Due to a different spark plug? Okay....
Every other plug must have caused some truly hellacious misfiring, that’s the only possible explanation for that.
Best "gimmick" plugs?
- Thread starter cwilliamsws6
- Start date
Every other plug must have caused some truly hellacious misfiring, that’s the only possible explanation for that.
'Ruthenium'. Thanks. I'll mention them on the Ranger fora.
A "new tech" plug probably gains application share progressively, starting with the more popular engines / sizes.
A mechanic told me to pass on the exact Motorcraft double platinums my engine calls for (4.0l SOHC) and get Rutheniums.
I doubt there'll EVER be any replacement for the French made, 3 prong Volvo (5 cyl. non-turbo only) plug my V70 takes.
There've been no substitutes and the engine was discontinued years ago.
A "new tech" plug probably gains application share progressively, starting with the more popular engines / sizes.
A mechanic told me to pass on the exact Motorcraft double platinums my engine calls for (4.0l SOHC) and get Rutheniums.
I doubt there'll EVER be any replacement for the French made, 3 prong Volvo (5 cyl. non-turbo only) plug my V70 takes.
There've been no substitutes and the engine was discontinued years ago.
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Special Beru or Bosch plug?
Toyota uses a similar 3-ground strap plug on their DI engines - iridium tripped but instead of their usual 100K replacement interval, it’s 60K. Of course it’s a Denso plug. I think NGK makes a clone of it too.
"Ruthenium"
Do Ruthenium spark plugs even come in applications for small engines?
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I mentioned earlier that I have used the Diamond Fire plugs in a push lawnmower and only noticed that it work. But, it replaced a OE Champion. IDK if it worked better than a NEW Champion but the DF did work fine, I just can't say it was better.
zzyzzx mentioned using Splitfire plugs in an older Escort. My BIL works on outboard motors and liked Splitfire plugs in these older Johnson & Evinrude outboards. He said the SF plugs were better for trolling.
I currently have a set(8) Delco Rapid Fire spark plugs in my Firebird for the last 22-23 years and they've been fine. With the tweaks(not mods) that I've done to my FORMULA, it runs better than when I bough her new. . .
*Timing advance
*Carb adjustment
*Better tune-up parts than stock
[Rapid Fire plugs, Delco Remy Brass cap & rotor, lower ohm wires]
These didn't make the engine more powerful, but certainly woke up the engine.
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I mentioned earlier that I have used the Diamond Fire plugs in a push lawnmower and only noticed that it work. But, it replaced a OE Champion. IDK if it worked better than a NEW Champion but the DF did work fine, I just can't say it was better.
zzyzzx mentioned using Splitfire plugs in an older Escort. My BIL works on outboard motors and liked Splitfire plugs in these older Johnson & Evinrude outboards. He said the SF plugs were better for trolling.
I currently have a set(8) Delco Rapid Fire spark plugs in my Firebird for the last 22-23 years and they've been fine. With the tweaks(not mods) that I've done to my FORMULA, it runs better than when I bough her new. . .
*Timing advance
*Carb adjustment
*Better tune-up parts than stock
[Rapid Fire plugs, Delco Remy Brass cap & rotor, lower ohm wires]
These didn't make the engine more powerful, but certainly woke up the engine.
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Didn't JC Whitney used to sell a spark plug that was guaranteed to fire in oil?
Lol Yep. I put 'em in my '67 Impala back in the middle 70's (along with a big yellow Accel super coil). They worked, but didn't make any improvement - unless my gas mileage went up 10%, which would have been about 1 mpg.
I actually have Pulstar plugs in my truck right now, gapped to 0.065, with SOS coils on top of them.
Any performance gain?
No idea. No issues caused either though.
Was probably a waste of money, but I also didn't pay full price.
I am of the opinion that if a spark plug design would result in 0.01 MPG difference, manufactures would be using it now. Ed
I`m happy with Bosch Super 4 on my car, used similar plugs on my last car too with great results. I see some people here hate them but lets get real here, not all cars accept them and you don`t use them on forced induction cars either. Cars i used them on: Volvo S60 2.4 na gas engine and Honda CRX 1.6 Vtec.
