Chrysler Pacifica - 3.6 Pentastar Spark Plugs Replacement at 90K Miles

[Elroy the Brave]

I replaced the spark plugs in a 2020 Chrysler Pacifica, with the 3.6 Pentastar V6. Stock plugs that were in there were Iridium CHAMPION RER8ZWYPB4, also known as CHAMPION 9417

Normal replacement interval in the owner's manual is at 100,000 miles, but I changed these out at 90,000.

I replaced these plugs with NGK 7725, Laser Iridium.

The job was a bit of a pain, but what surprised me the most is just how corroded the spark plugs are. The metal portion of the plugs have corrosion that looks like rust (this car is driven in Las Vegas, in a very dry location). Also, they didn't look to be in great shape. Car had a slightly noticeable stumble, only at idle.

Why do this Champion plugs look so bad? Do they? Thoughts?

 

[KGMtech]

Those look pretty bad both interior and exterior. I would suspect the Champion plating process is not meeting typical specs, or the engine was shampooed and the chemicals did not get rinsed off?

 

[Elroy the Brave]

Those look pretty bad both interior and exterior. I would suspect the Champion plating process is not meeting typical specs, or the engine was shampooed and the chemicals did not get rinsed off?

It was serviced at the dealer early on. Personally, I've never shampooed the engine bay. If it had, would soap have gotten down the spark plug tube? (there is an engine cover, and 3 of the plugs are buried under the intake manifold). Doesn't seem very plausible.

The engine had never been touched prior to this, except for oil changes.

I have always been partial to NGK (I've had good success with their plugs). But after this, I am really unimpressed with Champion plugs. I agree with you...they look pretty bad.

 

[Number_35]

What's the specified gap, and what was the gap on the old Champions?

 

[BAJA_05]

Those plugs look like they have been pulled out of something sitting for the last 30 years. NGK Laser Iridiums are great plugs and I am sure your vehicle is thanking you at the moment.

 

[KrisZ]

Mine were nice and shiny, and the minivan spent two winters in Canada before I moved to US. The electrodes though, looked like yours.

To me that almost looks like they were not torqued properly and exhaust gasses were getting by the plugs.

 

[Focus82]

Elroy the Brave: Does it burn any oil?

 

[daves87rs]

Wow they look rough…..

 

[mattd]

I just did a set on a 2015 charger 3.6 that had 98k miles. They were all loose. The threads looked similar to yours but not as many deposits .

 

[Elroy the Brave]

What's the specified gap, and what was the gap on the old Champions?

Gap isn't too bad on the ones I took out. Looks like stock they come at .042, and these measure out to about .045.

But, as noted, the van did have a rough stumbling idle. At higher rpms, the van ran fine---no apparent misfires.

the new NGKs have significantly improved the idle.

 

[Elroy the Brave]

Mine were nice and shiny, and the minivan spent two winters in Canada before I moved to US. The electrodes though, looked like yours.

To me that almost looks like they were not torqued properly and exhaust gasses were getting by the plugs.


View attachment 222218

Hmm... Not a bad theory.

They didn't seem completely loose when I took them out, but were certainly not in there very tight, either. I guess you could say "loose".

Maybe they were under-torqued at the factory? Also, seems like a lot of carbon your plugs as well.

 

[Elroy the Brave]

Elroy the Brave: Does it burn any oil?

Luckily the van doesn't use any oil between oil changes.

 

[Focus82]

Luckily the van doesn't use any oil between oil changes.

 

[tnt_motorsports]

I changed the plugs in our 2014 T&C a month ago. They looked similar but not as bad. Especially given they’re 10 years old. I’ve pasted the thread below.

Thread

Just my $0.02

 

[Chris142]

It was serviced at the dealer early on. Personally, I've never shampooed the engine bay. If it had, would soap have gotten down the spark plug tube? (there is an engine cover, and 3 of the plugs are buried under the intake manifold). Doesn't seem very plausible.

The engine had never been touched prior to this, except for oil changes.

Looks like you bought a flood car

 

[JTK]

The electrodes don't look bad on them from what I can see, although the combustion crud looks nasty.

The corrosion on the exposed parts is strange. Those coils seal pretty well to the surface of the cam covers on pentastars.

It seems like the typical ignition system failure on pentastars is with the coils. It's always the side covered up by the intake plenum too. LOL

 

[KrisZ]

Hmm... Not a bad theory.

They didn't seem completely loose when I took them out, but were certainly not in there very tight, either. I guess you could say "loose".

Maybe they were under-torqued at the factory? Also, seems like a lot of carbon your plugs as well.

It's not just theory, I've seen it on my old Mazda. I slightly messed up the threads on one of the plugs by trying to install a wrong plug. The plugs on that one always looked like yours, the other three showed no deposits at all.