2013 Honda Pilot spark plugs: NGK Ruthenium HX vs NGK Laser Iridium

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2013 Honda Pilot EX-L w/ approx 54k miles.

I was going to make an order w/ RockAuto for new wipers for our vehicles and figured I would throw some spark plugs in the cart for our Honda Pilot.

I came across the NGK Ruthenium HX plugs, p/n 96358 at $7.66 each.

The OEM plugs are the NGK Laser Iridium p/n 90074 at $11.25 each.


* Can anyone give me any input on these Ruthenium plugs? I was not aware of these new type of plugs, I guess I've been out of the loop.

* Not factoring in the price, is there any benefit to run the NGK Ruthenium plugs over the OEM NGK Laser Iridium plugs?

* Should I change the plug wire/boots at the same time, or just re-use them if they look good?


My plan was to clean the MAF and run some GDI cleaner through the engine, then replace the plugs afterwards.



Thank you in advance for anyone's experience or input on this!
 
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I changed my spark plugs in the Mazda around 70K. They were the usual Asian recommended NGK Laser iridium's but I used NGK Ruthenium's. They are about 5K miles in and appear just fine. At the time they were actually cheaper than the laser iridium's but that's not the case anymore.
 

AutoMechanic

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I have no experience with Ruthenium but Laser Iridium are excellent plugs from my experience. You can reuse the boots and wires as long as no cracks or anything and as long as they seem to be working fine.
 
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Ruthenium is a good idea on a transverse V6, but nothing wrong with the OE iridium, either. The ruthenium is supposed to last longer, which comes in handy where the job is difficult :)

The original spark plugs are supposed to be good for at least 100k, which is why they cost so much. Even the cheap G-Powers should be able to handle 50k. There are no spark plug wires in your Pilot.
 
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I put Rutheniums in my Patriot, which came OEM with NGK conventional nickel tip (**aka "copper" plugs). No regrets here, and it will be nice to abandon the 30K plug changes.

We have no way to confirm the claim about better ignitability, but the technical discussion we had here claim that fine wire should produce a better quality spark vs. the nickel tip. It's tough to imagine much difference vs. iridium fine wire.

** yes, I know all plugs are copper
 
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You’ll get 100,000 miles out of of the Iridiums easily. The verdict is not out on the Ruthenium’s but more than 100,000 miles. I have not yet seen people reporting back on the Ruthenium’s as they haven’t been around long enough.
 
Last edited:

Islandvic

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Thank you for everyone's responses, suggestions and experiences!

Still haven't ordered from Rock Auto yet, probably will this week. Deciding if I'm going to add some other parts to the cart.
 
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Thank you for everyone's responses, suggestions and experiences!

Still haven't ordered from Rock Auto yet, probably will this week. Deciding if I'm going to add some other parts to the cart.
Make sure you find a coupon code from the promotion section. Takes 5% off
 
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Take 5% off the order as below. I put Rutheniums in the Mazda CX5 a few weeks ago. Runs the same as it did before and they should last longer than the iridium ones.


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At only 54K on OE Iridium plugs I wouldn't buy either plug right now if I was you. As others have said 100K EASY and I've seen multiple examples of 150K plus even that look like new.
 
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