Spark plugs

mrty

Ok so this may be a dumb question, but oh well. Can someone tell me if spark plugs are generic or specific to the model of the car. Many thanks.

Atlantic Dawn

There might be 5-10 plugs that would be suitable for your car from different manufacturers. If you put the reg in to Micksgarage.com it will give you a listing of suitable plugs.

fryup

how often should they be changed, do they really make a difference to performance in modern cars?

Esel

Mick's prices are mad. I got 4 NGK iridium plugs on eBay UK for less than €30 incl. delivery.

Esel

fryup wrote: »

how often should they be changed, do they really make a difference to performance in modern cars?

Every 20-50K miles in a 4-stroke engine depending on engine and plug spec., or earlier if necessary.

Of course they make a difference - they ignite the fuel/air mixture which powers the engine.

Prenderb

fryup wrote: »

how often should they be changed, do they really make a difference to performance in modern cars?

As above - also, check your own car's manual/manufacturer for replacement times.
A lot of people would do plugs every second service, if you keep up with servicing every 10 to 15k miles that should do it.

Spark plugs have a difficult job in the top of the cylinder, as the previous poster said, to ignite your fuel/air mixture and send the piston back down on its merry way. Over the miles, the ignition part of the spark plug gets dirty and probably even wears a little bit. So the performance of the spark plugs and hence the engine degrades. For continuing performance of your engine it is vital that the plugs be changed regularly. Also - the condition of the plugs when removed can indicate other issues with the engine. So yeah, they do make a difference!

fryup

how about those expensive Platinum spark plugs...they never need to be replaced?

biko

mrty wrote: »

Ok so this may be a dumb question, but oh well. Can someone tell me if spark plugs are generic or specific to the model of the car. Many thanks.

It depends. But no, don't think of them as generic and that any spark plug will work in any car.

CJhaughey

If you leave them go too long and the spark gap increases because the electrode and cathode erode away, the amount of resistance to spark increases the load massively on the coils and can cause coil failure which is expensive to fix.
Precious metal plugs last longer but still need to be changed.

landmarkjohn

fryup wrote: »

how about those expensive Platinum spark plugs...they never need to be replaced?

60K mile intervals on my BMW.

jca

90,000Km intervals on my 1.4 TSI

chatterbox2601

Is it normal for the ignition coil to fail two days after new spark plugs are put into the car? Apparently the car had the wrong spark plugs in and during a service the "right" ones were put in. However, now I've to pay €140 for a new coil as the engine light came on and she is sluggish.

Atlantic Dawn

chatterbox2601 wrote: »

Is it normal for the ignition coil to fail two days after new spark plugs are put into the car? Apparently the car had the wrong spark plugs in and during a service the "right" ones were put in. However, now I've to pay €140 for a new coil as the engine light came on and she is sluggish.

Yes the wrong plugs would put strain on the coil pack, also if the plugs had not been changed when they should have been that would also have put strain on them.

tossy

It depends on the car and how you drive it too.

Personally speaking i've always changed the plugs every 20k in any performance car i've had. My Bora would eat through a set of plugs in around 5-10k even with plugs of a higher heat range than factory.

philstar

so whats the best make of spark plug? or is there any difference?

biko

See my previous post in this very thread

There is no "best make"
There is "what make to use for your car"

If you want to know what plugs for your specific car please post model and year

Atlantic Dawn

philstar wrote: »

so whats the best make of spark plug? or is there any difference?

NGK, Denso, Bosch and Champion would be the most well known and used, they will normally have a model of plugs for every make of car.

Metalrobe

tossy wrote: »

It depends on the car and how you drive it too.

Personally speaking i've always changed the plugs every 20k in any performance car i've had. My Bora would eat through a set of plugs in around 5-10k even with plugs of a higher heat range than factory.

haha! Are you classing a bora as a performance car???

listermint

Metalrobe wrote: »

haha! Are you classing a bora as a performance car???

He didnt say that.

Cheensbo

Metalrobe wrote: »

haha! Are you classing a bora as a performance car???

Haha??


The v5 & v6 ones would probably fall under the moniker, hell even a 1.8t !

They're not all teediddledyeye you know!

biko

Back on topic please, spark plugs

Cheensbo

I've been trying out different heat ranges lately,

Car had denso pk20 (heat range 6) plugs when I got it, they had it idling a but lumpy.

I then changed to a set of NGK bkr7e - slightly cooler at heat range 7, ran very well on these, started quicker and idled smoother. But alas I fecked up messing about tinkering and ruined one,

so now I'm using some NGK bkr6e (heat range 6) , and to be honest the 7 was a lot more suited to my engine (toyota 3sgte) I might try some 8's next for the craic as my turbo is boosting more than standard but may be overkill.

in performance engines they really make a huge difference.

dieselbug

There are certain French cars that I would be very fussy about as regards spark plugs and a certain (very good quality) make of spark plug that I would never fit in them.

A fried ecu would not be unheard of due to unsuitable spark plugs.

fryup

dieselbug wrote: »

There are certain French cars that I would be very fussy about as regards spark plugs and a certain (very good quality) make of spark plug that I would never fit in them.

go on please tell ????

philstar

has anyone used these types, any better than the regular ones??

Seth Brundle

fryup wrote: »

do they really make a difference to performance in modern cars?

I bought some for my current car (2009 BMW) and they were a waste of money.
It being a diesel would obviously not help.

Atlantic Dawn

philstar wrote: »

has anyone used these types, any better than the regular ones??

I wouldn't bother, either use a normal plug or if your going to shell out get Iridium plugs.

my3cents

For some strange reason VW decided to put platinum spark plugs in a 1.4l Polo (NGK PZFR5D-11). Can't really argue as the original plugs lasted for 95k miles so while they were more expensive you get the value out of them. Replaced with same even though several mechanics said it was stupid to put expensive plugs into an old car. Micks Garage last time I looked only listed cheaper plugs for the car and not the platinum ones.