What plug gap to use?

EDIS and Megajolt installation related topics. Be sure to review the <a href="http://www.autosportlabs.net/MJLJ_V4_vehicle_installation_guide">Vehicle installation guide</a>

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david_594
Posts: 22
Joined: Sat Nov 01, 2008 3:08 am

What plug gap to use?

Post by david_594 »

I know this may seem like a stupid question, but how should we determine the plug gap to use with the megajolt setup?

Is the stock plug gap the way to go, or should we be adjusting it since I should have a much stronger spark with the EDIS/coil setup compared to stock.

Broke4speed
Posts: 100
Joined: Mon Mar 30, 2009 4:49 pm

Post by Broke4speed »

I gap mine as instructed by the EDIS specs. ~0.045"

Spockie-Tech
Posts: 152
Joined: Wed Jan 02, 2008 12:52 pm
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Post by Spockie-Tech »

*Theoretically*, it would depend on how you go about tuning it..

I saw a graph of combustion pressure vs time in an ignition book once - Like most fireballs, spark-initiated flame growth rate is exponential... It takes much longer for the fireball to go from 0.02" dia to 0.04" diameter, than it does for it go from 1" to 2"..

So, if you can hurry that initial tiny fireballs growth along by starting it off at a bigger diameter with a wider gap, then you can significantly reduce the time required to reach peak combustion pressure, which means less advance required, and more of the combustion wave buildup time is on the right side of top-dead-center (making power by pushing down, not fighting the pistons pushing up compression)

So, the widest gap you can get away with without mis-fires is the best, *provided* you adjust the timing in a knock-sensitive fashion whilst testing for peak torque (acceleration) and tweaking to find the best timing settings without knock.

If you are following a factory timing curve, or just using someone elses map who runs small plug gaps then you should stick to the same gaps they (factory or friend) used. If you widen out the gaps significantly (which you can probably do with a EDIS), then you will need to pull some timing back out of to compensate.

This is a *good* thing (less advance needed for peak torque = more efficiency) *if* you are tuning it carefully and measuring reponse and knock and not just following a narrow-gap curve.

david_594
Posts: 22
Joined: Sat Nov 01, 2008 3:08 am

Post by david_594 »

That makes sense.

So I basically want to maximize the plug gap that still gives reliable ignition, and then readjust the timing accordingly to avoid knock.

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