Spark Plug Brand

[anewbiewannabe]

After reading the bad new parts thread I thought I'd ask for brand recommendations since I can take parts in to my mechanics to save a little money. Years ago I might have changed them myself but it's not an option now. Local parts places are autozone and advanced auto. Car is a 4 cylinder. I'm not looking for the cheapest, but the most economical good parts that aren't made in china. Mechanic suggested npk, I think it was. Labor for the full tuneup is $140. but not sure how much lower it will be since the air filter and oil have already been changed. Opinions on brands/level of plug? I know when I worked at auto shop eons ago we sold the heck out of bosch platinums. Thanks!

 

[SternWake]

After reading the bad new parts thread I thought I'd ask for brand recommendations since I can take parts in to my mechanics to save a little money.  Years ago I might have changed them myself but it's not an option now.  Local parts places are autozone and advanced auto.  Car is a 4 cylinder. I'm not looking for the cheapest, but the most economical good parts that aren't made in china. Mechanic suggested npk, I think it was.  Labor for the full tuneup is $140. but not sure how much lower it will be since the air filter and oil have already been changed.  Opinions on brands/level of plug?  I know when I worked at auto shop eons ago we sold the heck out of bosch platinums.  Thanks!

NGK are good.

Look up the plug offerings at rockAuto for your specific vehicle, and post a link to the page. they will have basic copper plugs all the way upto iriduim with all the latest bells and whistles, from sub 1$ plugs to 12$ a plug options.

What you saw sold eons ago was due to marketing, not actual performance or longevity benefits.

That said I bought into Bosch marketing long ago, still have the +2s in my 318 v8 engine, When i pulled one to check it @ at 25K miles it was still good enough to throw back in and direct my limited funds elsewhere.

 

[ArtW]

If your car is a chevy, best bet is AC Delco, if a Ford, Motorcraft, If a Dodge probably NGK (ditto for imports, all Dodge small cars are imports)
in other words, run it on what it came with, although I do, on some models that cam,e with platinum, go down to copper (don't even think about it on an LT1, but your 4 banger isn't an LT1)

 

[anewbiewannabe]

Yeah, it was all upselling for those platinums. Don't remember if it added a couple bucks to the paycheck or not.

Wow, am I reading that page right?!?!?!?! I coulda swore he said the plugs would run around $21 a piece at parts place. WOW!!!!

http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...park+plug,7212?a=Referer+www.google.com+URL+/

 

[Gary68]

for those on a budget,unless you damage them or they have been burnt up most plugs just need a cleaning and gap set

 

[ArtW]

$21 bux apiece would be one of the hyper marketed useless sooper plugs
Platinum plugs do last longer in an engine, but i don't usually mnid doing my own plugs
on the LT1 they had the infamous 'optispark' ignition system, very good system if you used the correct plug, but using copper plugs would ruin the optispark unit, causing a $700 repair :O
the LS 1 engine went to coil on plug, like a modern engine

 

[anewbiewannabe]

for those on a budget,unless you damage them or they have been burnt up most plugs just need a cleaning and gap set

Even if they are uhm, 10 or so years old?    I feel so bad for my little car, I've been a bad owner but I've had medical and money excuses.  As well as not knowing about rockauto. WOW!  This is how I know I need batteries for solar that I don't have to be as responsible for once I get the system set up. :angel:

He was talking bout the NGK running around $21. so I don't know.  After looking at prices online.... Also, I do know I have coils.

When I have umpfh to go down and out to garage I'll look in owners manual, maybe pop the hood if necessary.

 

[ArtW]

owners manual should tell you exactly what plug you need, down to the number and brand
An import will usually give a choice of denso or NGK, I always liked NGK better

 

[anewbiewannabe]

I'll look at the owner's manual. Don't remember it saying specific brands but I don't remember much and it's been a while. Gotta blame my memory on not thinking to look in owners manual before asking the question too. It would have been logical. *sigh*

 

[SternWake]

I think a subaru specific forum might have some strong opinions on which plugs a particular engine loves best.

http://www.thesubaruforums.com/search.php?searchid=11

From a flame propagation standpoint I like the denso iridium TT , but who really knows.
Any improvements to performance and MPG would be an unreliable butt dyno placebo effect. As reliable as marketing.

