Wet plugs one bank 1997 5.0L

[michael hurd]

I just swapped out the spark plugs today for a fresh set of Iridium AC Delco's. Found that the passenger side bank plugs were a bit on the black side and smelled like fuel, however the driver's side bank seemed to be normal light brown / tan. Should I look into this further or see what the mileage is like?

No SES light on, engine seems to run normal. I haven't checked the codes yet.

I bought the truck at a gov't auction and it's accumulated 244,000 ish Kms. Have done a lot of work to it, but have not driven it much since I bought it. Soon to get an inspection and plates. Any ideas what to check for? When I changed engine oil, it seemed fine, no excess amount of fuel in it.

I am thinking a cap and rotor is in order, as well as possibly a set of decent wires.

 

[Mik3]

It's possible that side is burning more oil than the other. Start by doing a full ignition tune up and then check the plugs every oil change. As long as it runs alright, it's nothing to worry about. My truck has one plug that always comes out like that, it once caused a bad misfire.. but only that once.

 

[Mercedes mechanic]

Could also be a plugging cat converter on that side.

 

[michael hurd]

Could also be a plugging cat converter on that side.

Still has the Y-pipe with single converter... unlike the 350 system with one cat per side, and dual pipes to the muffler. However, I have seen older factory y-pipes that were dual wall, have the inner pipe collapse on it's self. Anyone know of the factory y-pipes on these are made like that?

I have also seen an offshore y-pipe that had a small hole drilled where the two pipes connected! That was discovered when the weld failed after a while.... and the pipe was unbolted. The hole couldn't have been more than 1", yet the pipe was 2 1/8". Thanks.... a cap and rotor is in it's future.

Found a mouse nest in the air cleaner housing as well. No idea how the engine ran with it like that.

 

[JonZ71]

maybe the o2 sensor is acting up