NGK Plug check... They look OK

I have some twin Ir tip Bosch that look great. NOT previously a Bosch fan of their odd, poor firing platinum plugs from the 90's. But these Ir are used in BMW turbo engines. I sold the car and now I have a set of four orphans :( They retail for about $7.95 ea p/n 9603 The plug for your Acura 2.4L is p/n 9614 they go for about 9 bucks - Ken

9603.jpg
 
Last edited:
Amazon co-mingles their own inventory with that of third-party sellers using FBA Amazon fulfillment :sneaky:
Do you have some proof of this or are just guessing? From what I read about Amazon warehousing they use an organized chaos storage method. New stuff is stored where there is space. Spark plugs for a given NGK number might be next to men's Haines
size 34 underwear which might be next to Tide pods fresh scent. No attempt at putting like things near each other. The computer knows where every item is and tells the picker where to go to get each item. So if Amazon had a supply of its own NGK #201 plugs its unlikely it would be next to a seller's supply of NGK #201 plugs.

If a BITOG member works at a Amazon warehouse and has first hand knowledge I would like to hear it. My information comes from reading and a 60 Minutes segment many years ago.

Were the suspect fake plugs sold by Amazon? Shipped by Amazon. I have bought automotive and marine parts and more often than not they are sold and shipped by a company other than Amazon.
 
Do you have some proof of this or are just guessing? From what I read about Amazon warehousing they use an organized chaos storage method. New stuff is stored where there is space. Spark plugs for a given NGK number might be next to men's Haines
size 34 underwear which might be next to Tide pods fresh scent. No attempt at putting like things near each other. The computer knows where every item is and tells the picker where to go to get each item. So if Amazon had a supply of its own NGK #201 plugs its unlikely it would be next to a seller's supply of NGK #201 plugs.

If a BITOG member works at a Amazon warehouse and has first hand knowledge I would like to hear it. My information comes from reading and a 60 Minutes segment many years ago.

Were the suspect fake plugs sold by Amazon? Shipped by Amazon. I have bought automotive and marine parts and more often than not they are sold and shipped by a company other than Amazon.
I bought the plugs on Amazon; I have Amazon prime to take advantage of shipping, etc. I do not know where the plugs came from; all I know is I have installed fake plugs on 3 cars that I can recall.

I will not buy any more plugs there. I would advise others against doing so.

I have been to a big Amazon distribution center east of Silicon Valley, this side of Sac. Yes, there is no rhyme or reason to the inventory locations.
But it depends on the size of the product; these are smaller items. Robots, people and computers flying all over the place. Robots don't pick, they come to the pickers.
 
Last edited:
I've never once bought spark plugs online, only at auto parts stores. If I can't visually inspect each plug then it's a no go.

Saying that because I've been getting burned on "Genuine" Cummins parts.
 
Buddy got some fake ones from rock auto awhile ago for his sentra. Started missing last week, so he pulled plug to inspect and center electrodes were right down to porcelain. Only about 35k
Haven't had any issues with the RockAuto ones down here, but all of my Rockauto orders have been from Parts Authority. Not sure how things are sourced for Canadian orders.
 
Buddy got some fake ones from rock auto awhile ago for his sentra. Started missing last week, so he pulled plug to inspect and center electrodes were right down to porcelain. Only about 35k
Were they standard copper plugs, iridium, or platinum?

Its not unheard of for standard plugs to be worn out with 35k miles.
 
Buddy got some fake ones from rock auto awhile ago for his sentra. Started missing last week, so he pulled plug to inspect and center electrodes were right down to porcelain. Only about 35k

Googling the return address should work for Canada as well :)
 
Buddy got some fake ones from rock auto awhile ago for his sentra. Started missing last week, so he pulled plug to inspect and center electrodes were right down to porcelain. Only about 35k
So, worn electrodes are a sign of fake plugs? It's easy to blame someone else for other potential problems, but to just assume they were fake? Come on...
 
So, worn electrodes are a sign of fake plugs? It's easy to blame someone else for other potential problems, but to just assume they were fake? Come on...
Electrodes worn out at 1/3 of service life is a very good reason to suspect a fake plug.
 
So, worn electrodes are a sign of fake plugs? It's easy to blame someone else for other potential problems, but to just assume they were fake? Come on...
Well, the plugs I pulled outta our TSX had at least 90K on them and looked fine. So yeah, I think the plugs that were shot at 38K were fake.
I am a little relieved they didn't cause misfires and disable the car. No more Amazon plugs for me.
 
I am convinced this is the problem. I cannot say who actually sold me the plugs.
Luckily Tati's Civic seems to be fine. Rock solid idle, etc.

The problems I have had are the Honda K24 NGK plugs. I imagine they sell a bazillion of 'em.
My theory is the pickers at Amazon are overworked and don't care, so they just grab what ever's closer.

All this is exactly why I just went to Autozone for my recent plug purchases. Sure they were $5 cheaper on Amazon, but I don't like my chances.
 
I bought these not long ago from Amazon too thinking they are genuine but now I'm confused
 
My theory is the pickers at Amazon are overworked and don't care, so they just grab what ever's closer.

All this is exactly why I just went to Autozone for my recent plug purchases. Sure they were $5 cheaper on Amazon, but I don't like my chances.
But as the customer, it shouldn't matter; weh should get what we paid for.
Smart move buying at AZ. Piece of mind.
 
I bought these not long ago from Amazon too thinking they are genuine but now I'm confused
You got 3 possibilities...
  1. They are not fakes and will easily last 100K.
  2. They are fakes and the electrodes will be visibly worn in 10K; do an inspection and gap check.
  3. They are fakes and you will get misfires by 35K to 40K. Maybe even leave you stranded.
Check the comments from the Amazon page you ordered from. People tend to respond with bad news...
Good luck.
 
that's the seller in my case; I remember when I ordered these, they took easily a month to be delivered to the door steps

IMG_5352.jpg
 
If the plugs are out and have 50k on them replace them, they are cheap. I replace all my iridiums at 50k even if they are fine. 1- don't want a stuck plug, 2- keeps mpg's up to normal values, 3- keeps ignition in top shape to avoid misfires and causing other ignition problems. Esp. when you don't have the time to change them i.e on a trip or relative who doesn't know how, 4- gives me something to tinker with.
 
Back
Top