I have a former manager who owns a 2005.5 VW Jetta with the 2.5L 5-cylinder engine. The car calls for a 40,000 mile spark plug replacement interval despite being equipped with double-platinum, NGK PZFR5J-11 plugs from the factory.
I told her to change the plugs a long time ago, but I finally got around to doing them for her earlier today - at 80,000 miles - which is double the recommended service life. The owner never had any driveability complaints with this car.
So ladies and gentleman, this is what happens when you run the plugs for twice the recommended interval:
Up close of one plug:
Not too bad, IMO. Is it a good idea? I don't know, you tell me.
I replaced the plugs with a fresh set of NGK PZFR5Q-11. Why? Because NGK said this is now the proper plug, so perhaps there was an update. If anyone has any info on the differences between the J and the Q, I would be very interested in hearing it.
Oh, and the plugs were pretty crusty when removed and made quite a bit of noise, but came out smoothly and easily. New plugs were installed dry and torqued to 18.5 ft-lbs as per VW's specifications.
I told her to change the plugs a long time ago, but I finally got around to doing them for her earlier today - at 80,000 miles - which is double the recommended service life. The owner never had any driveability complaints with this car.
So ladies and gentleman, this is what happens when you run the plugs for twice the recommended interval:
Up close of one plug:
Not too bad, IMO. Is it a good idea? I don't know, you tell me.
I replaced the plugs with a fresh set of NGK PZFR5Q-11. Why? Because NGK said this is now the proper plug, so perhaps there was an update. If anyone has any info on the differences between the J and the Q, I would be very interested in hearing it.
Oh, and the plugs were pretty crusty when removed and made quite a bit of noise, but came out smoothly and easily. New plugs were installed dry and torqued to 18.5 ft-lbs as per VW's specifications.