Thanks for posting that interesting history!
In general all gimmick plugs are pretty bad unless they're the OE plugs. It's also a bad idea to switch type of plugs from the OE design like putting platinum or iridium plugs in a vehicle that came with copper plugs. Mk II Jetta/Golfs came with multiple electrode copper Bosch plugs and didn't like single electrode plugs, and many early 90's Honda's used NGK split V plugs as OE. Many years ago I had a 95 Escort that I put in the very then hyped Bosch +4 platinum plugs which I thought would be a nice upgrade over the OE regular copper plugs, and it ran and idled like junk afterwards (until I out the old plugs back in).
My BMW sucked electrodes out of my Bosch Platinum +4. Loved that car, but. I was very young, and I had an M27, the engine they called the ETA. (Not the later Super ETA, just the ETA. 87;and prior had the better looking rears.) Apparently that happened a lot on those plugs.
I think I ended up still using Bosch, but came up with a general theory on what goes in what, of course this is not all-accurate but here we go:
German car? Look to Bosch.
Japanese car? Check out NGK. I have heard Denso is OEM on Toyotas. Even then. Replaced with NGK. Denso plugs are very good.
American car? .. maybe Autolite or NGK.. or when in doubt, OEM. (Motorcraft, AC Delco etc. Surely Mopar makes plugs.)
British car?? ...... heh. Maybe Bosch.... Maybe NGKs... maybe OE...
Never had an Italian car.
We are running out of countries.
When in doubt, or if your car is known to hate other kinds of COILS, get OEM. Went through this on a Nissan Maxima. OE coils are Hitachi or .. I want to say Matsushita (Panasonic/Technics) but anything else, it sets a code. I forget what plugs were for that car. One of the last 3.0 Maximas.
I have had the E3 plugs in my 4.0L Chrysler Pacifica for about 30k, no complaints. I can't say I gained any extra performance or gas mileage, but they were on closeout at RA, so I got them for less than $1 each.
They box said they're good for 100k, I'm not sure I buy that, will probably pull them at 60k and see how they look.
They box said they're good for 100k, I'm not sure I buy that, will probably pull them at 60k and see how they look.
These were oem fitment on one of my cars. No electrodes that can glow and cause misfires, or break off or sit in the way of the flame front.
I think the rule of that country’s OEM plug is now blurred - it seems like Driv(Champion) and Trico Brands(Autolite) are making plugs for Ford, GM and FCA, and NGK seems like the “universal” choice for almost anything. Even Mercedes, BMW and VAG are using NGK and the new Delco OE iridium plugs are NGK or Denso. Denso isn’t a bad choice either.
The Japanese OEMs use Denso, Hitachi(aka Hanshin) or Diamond Electric coils. I’ve never seen a Panasonic/Matsushita coil but I’ve seen Panasonic knock sensors and temp senders as OEM on many Toyotas.
Yeah they’re kind of all over... my Durango came from the factory with NGK copper plugs, the Pentastars use Champion Iridium plugs, while the 5.7’s are using NGK iridium plugs. Don’t really see an issue changing the brand or metal of plugs, but I wouldn’t go switching the number of electrodes or their shape.
Speaking specifically about the Nissan Maxima 3.0 coils, I know for a fact Hitachi made one of the OEM models but there was also listed as parts another one. For some reason I want to say it may have been Toshiba, who if you will remember used to be a player in the CRT home television market. I may be wrong but maybe that was the other one.
As to the spark plugs, I've had my share of cars where OE plugs were the only ones that made the car run right. I am looking at you, AC Delco. There were others as well but... I can think of one ownership community in particular where someone claimed that if you use NGK plugs in place of the Bougicord (?) OE plugs, MPG went down by five and that seems like a rather outrageous claim to me...
I think we are doing a good job of discussing this topic, let's keep it going!
i have extencive use of e3 in small engines, they only benifit a worn or tired engine , but there you will notice a difference. esp so in 2 strokes. they have a much higher fail rate than normal plugs and dont last as long. but i can tell you they do make a hotter spark as seen in project farms test. no way i would put them in a car. fail rate too high
