HELP!! Just fitted extractors, get too hot, melting wires!!!!

[Felony]

i just fitted some extractors ( they are unpainted, i dont know if this contributes? ), and they get way too hot, if the engine is cold you start it and withing 20-30 seconds they are so hot you cant touch them already, i thought the car might have the wrong heat range plugs ( as the car was on gas till i got it and im ripping it all out as i dont like gas ) after chatting with dellboy so i pulled one out and its a NGK R BRE527Y which repco told me are the standard plug for a ed 4 litre so i guess that rules that out? could the plugs be buggered? they ara bit black, very black actually, even a bit of black up the porcelin, im not sure what the problem is it cant be normal if the heat is going to start melting nearby wires and no they arent that close they are running along the inside of the strut tower next to the clutch cable which i have had to cable tie with them to keep it from melting too... a 10 minute drive gets the wires smouldering, lol, someone please help!!!! i also have a ef heatsheild i bent to fit but it doesnt cover enough of the extractors...
Thanks lads

[Mr_4.0]

what sort of temparature does your car at? is it also running hotter than normal?

[Felony]

No the temp doesnt get much over 1/3 on the gauge....

[TheSneakiness]

What extractors are they?

[Felony]

Gm headers i believe...

[XRQTR]

By what you say about your plugs being very black, it sounds as though its running a bit rich, so you may be still burning fuel in your extractors. This won't affect your engine temp as its on the exhaust side.

Are all your plugs black or just some?? check your injectors, especially in gas cars they should be checked more often, this is because they are not used as often and any fuel that remains gums up, this can sometimes lead to partially open injectors thereby overfueling.

[Sundeep]

I think if you're timing is too retarded or something the exhaust/extractors tend to get fairly hot? I could be wrong, but I'd say check your timing.

Sundeep

[niko]

i never touched the timing, best i ever got out of it was 13/100

[Felony]

Pulled all the plugs out guys, they were black as black can be, couple burnt to a crisp, and what i noticed putting new ones in which surprised me and can someone tell me if it could have been the problem? was that the spark gaps were at least twice the size of the new pre gapped plugs....
Cheers

[Rollin]

what was the actual gap? somewhere 1-1.5mm should be about right.

check the coolant temp sensor wiring is ok, also you may have a blocked cat...

the extractors will get too hot to touch very quickly, thats normal, but melting wires that run along the strut tower is not!

[mr_efxr]

Heat wrap'em. Easiest way to resolve.

[svo347]

Agreed but that also decreases the life of the extractors too.

[MADED-6]

if they are just steel then of course they are goin to get very hot because they have nothing to cool them id be getting them coated in something to keep th heat down if u thrash it at night ull most likely see them glow.

[EF_Frmnt]

Gas cars usually have a much closer gap than petrol so your new ones may be for a gas car?? Also your best bet is to get the heat wrap that you normally put on extractors and the like and put a length around all the wires that are heating up it will keep the heat out..

[Felony]

The new plugs i got are just stocko ngk r bre527y-11 which is what was in there in the first place they were just rooted, gas are ZGR6B-11,
http://www.ngkspark.com.au/pages/bul...der_option.htm
and as for heat wrapping them i prefer not to, i will heat wrap the wires however, i have also made one massive heatshield for now out of 2 ef heatshields, does the heatproof 1500 degree paint in a can do any good or do i have to fork the 200 odd to get hpc?
thanks
Cheers

[EF_Frmnt]

I dont think the can stuff is actual heatproof, rather just a pretty colour that wont crack when it gets heated is what they mean. The HPC coating would be best.. plus it will be nice and shiny if you want

[Polyal]

maybe its running rich as the O2 sensor has been effected by the heat?

ha...people laugh at heat shield but they are there for a reason

[Felony]

Originally Posted by Polyal

maybe its running rich as the O2 sensor has been effected by the heat?

ha...people laugh at heat shield but they are there for a reason

I have another o2 sensor im going to try, im also going to borrow a timing light, and check some other things, i did have it running for a while idling yesty after i put the new plugs in, didnt seem to get as hot? could the massive gap on ИИИИed plugs have been the problem? or at least contributed?
thanks

[outback_ute]

Originally Posted by EF_Frmnt

I dont think the can stuff is actual heatproof, rather just a pretty colour that wont crack when it gets heated is what they mean. The HPC coating would be best.. plus it will be nice and shiny if you want

The paint is heat proof - normal paint would burn off. It doesn't cut down the heat radiated from the pipes though like HPC coating does, although if you use white paint it radiates less heat than black and will make a small difference.

[Rollin]

the huge gap may have contributed - if the spark cant jump the gap it could missfire, sending unburned fuel into the exhaust, where it would get set alight by the gasses leaving the other cylinders, and therefore create large amounts of heat, especially in the cat converter...

[niko]

i always got good fuel economy with this car, even had them checked few thousand kays ago

[Felony]

Originally Posted by niko

i always got good fuel economy with this car, even had them checked few thousand kays ago

Then whoever checked the plugs are a bit of a nong....
Will take a pic of the culprit plugs and post it up...
Cheers

[Felony]

Well guys i forgot to take a pic of the plugs lol i will if anyones intrested, it seems they were the problem as it runs fine now and doesnt get outrageously hot,
Cheers for all the input lads,