuel, then filled up at Mobil, within a couple of hundred meters it cleared out and ran great again.

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How can it be rusty when it's covered in so much oil?

I didn't. The wife caught me. Didn't even get the cover off the BBQ. I'll buy some... W8DC's tomorrow, and adjust the idle (so I don't run the choke all the time). I'd think about the 7's/BPES6's, but... It's Qld. Sure, it's up the Range, but it's still not cold - in fact, it's rather warm for this time of year (meaning I'm still wearing t-shirts).

I had BPES6's in before it was tuned last year (I'd only just put them in, too - I reckon they wouldn't have done more than 200km!), when the reputable mechanic who tuned the car changed them as he felt they were too hot for a 1275 running straight unleaded. Beyond that, all my problems have been from running rich when hot. It's generally started well when cold, it only started coughing and missing and breaking down under load yesterday when it was already warm (the run home, not the run out).

It's funny, too, how different fuel companies have bad names in different areas... I always used Woolies/Caltex before we moved here. Caltex before the second last move, Woolies afterwards, because it was a brand new station. Use BP now (no Caltex around). I wouldn't use the Dutch company up here - I know too many people who've had issues with dirty fuel from various local outlets. I'm sure it's fine elsewhere...

I use Caltex/Woolies Vortex 98 most of the time, my C/R on the 1360 is 10.7:1 and I've never had a problem. Except many of their newer servo's don't carry 98..
I find BP 98 Ultimate evaporates even quicker than the Vortex does.
Mobil 8000 is fine but there's hardly any of their servos left.
I've not used Shell's 100gogo juice ever since GR fouled a set of new plugs between the Eastern Ck Shell servo and WSID (what that- about 1 mile??) But I'll use it if there's no alternative.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Tadhg, it sounds like you didn't read Tombo's post about NGK heat ranges.

The lower the number the hotter it is. So your mechanic fitted a hotter plug if he put in a 5.


As for the the quality of NGK plugs, they are the only plugs we fit at work and we have not had any plug failure related issues. Infact crook plugs are quite rare, 9 out of 10 times its not the plug thats causing the miss, its the plugs getting fouled etc.

I read it, I just maybe didn't cop on that well. I was probably thrown by Mini Mad's post, too. He did say to increase the heat range to BPES6's in winter - which, as you rightly point out, are cooler than BPE5's.

I ended up with a pack of Bosch S3-6. Which is a pack of 6 Bosch Super Plus WR8DC+, with Yttrium. We'll see how they go. And I'll adjust up the idle screw. Annoyingly, the Bosch catalogue I looked at didn't have any listing for Minis (the only half relevant listing was for the 1275 MG Midget - no other Leyland/Rover/Mini/Morris/Austin listings at all), so I'm hoping the 'R' in the code (WR8DC+ compared to W8DC) doesn't change things. Now, to gap those plugs...

The R means it is a resistor plug (for electronic ignitions). I think they have made non-resistor ones obsolete now...
Check the gap though you may need to close em up. Most new plugs in blister packs seem to be 1.1mm gap now.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Something I have always found anoying is the colour of un-leaded fuels.

In the good old days of stanfard and super they were different colours so you knew what it was you were putting in the tank.

I do know there are some petrol proprietors who only purchase 'standard' unleaded and put that in every tank. With newer cars having engine management systems, it is very difficult to pick, but with our older cars you can tell straight away

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Interesting. Different states issue maybe?

In Perth we have some Caltex that are branded Woolworths and some that are not. Those without the Woolies branding do not accept the supermarket discount vouchers.

I use Vortex 98 from a plain Caltex and BP Ultimate 98 without trouble.

I tried the Woolworths Vortex 98 in my EFI Honda and it ran terribly - rough, wouldn't idle, despite the self-help computer trickery. It came good after the next fill of BP.

Recognising that I'm an automotive brand snob I thought it must be a coincidence, and not to write Woolworths off. So I bought Vortex 98 from another Caltex-Woolworths servo and had the same trouble.

I don't know what's wrong with the fuel, but it was worse than running on 91.

Thanks Doc - the standard gap (according to the pack) was 0.8mm. I closed them up to 0.025"/0.635mm. I saw that, in the other thread that Jonesy referenced, you'd mentioned that was a pretty standard gap for non electronic systems. Mine's electronic, but it's just a cheap module, as opposed to a Pulsar dizzy or similar higher voltage system. I'll take it out for a run tomorrow sometime, just to make sure it's all happy. And so that I can check that my new Idle settings are ok (gotta hate Ramflos, twins, and where I left that sharp, barbed end of the choke cable!).

In Toowoomba, at the main intersection in town (Warrego and New England Highways), there used to be a Caltex and a BP. The Caltex always did pretty well (many moons ago - back in the days of the first Mini (i.e. 2000/1) it was my local). The BP, well, I'm guessing it went under. They knocked it over. What did they replace it with..? A brand new (everything relocated - pumps, shop, everything!) WOOLWORTHS Caltex. In an attempt to drive the non-Woolies Caltex across the street out of business. What a joke...

So I had some second hand champion plugs sitting around, and I chucked them in, and the car fired up straight away, but was still rough.
Now to try a different coil and different leads.

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Michael Jones
Minis In The Gong
[email protected]
www.minisinthegong.com.au

Mine's fine now. Took it out for a 15 minute roll around the neighbourhood, made sure it got warm, the idle's just high enough to avoid stuttering then stalling (so no more driving everywhere with the choke fractionally on), all worked well.

Jonesy, did you end up checking the fuel filter..? Another thought, maybe, with it being worse when cold, there's a little water in the fuel..? Others have said tainted or dirty fuel, but we haven't heard much about that possibility. I'm not blaming the servo - maybe it's just accumulated condensation in your tank. Isn't the tip for that to throw in some metho?

You've said it happens worst when cold, implying it's not (as big) a problem when warm. You also haven't specified that it's happening under load or not under load (I was always of the understanding that misfires were more likely to be electrical if the engine was under load - that engine temperature shouldn't affect electrics), just that it's when cold... Fair enough on changing the plugs if one of the ports is running a little rich, but maybe the problem is that, until the engine's warmed up, any water in the fuel isn't vapourised, so therefore it doesn't burn off..? Might be easier (and cheaper) to throw in half a bottle of metho than to change leads/coils/etc. Can't hurt it.

And Doc - time to update the signature. HS6 doesn't fit, according to the other thread.

Done...

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.