2018 Hyundai Elantra Value Edition Spark Plug Gap?

[rtstrider1]

Hey all! I have a 2018 Hyundai Elantra Value Edition that is getting a spark plug change tomorrow. Here's where the confusion comes in.

I ordered the NGK plugs but am now questioning whether or not that's the correct plug to use. This has a .032" gap where all of the others have a varying gap from .031" all the way to .044". I did a part lookup on the NGK site also and it matched with these plugs. My gut says it'll probably be fine, but, I really wanted to grab a few sets of eyes here to see if this should be just fine. The reason I bought the NGK is the text "OE-Recommend Gap" and Korea Production. Sounded like it's closer to the OEM plug from a quick glance at least. Hopefully this will work

 

[Propflux01]

I know the .032 gap is used on turbo engines (to help prevent spark scatter). I don't see an issue with it being pretty much anywhere between that and .044. My 2014 Elantra called for .044 (1.8L). Just ensure that the plugs Ohm to between 4.5K to 5.5K Ohms.

 

[JustN89]

The service manual calls for a gap of .0314-.0354". Now, the .044" will work fine and that's the most common gap to find. I'm running OEM plugs again that are gapped at .035", but either will work.

 

[rtstrider1]

Good deal! The sales people were pushing the turbo engine when we bought the car brand new. Decided against having a turbo mainly because it's another, expensive, moving point of failure lol Now if only they would've made transmission fluid drain/fills easy to do on this car....That's my next project along with flushing the coolant. I've seen a few videos on how to mod the transmission fill plug so figured with the car at almost 100k miles now it wouldn't hurt to start doing a drain/fill with maxlife atf the next few oil changes.

Side note...Just changed the front brakes/rotors 2 weekends ago. The stock pads held up to around 92k but there was literally nothing left on all four pads. Holy....Bare metal on ALL 4 pads and one chewed up rotor!

 

[reemoeMO]

It appears it is .032, at least for the NGK Laser Iridiums. I plan to get those for mine (I have the same vehicle) when it gets nearer to 100K miles.

 

[JustN89]

Good deal! The sales people were pushing the turbo engine when we bought the car brand new. Decided against having a turbo mainly because it's another, expensive, moving point of failure lol Now if only they would've made transmission fluid drain/fills easy to do on this car....That's my next project along with flushing the coolant. I've seen a few videos on how to mod the transmission fill plug so figured with the car at almost 100k miles now it wouldn't hurt to start doing a drain/fill with maxlife atf the next few oil changes.

Side note...Just changed the front brakes/rotors 2 weekends ago. The stock pads held up to around 92k but there was literally nothing left on all four pads. Holy....Bare metal on ALL 4 pads and one chewed up rotor!

The trans plug "mod" isn't difficult to do. After removing all the stuff to get down to the top of the trans, you just loosen the bolts on the neutral switch and push it out of the way to get the plug out. I took a file to it for a minute or two to cut a notch into it and now it's easy to get in and out. After that, drain and fills are pretty straight forward. Measure what comes out and put that back in. Maxlife will work- these trans aren't super picky about fluid.

 

[Propflux01]

You do not have to modify the fill plug at all. You do everything from underneath. Drain transmission from large 24MM drain plug. On the front of the pan, there is a black plug. Twist it and pull out. That is where you fill it. Use a pump that fits a quart container., like this one:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BQW5LK/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1 .
When it starts to drip out, install plug. Start and run car. Go through the gears until tranny gets 135*F (you can guesstimate). Pull plug again. while the engine is running, fill until it starts to come out. Tranny is full. Drive in satisfaction. I have done many of these this way.

 

[JustN89]

You do not have to modify the fill plug at all. You do everything from underneath. Drain transmission from large 24MM drain plug. On the front of the pan, there is a black plug. Twist it and pull out. That is where you fill it. Use a pump that fits a quart container., like this one:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BQW5LK/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1 .
When it starts to drip out, install plug. Start and run car. Go through the gears until tranny gets 135*F (you can guesstimate). Pull plug again. while the engine is running, fill until it starts to come out. Tranny is full. Drive in satisfaction. I have done many of these this way.

That is the proper way to do it. The other way is much, much more simple.

 

[rtstrider1]

That is the proper way to do it. The other way is much, much more simple.

Yep which is why I'm looking at the easier way that doesn't involve a workout lol

 

[rtstrider1]

Ended up swapping out the plugs a few minutes ago over a 15 minute break at work. These are crazy simple/easy to swap out. Also no need to unplug the coils so even better!

 

[Propflux01]

Yep which is why I'm looking at the easier way that doesn't involve a workout lol

Better hope you get the right amount in. Since you have no way to check it.

 

[FowVay]

Doing a search of RockAuto for the Hyundai part number for your spark plugs returns two items. One is the NGK as listed in the original post and the other is a Champion plug that doesn't show when doing a generic search for parts.

The OEM plug is a Korean made "Yura" brand and is iridium tipped. The NGK or Champion plugs would both perform fine with their set gap of 0.032" out of the box.

The OEM part number from Hyundai is 18867-09095

 

[someonesomewhere]

It appears it is .032, at least for the NGK Laser Iridiums. I plan to get those for mine (I have the same vehicle) when it gets nearer to 100K miles.

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Just a heads-up about the AI results at the top of Google searches. Those answers can come from anywhere on the web, so it could be some idiot on Reddit, Twitter, etc that has no clue what he's talking about about, and AI will spit it out as fact. Always ignore those and scroll to a trusted source of info.