Spark plug question

[spongebob]

Wife has a 2003 GMC 1/2 ton with a 323 V-8...manual says to use a 41-974, all the information
Says this plug is no longer in use, and to use a 41-110...went to e-bay and the info provided says that plug won’t work
On her truck..

Thoughts?

[DmaxMaverick]

I wouldn't trust eBay for fitment. They get it wrong too often, and the specs depend on whatever the seller inputs.

I'm showing ACD 41-962 Platinum for that truck/engine, gas or Flex Fuel. The OEM Iridium plugs are no longer available from ACD. If you want Iridium, use Bosch (#9602) or NGK (#7397).

[More Power]

What's a spark plug?

[arveetek]

What's a spark plug?

LOL!

Just you wait! With the constant evolution of internal combustion engines lately, and with some modern diesels now having a throttle body, I wouldn't be a bit surprised for some MFG to install a spark plug on a diesel for some emissions reason....

Casey

[cowboywildbill]

Wouldn't surprise me either.
Hey maybe even add one to an all electric vehicle.

[More Power]

I helped a local rancher put up his hay one summer when I was but a lad. The tractor he used to pull the hay sled was an ancient Minneapolis Moline that was started on gasoline then switched to diesel fuel once warmed up. It had a spark plug or two. Was a cool old tractor, even then in the mid/late 1960s. ;)

[arveetek]

I helped a local rancher put up his hay one summer when I was but a lad. The tractor he used to pull the hay sled was an ancient Minneapolis Moline that was started on gasoline then switched to diesel fuel once warmed up. It had a spark plug or two. Was a cool old tractor, even then in the mid/late 1960s. ;)

I have in my possession a 1952 McCormick Deering WD-6 Super. This is a pretty cool tractor. It is both a gasoline engine and a diesel engine. On the RH side of the engine there is a magneto, a carburetor, and spark plugs. On the LH side of the engine is an injection pump and injectors. It has a small gas tank and a large diesel tank. There is a lever that releases compression to allow you to start it on gasoline, and after it warms up a bit, you pull the lever to bump the compression back up, and then it starts running as a diesel engine. Pretty nifty.

Unfortunately, this tractor is in bad shape; the engine is stuck. I removed the head last year and have attempted to try and get the motor loose. It was sitting with water in the cylinders for several years. When the Tahoe engine blew a headgasket, I pulled the tractor out of the shop and set it aside, and haven't had time to get back to it yet.

Casey

[cowboywildbill]

Never saw a dual diesel and gas combination engine.
We have seen gas/kerosene burning engines on tractors.
Started on gas and then switched over to kerosene after warming up.
Didn't have an injection pump like the Deering.
Never ran one on kerosene though.

[DmaxMaverick]

Kerosene = Diesel. Essentially. It's much more tolerant of cold temps, but contains less BTU/volume, compared to Diesel. Kerosene is often used to "winterize" #2. You could run all your Diesel engines on it, if necessary.

[a5150nut]

Years ago a friend bought an old John Deere two cylinder. Asked me to try and get it running for him. Luckily it was converted to electric start but it started on gas then switched to diesel. Pop, pop, pop, pop. . . . . .

[arveetek]

Our 1945 John Deere B is a 2 cylinder; it has a small gas tank and a large kerosene tank. Once it warms up, you switch it to kerosene. However, it's just a standard gasoline engine with a carburetor. We only fill it with gasoline now. Back in the day, kerosene was much cheaper than gasoline.

It's also a hand start, and my 11 year old son can start it and drive it all by himself!

Casey

[spongebob]

I have a neighbor that has a Cat 22, he says you start it on gasoline then switch over to kerosene .
I don’t get it.

[a5150nut]

on gas it starts easy. Then after everything is warm switch to kerosene and it will run. Probably doesn't have enough compression to fire kerosene from the get go. Kinda like gas glow plugs.

[cowboywildbill]

Ran many John Deere A's & B's. 630's Good old Putt Putt two cylinder engines. Started some of them with the Flywheel, opened compression releases and away they went.
Then shut the compression releases to operate. And they had a band brake on the side that operated with the hand clutch "forward to engage and pull back to brake"
Good old days.

[Yukon6.2]

The military deuces had a series of them that would use anything as fuel...
One guy who was mining on our ground had one and claimed it would burn peanut butter if you could get it through the pump.

[JohnC]

The military deuces had a series of them that would use anything as fuel...
One guy who was mining on our ground had one and claimed it would burn peanut butter if you could get it through the pump.

The City of Boston used to have 7 of these 1500 hp Nordberg radials running pumps 180 feed down. They were supposed to run on the gas produced by the sewage digester tanks, but the quality was so variable that they ended up running them on #6 fuel oil.

6460

(Are we off topic?)

[DmaxMaverick]

(Are we off topic?)

Did it have spark plugs?

[cowboywildbill]

The City of Boston used to have 7 of these 1500 hp Nordberg radials running pumps 180 feed down. They were supposed to run on the gas produced by the sewage digester tanks, but the quality was so variable that they ended up running them on #6 fuel oil.

6460

(Are we off topic?)

Off topic ?
Maybe, but it's been pretty boring on the Colorado/Canyon page because they are scarce and have so few problems.
Maybe we should include the new 1/2 ton GM's with the 6 cylinder diesel also on this thread.
Just saying. LOL

[cowboywildbill]

Did it have spark plugs?

Gee maybe a glow plug that sparks ? LOL

[DmaxMaverick]

Gee maybe a glow plug that sparks ? LOL

In my experience, bad things follow glow plugs that spark!

[JohnC]

Did it have spark plugs?

Actually, I don't know how they started them. I didn't work there; my Father-in-law did. I recall they used compressed air to turn the engine over, but I don't know about any heating devices. The plan was to start them on #6 then switch it over to swamp gas, but they almost always ran on fuel oil.

[JohnC]

I found an article on the Nordbergs here (https://oldmachinepress.com/2014/01/12/nordberg-stationary-radial-engine/). Boston's Deer Island Treatment plant is mentioned about half way down the page. It says there were 9 engines. I had sort of forgotten about the two that were being used for parts, at that point (the 1980's). The photo is of #7. They were ultimately replaced with 1000 horsepower electric motors. They ran mostly on shore power, but there were supposed to be two big Enterprise V-12 (IIRC) engines powering generators for emergency power, but the Enterprises were never reliable, ostensibly because the pads they were installed on were not level. The plant is gone today, and I'm not sure where the sewage goes. (FIL has passed on too.)

6462

[Yukon6.2]

You can tell it's an old picture tube type tires on the rig

[cowboywildbill]

In my experience, bad things follow glow plugs that spark!
True! It usually means something bad.