In general - Autolite plugs?

[kschachn]

Originally Posted By: TexasVaquero
This website will always say that bad products are good and that products most "normal, average folks" think are good are actually bad.

Then there are people that repeatedly post that a major name-brand product damaged their engine yet never respond to requests for details about the problem. You mean those kind of folks?

 

[spk2000]

I replaced the plugs in my Grand Marquis with Autolite Platinum plugs from an Autozone employee who told me Motorcraft and Autolite were the same. Roughly 40,000 miles later car misfired very badly on a long road trip. Took it to a shop as I didn't have time to mess with the car for a while. He told me plugs were bad. He recommended Motorcraft and said they last more than double the Autolites and they were not the same. I really don't know if they are or not but this was my experience.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Almost all Motorcraft plugs are Autolite, but some of the iridium ones are NGK.

Denso and NGK are almost always the best choice. Bosch is also good if they are the OE supplier for that car/engine.

Autolite makes their spark plugs in China and Mexico. Denso and NGK make theirs in the US and Japan. Every Bosch I've seen still comes from Germany. Champions usually come from Mexico.

 

[Jmoney7269]

From my experience in the drag race world and just general usage, autolite are a low quality plug. We ran autolites in all of our nitrous engines because of the low quality, (compared to others) the plug would melt before the piston. In my 2004 tundra I installed the autolite iridiums because they were half the price of NGK ans Densos. I started having some bad fuel mileage and occasional missing..... come to find out the ground strap had deteriorated over 60k miles and was dang near straight and were super hard to get out of the cylinder head. They had to be removed with a 1/2" breaker bar and I was cringing every turn. I went back with factory spec spark plugs regular ol copper core NGK and will change them once a year or 50k miles. Runs like a brand new engine now. Replaced the valve cover gaskets while I was in there. Wanted to get a look at the cam lobes

 

[Skippy722]

Originally Posted by Nyogtha
The Iridium Autolite XP plugs I'm running in my 5.7L Hemi were made in Mexico, which at least is in this hemisphere. Factory Mopar plugs copper plugs were NGK calling for replacement of all 16 plugs every 32K miles. No way that's happening for me!


I did the exact same thing for the exact same reason lol. Except I used the Autolite double platinum plugs in mine.

I was told they'd cause my pistons to melt, give me misfires, fry the coil packs "because they were designed for copper plugs!!!!" and all other matters of ridiculous nonsense. Did the same thing in my Caliber, that got NGK iridiums though.

 

[demarpaint]

In over 40 years of using them, I never had a problem with them. I did however get screwed out of a rebate on them, but that's another story, and got me using more plugs from NGK.

 

[JeffKeryk]

I use Autolites in my classics: 68 L36 Corvette Roadster and 65 4-4-2. Cheapo copper plugs, of course. And others I have owned. I love Pontiacs...
On modern cars, I use the OE plug.
I recently replaced the plugs on a Dodge Dakota(?) PU. It had newer NGKs; I installed 6 OE Autolites and the truck was happy.
FYI, this doesn't make sense to me; NGKs are excellent plugs but I have found Chrysler engines seem to like the Autolites.
Just my experience. So I stay with OE.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted by i_hate_autofraud

In my case, knowing plugs will stay in the engine for 100K miles, I convert the
metric gap to inches and use a machinist's feeler gauges to set gap
.001" tighter, that means I'll never have a misfire unless something else goes wrong.



The "gap to" spec for new isn't optimal, it's small-- it's already intended to grow through perfection to its wider service limit.

But .001 isn't going to make any noticeable difference.

I've bought 3923s that have metal-colored threads and 3924s with black "paint". I can't imagine why there's a difference in manufacturing techniques between the one heat range. Their iridiums are fine. I like running their copper plugs on stuff that gets changed frequently-- they make good plugs for beaters.

 

[wemay]

I've used Autolites on and off for 25 years and am pleased with their product. The SFS currently has a set of iridium that have been in use for 50k miles.

 

[Nyogtha]

The Autolite iridium plugs have provided 20K miles of trouble-free operation from Great Lakes polar bortex winters to South Texas summers.

I too was given all sorts of unsolicited negative advice on using anything but copper plugs in this engine, especially from a dealership service manager when I took my truck in to address a recall issue. I mentioned Ram installed 100K mile spark plugs in their 2012 Ram for Emergency Services (i.e. police package), he kept arguing a truck Hemi had different tuning than a Charger even though I wasn't talking about Chargers. When I got home I emailed the pdf of the Ram Emergency Services sales sheet to him that I'd found on the internet. Exact same HP & torque specs as my truck. Also on AllPar.

https://www.allpar.com/squads/police-cars/ram.html

https://www.policemag.com/348943/chrysler-introduces-dodge-ram-police-truck-for-2012

 

[zzyzzx]

Never had an issue using Autolite plugs in my Escorts. Always double platinum and made in USA. Will not be using any Chinese plugs.

 

[DoubleNickels]

Autolite worked perfectly in my Ford 302 engine.

 

[PandaBear]

So far I've used Autolite, NGK, Denso, Bosch, Motorcraft, and Champion.

1 of our Motorcraft OEM has a hairline crack when we change plugs. It also has no nickel coating so it was rusting inside the head.

Autolite in my Corolla walk itself loose, I suspect it was due to me putting anti-siege on it. No more. The Autolite single platinum in the Escort (waste spark) had some major wear as expected, and the plug wires were crumbling all over causing ignition problems. Not sure if it is caused by the MAF sensor gunk or it was neglected for too many miles for too long.

NGK and Denso seems to be always working as it should.

Champion works fine, didn't notice any difference.

Bosch Platinum IR fusion seems to work well in the Taurus, Bosch Platinum +4 that was in the Camry seem to do well.

I probably wouldn't mind using any of them in a 4 cylinder. I would be a bit concerned outside of OEM if I have to take apart intake manifolds to install them (FWD V6).

 

[CrAlt]

Originally Posted by slacktide_bitog
Champion also comes from Mexico, except their iridium plugs which are US- and UK-made.

I don't think iridium vs copper but part number vs part number. I picked up a copper champion #71 a few months ago to verify my cross reference for a set of aftermarket heads. Box copyrighted 2017 says Made In USA. I know other copper numbers like #14 are made in mexico.

 

[BigD1]

Originally Posted by CrAlt
I don't think iridium vs copper but part number vs part number. I picked up a copper champion #71 a few months ago to verify my cross reference for a set of aftermarket heads. Box copyrighted 2017 says Made In USA. I know other copper numbers like #14 are made in mexico.


I bought a Champion Copper Plus 858 CJ6Y for my lawnmower, and it was made in USA just like the box picture you posted. No idea what factory is making them.

 

[WyrTwister]

Originally Posted by Eric Smith
I'm thinking your right...

Around 20k on the set. Had a random misfire on startup and in general didn't run right. #4 had a U-Shaped crack also. Put Motorcraft's and it runs perfect now. I was always told Autolites and Motorcrafts roll off the same line, I'm having a hard time believing that now.


We used to drive Fords , back in the day . I too thought they were pretty much the same ?

 

[nthach]

Originally Posted by slacktide_bitog


Autolite makes their spark plugs in China and Mexico. Denso and NGK make theirs in the US and Japan. Every Bosch I've seen still comes from Germany. Champions usually come from Mexico.

I've seen Russian and Indian Bosch plugs, and Champion seems to be making plugs in the US.