 

[anewbiewannabe]

Surprisingly the subaru forum didn't have much about them.  It's possible I just didn't do right search but I tried by model/year and "spark plugs" and just "spark plugs." The only thread with "spark plugs" did give me pause as someone with a similar different issue with the vehicle took it to dealer and they said a valve wasn't seating properly.  Anyhow, I have to turn the computer off for now because it's getting hot even with auxilary fan so I'll find the owner's manual and see what it says before continuing further.

Thanks for all the input.

 

[Gary68]

yes,even 10 year old plugs can still be good

the worn out one is referring to that little black thing in the center,see how short it is

the others not damaged can be cleaned,gaped and reused,it just easier to get new ones,but do check the gap before installing

 

[highdesertranger]

the best bet imo is to go with OEM plugs(original equipment manufacturer). no need to go to the dealer for OEM parts, the parts stores and rock auto has them too. if you notice the NGK #6953 it states actual OE(original equipment) part. that's the one I would use. highdesertranger

 

[anewbiewannabe]

That's it! That's what I couldn't remember! OEM! I've always tried to do OEM so the jumble of brands throws me off. Thanks so much HDR as I might not have found/remembered that on my own.

Gary, that's good to know. I'd probably save more from labor cost to just have new ones put in since doing the car plugs is beyond my ability anymore. I've had to clean/gap or replace plugs on the lawnmowers many times but I've never kept up on how old they were.

Thanks so much everyone.

 

[ZoNiE]

Yeah RockAuto is pretty cool. Like McMaster Carr, they seem to have transporter technology, as they seem to have it on your doorstep the next day after ordering after 6PM.

 

[ccbreder]

If I still had a shop, I would not install plugs a customer brought to me. That said. I think modern electronic ignition motors need new wires before new plugs.

 

[anewbiewannabe]

If I still had a shop, I would not install plugs a customer brought to me. That said. I think modern electronic ignition motors need new wires before new plugs.

I've been using this shop for around 20 years and they know I'm struggling financially right now from when I asked them when I needed my brakes replaced, if there was a way I could save money on the brakes and still have them done right so I'd have enough sooner the manager suggested it. So I asked if I could do the same now with the plugs since they can see it would be a physical struggle for me to do it myself like I used to. They still get labor fees while giving me the opportunity to keep my car safer sooner. I'm grateful to have a compassionate shop like that---they may lose the markup on parts to a few customers like me, maybe only me, but they get a loyal customer and good word of mouth on their service.

My car doesn't have wires, it has coils. I'll trust them that I don't need coils right now as those are far from cheap.

 

[SternWake]

 I think modern electronic ignition motors need new wires before new plugs.

I think most modern vehicles use coil on plugs instead of a central coil and distributor, but otherwise agree.

My bosch +2 platinum plugs have 25K miles on them, I inspected one and returned it to the cylinder.  Changing it to something new dropped way down on my priority list.

 

[steamjam1]

I always use NGK, Nipon Denso, or Bosch plugs. When I don't care, I'll use Autolite.

 

[PineyCruisin]

I resurrected this thread with the sole intent of sharing some knowledge gained through experience regarding spark plug brands.

Purchased a 2005 Chevy Express with 102K miles couple weeks ago. The PO had no idea if spark plugs had ever been changed in life of vehicle (he was not the OO) so we knew a full tune up was on the top of our "to do ASAP" list after purchasing even tho the engine was running perfectly fine. DH has always changed out spark plugs, wires and rotor caps in all our other vehicles without incident so decided to save the $500 the local shops were going to charge. He decided to go with NGK iridium because of the quality and longer life. 

After changing everything out, the he got a P0300 Random Misfire Code. He tried retracing steps, troubleshooting, to know avail. He ran out of patience and juice so finally called in the professionals. The mechanic immediately said Chevy Expresses are notorious for not running well on anything but AC Delco so it was probably the NGK brand causing the problem. 

Sure enough....switched out the NGKs out with AC Delcos and the van runs like a champ again.

The advice HighDesertRanger and ArtW gave was spot on---stick with the OEM brand of your vehicle.