Can you guys diagnose my spark plugs?

I think they look fine. But what about the one on the left?
Is it okay that it's that dirty? Does it mean anything?

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i20/alex37211/My%20Teg/myteg048.jpg

i believe that you should replace the left one, but the other 3 should soak in gasoline for about an hour. then take a wire brush a gently clean off the carbon. be very careful not to alter the gap setting. after you clean off the carbon, let it soak for about another 20 minutes, then take a papertowel and wipe it dry. then put them back in.

hope this helps

Terrell

Replace the plugs.
The two cleaner plugs are starting to tan and that is an indication of a decent burning chamber but you still have the carbon build up on the ridge.
Here is what you need to do. and why this is happening.
Replace your plugs, and every month run seafoam fuel system cleaner/injector cleaner through the engine.
I am gona bet you dont do oil changes regularly. that type of build up is usually realted to a dirty internal crank case.
If you do, check that your pcv valve is functioning properly. that can cause build up. If you do use the seafoam per instructions, you can clean out the entire fuel system as well as the ( guts ) of the engine.
I have done this and the only thing I did extra was change the oil filter every 1000 miles for the first 3000 to make sure it pickes up any cleaned off residue.
And not to be rude but You dont ever want to soak a plug in gas to clean it.
You want a fast evaporitative spray.
just m.h.o

from what i see is that your plugs have too much carbon buildup and that is usually caused by the air fuel mixture not the oil has nothing to do with the oil and the only other explanation can be that the valve cover gasket is leaking into the threads of the plug and getting burned up when you start the car so if you notice a little blue smoke every now and then you have to replace the valve cover gasket and the o-rings on top of the spark plug cylinder and if its not that then you will want to double check the timing and adjust as needed and check the air filter and take the inlet hose off the throttle body and take throttle body cleaner and clean the butterfly with a rag and spray and try to clean behind the butterfly reason im saying this is because if gunk gets stuck where the butterfly closes the the butterfly will slightly stay open and alter the air\fuel mixture and then the ecm will detect this altering and try to balance the mixture and after all this is done go to your nearest star auto parts and pick up their berrymans 3 step fuel system clean i believe its about 30 bucks it has three cans 1 for the gas tank and one for the intake and 1 for the throttle body cleaner but make sure you clean it with these plugs installed in the car and when your finished install new plugs and youll be fine trust me i was a smog tech and the cars that wouldnt pass we would run this technique and they pass every time

you've got to be kidding.
look at the plugs. If oil was leaking from the valve covers the plugs wouldnt look like this. and look at the threads tward the top of the threads, clean
That is a internal issue. carbon comes from oil not air or fuel.
You run a can of 10$ seafoam through the system and you will be just fine

so you are telling me that when you burn gas it does not emit a gas called CARBON DIOXIDE??????? and if oil got the plugs like this dont you think they would be a little more oily instead of dry because oil has a high viscosity

also adding additives like octane booster and such can cause these plugs to look like this too

I would agree with that as well. I personally think the octain booster is a joke. The cleaner the fuel the better outcome you will have.
As for the opinion I gave, one could pick a plug apart and come up with several reasons for this situation.
and if you dont want me in your fourm, just ask me to leave, no problem.

no ites nothing like that at all were cool just had a bad day thats all sorry about that

ok, its not rocket science on whats happening... the 3 plugs look perfect, the one on the far left looks like it was running a tad rich... doesnt look like any oil problems there... prolly caused by poor atomization in that injector, not a big deal, but if you want to get picky, run some injector cleaner through it. Seafoam works wonders too IMO

I've been waiting for this discussion since mid-December. Better late than never I suppose. Thank you all for your input. And as far as my oil change intervals, I change my oil every 3k mi. religiously. This engine however (B18C1) has just recently come into my possession and it already has 150k mi. on it. I'm planning on swapping it into my hatch and wanted to know as much about the condition of it as I can find out so that I can change this or that while the engine is out. Thanks again and if anyone has any advise for a first-time swapper, I'd be more than happy to hear it.

yeah, take your time and do a lot of research... the basic idea is real easy.. however there are a couple nit picky thing you need to do that can be intimadating for the first time...

so you are telling me that when you burn gas it does not emit a gas called CARBON DIOXIDE??????? and if oil got the plugs like this dont you think they would be a little more oily instead of dry because oil has a high viscosity so yeah um i would consult the books and for reference i am gonna let my friend know about this so we can double team you and trust me the last guy we doubleteamed never came back to af again

I know this is a little late, but I wanted to remind you guys...we AREN'T try to run members off and scare them away from AF. As you know we are trying to help people:). Disagreement during diagnosis is fine, that happens...sometimes people are wrong, information needs to be corrected, etc. Just don't try to go and run members off. Running someone off the board is nothing to brag about...:wink: