Spark Plug pics - 2005 2.4L Accord 79,000

[Quest]

Benjamming-

Yeah, our former federal liberal govt in the 90s sucked up to Ethyl corp's lawsuit (they cited NAFTA agreement for that matter) during the banning of MMT use in Canada in the 90s, and some of us have no choice but to live with it (esp. Esso gas here definitely comes with MMT at one time). With the introduction of the Top-tier gasoline certification/approval affair, individual gas brands in Canada such as Shell, Petro-Canada, Chevron, etc, got certified and that's really good news to me (for it means that there shall be no MMT involved in the gas sold at these pump stations). Also: local Chevron gas stations promoted the lack of Manganese in their gas since 2003 and for me that's truely something that we shall all be celebrating.

Ultimately, any metallic-based octane boosters such as tetraethyl-plumbium, MMT, etc. shall be banned due to environmental and mid to long-term health concerns.

Q.

 

[buster]

Quote:

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OOPS! Sorry Buster, I made a mistake. I thought the pics after your post were part of your post. They had the ground discs on them. My bad

! Your plugs looked fine. I think that most platinum plugs can fire ok for 100,000 miles. The real problem with leaving the plugs in for 100,000 miles is will you be able to remove them.

Whimsey

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No problem. Car runs a bit better with the new ones. I'll probably stick to changing them around the 60k-80k range.

 

[benjamming]

Dad2leia,

The picture is
top row l-r: 1, 2, 3
bottom row l-r: 4, 5, 6

So the spark plug with the rusty threads belongs to cylinder #5. Only #4 had ever been removed.

 

[Master ACiD]

why you guys change out those expensive plugs so early? i change out the 1.50 ngk coppers in the crv at 60K and they still had life left in them. i saved em incase my mower ever needs a plug.

 

[benjamming]

What do you use as your yardstick to say that they are still good?

 

[Master ACiD]

the car got better than epa estimated mileage, and then i change the plugs out, the mileage didnt improve. cold starting didnt improve. idling didnt improve. nothing improved. but honda says to change them at 60K so i figure what the heck $6 isnt gonna break the bank.

not only that but i was able to file the electrodes nearly square and regap them to spec, so they couldnt be that worn out.

 

[surfstar]

Quote:

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the car got better than epa estimated mileage, and then i change the plugs out, the mileage didnt improve. cold starting didnt improve. idling didnt improve. nothing improved. but honda says to change them at 60K so i figure what the heck $6 isnt gonna break the bank.

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On my Mazda I settled on 30k intervals w/ NGK v-power coppers - I went to 40k once and when I switched them out, I noticed improved performance and ~1MPG increase; so I stepped back down to 30k intervals. I agree the best way is to fine tune your maintenance intervals to your own car.

30k on coppers is about 1.5 years for me, sometimes less. But I enjoy changing the plugs and it takes less than 15 mins, including finding all the tools.

 

[Cutehumor]

I thought these plugs are good for 100k? I'm on my second set of platinums on my 96 sunfire. 1st set was changed out at 93k miles

 

[buster]

Car runs better than ever with the new plugs. I think I'm going to change them around 50k-60k from now on.

 

[crw]

My experience says that copper plugs last a lot longer than people say, and the unobtainium ones don't last as long as people say.

 

[OriginHacker21]

Originally Posted By: Cutehumor
I thought these plugs are good for 100k? I'm on my second set of platinums on my 96 sunfire. 1st set was changed out at 93k miles


I thought 100k as well. I have double platinum in my car do to the distributor less setup in the 2.2L Ecotec. I changed mine at 70,000 miles and they looked good.

For as cheap as spark plugs are - I don't think it would hurt to put in new ones a bit more frequently.

 

[flanso]

Examine the posted plug pictures. The dark discoloration on the exterior ceramic insulator adjacent to the metal hex looks like the plugs are leaking compression.

 

[chrome]

Nope, those stains are normal. I have seen them on almost every plugs I have changed.

Corona stains. Quote from http://aftermarket.denso-europe.com/The-...0170000011.aspx

"The spark plugs show a brown area between the insulator and the metal shell. Is this leakage?

A phenomena that often occurs on the spark plugs for the Zetec engine is corona stain. People often mistake corona stain for leakage. Corona stain is a natural phenomenon that is caused by electrical stress in the air around the spark plug. The electrical stress attracts dirt in the air and this sticks to the spark plug. Spark plugs with a big gap need more voltage to make a spark so the electrical stress is bigger and there will be a bigger chance on corona stain. Corona stain is brown or brown-grey. Corona stain is NOT leakage of the spark plug and it has no negative effect on performance. (Leakage would only be possible in combination with overtightening and leaves black marks)"