On take-off the other day my engine suddenly started to run rough immediately after take-off. Almost risked setting her back down on what little runway was left but the roughness subsided after a few seconds and I continued the flight to my destination 15 minutes away. When I did the run-up on the return flight my engine ran rough on the left magneto check. I left the plane with the shop on the field. They found the top plug in #2 cylinder had a chunk missing out of the ceramic insulation. The mech said he didn't know for sure what could cause that to happen, but mentioned that dropping the plug during installation has been a known cause. Interestingly, just a month or so ago I had my plugs checked by my home-field mech because one had become fouled. I suspect he might have dropped it and gone ahead and installed it anyway.
Anyone else experience anything similar and are there other reasons for this occurring? I'm not going to accuse my home-field mech of dropping the plug or having caused this issue. But I would be curious to know why something like this could have happened.
Anyone else experience anything similar and are there other reasons for this occurring? I'm not going to accuse my home-field mech of dropping the plug or having caused this issue. But I would be curious to know why something like this could have happened.
