‘17 1.5T Civic Spark Plugs

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May 21, 2017
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I’m at 6yrs and 67k miles on the clock with my civic, and thinking whether plugs need to be changed. No issues with idle, same mpg as I’ve always been getting. Should I get them changed anyways? Full disclosure, even though I do all maintenance myself (brakes, fluids etc) - spark plugs is something I’ve never done and a bit scared to do it myself. Appreciate y’all’s suggestions
 
I put a set of OE NGKs in my grand niece's '13 Civic LX when we got it at 80K. I checked them at 65K, mostly because of all the fake NGKs that have plagued me. Plugs are fine. There is zero reason to service them.
 
Good to know. Do you usually check the gap prior to installation? I’d imagine gap should be in spec but heard people recommending to check it anyways
You can check the gap, but you can't "fix" it if necessary. All you can do is return them for another plug (or set).

On that vehicle/engine, changing them should be a piece of cake. Buy a proper spark plug socket too.
 
What does Honda call for, for turbo plug change intervals ?

Just guessing, but I would think your Honda's boost must be about 16-17psi stock. A stock 4 cylinder turbo car I would change out at 40,000 ish. Hyundai wants all their turbo cars to put new plugs in at I think 42,000. If you are stage 1 or 2, I would switch out at 25,000- 30,000 stage 1 and 20,000 stage 2. Heard way too many grounding electrode break offs and porcelain break off that tanked an engine and head to go cheap on spark plugs. $70 to $165 depending on quality for a set of 4 OR $9,000 for a new motor if they let loss. I know my choice. I would stick only to NGK or Denso on your car, and buy from a known dealer. Tons of counterfeits out there.


 
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Good to know. Do you usually check the gap prior to installation? I’d imagine gap should be in spec but heard people recommending to check it anyways
I compare them to the old ones, usually the gap is unchanged. If it is drastically different, then there is probably a problem.
 
What does Honda call for, for turbo plug change intervals ?

Just guessing, but I would think your Honda's boost must be about 16-17psi stock. A stock 4 cylinder turbo car I would change out at 40,000 ish. Hyundai wants all their turbo cars to put new plugs in at I think 42,000. If you are stage 1 or 2, I would switch out at 25,000- 30,000 stage 1 and 20,000 stage 2. Heard way too many grounding electrode break offs and porcelain break off that tanked an engine and head to go cheap on spark plugs. $70 to $165 depending on quality for a set of 4 OR $9,000 for a new motor if they let loss. I know my choice. I would stick only to NGK or Denso on your car, and buy from a known dealer. Tons of counterfeits out there.

I believe Honda says 100k for plugs. Supposedly it’s a maintenance minder code 4 that comes on around 100k
 
I believe Honda says 100k for plugs. Supposedly it’s a maintenance minder code 4 that comes on around 100k
I wonder what Honda this is for? Here they say 30,000 miles. Turbo car, motorcycle?
Honda hides the miles for maintenance more and more as they add items to the MM. OP is at 67k and the MM hasn't told him to change the plugs yet and it knows it's a turbocharged engine.

The schedule you linked to seems to be generic, just an example. I do agree with you about NGK or Denso plugs only.
 
Honda hides the miles for maintenance more and more as they add items to the MM. OP is at 67k and the MM hasn't told him to change the plugs yet and it knows it's a turbocharged engine.

The schedule you linked to seems to be generic, just an example. I do agree with you about NGK or Denso plugs only.
 
What does Honda call for, for turbo plug change intervals ?

Just guessing, but I would think your Honda's boost must be about 16-17psi stock. A stock 4 cylinder turbo car I would change out at 40,000 ish. Hyundai wants all their turbo cars to put new plugs in at I think 42,000. If you are stage 1 or 2, I would switch out at 25,000- 30,000 stage 1 and 20,000 stage 2. Heard way too many grounding electrode break offs and porcelain break off that tanked an engine and head to go cheap on spark plugs. $70 to $165 depending on quality for a set of 4 OR $9,000 for a new motor if they let loss. I know my choice. I would stick only to NGK or Denso on your car, and buy from a known dealer. Tons of counterfeits out there.


We put a gauge on my son’s 1.5T, 2018. Boost tops out lower, actually. Iirc it stops around 8psi. how does that shift your estimates?
 
We put a gauge on my son’s 1.5T, 2018. Boost tops out lower, actually. Iirc it stops around 8psi. how does that shift your estimates?
Your figure made no sense and is way low. I looked into it and here are the correct figures. I was very close. Of course, Europe gets more PSI/Bar and more hp.

 
@Mainia

WOW. They list a full 16psi at full boost. That’s a lot more than we observed. My son was doing hard hill climbs while I watched the gauge, throughout the full rpm sweep. I wonder why the difference. We are reading the data with an OBD2 UltraGauge, not a plumbed mechanical one.
 
Update. AHA.


OBD2 readers apparently get this wrong.

thanks again for the knowledge
 
Update. AHA.


OBD2 readers apparently get this wrong.

thanks again for the knowledge
I don't know if that is a Honda ECU data issue, must be. BUT, if your using an Ultra gauge, you may be interested in bumping up a couple tiers in gauge quality with the Banks Power iDash. I run their "logging" iDash gauge. Banks Power is a high perf QUALITY diesel company. The iDash works on gas OBD2 also. You just have to set it up for gasoline.



.
 
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I’m going to be the differing opinion here. I’m a spark plugs a little early kind of guy. I have had the ceramic insulator break one me before. Once it was failing apart as I pulled the plug out. Not fun. Luckily nothing got into the engine. The mileage was under but plugs were pretty old. I don’t go over 5yrs anymore. Cheap insurance ain’t just for early oil changes and Geico. Just my 2 cents.
 
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