Korean_Redneck

I put fresh plugs in my engine and I always gap it to .041. I took my old plugs out and measured them. They went from .041(July 2005) to .053(july 15, 2006)!!!! is this suppose to happen?

tdonnell

Well, the spark plug gap does increase over time, but that seems like an aweful lot to me.

What kind of plugs were they? How many miles were on them?

What did the electrode look like? i.e. color, texture, etc.

faithofadragon

.01 over a year doesnt sound like that large of a gap to me...

what kinda plugs did you use mang?

Korean_Redneck

The old plugs were NGK V-power. I just installed the cheapest spark plug in the USA: Bosch Super copper plugs. These cheap plugs feel the same as the NGK V-Power. The only reason I bought cheaper plugs is because I'm stealing FaithoftheDragon's idea of changing your plugs every oil change. I guess any copper plugs are good.

anyways:

NGK V-power
25,000 miles
New: .041
Old: .053
Color: regular light carbon on plugs with a hint of whiteness(little overheating?)

faithofadragon

lol you stole my idea b****!!

i figure if you change them every oil change your only out like 6 bux...and the car seems to run better with fresh plugs IMO

fonseca

That's nothing to worry about, there's an allowed tolerance of +/- .01 with NEW spark plugs. I just put in laser iridiums in my other car, and they all ranged from .037 to .039, when they were supposed to be .044. Yours are still fine even after a year. Although they're about ready to be replaced. And that's normal wear for copper plugs, copper is soft and wears fast compared to platinum and iridium.

Replacing with new plugs every oil change is a waste of time and money. It won't do anything for your car, although it may give you a false sense of accomplishment. Sort of like a 3k mile oil change. That said, I like to pull mine every 10k miles, and I usually replace them anyway, since it's only $8. So I shouldn't talk.

I hope you are gapping with a real feeler gauge and not one of those crappy keychain tools that do more harm than good.

I wouldn't use Bosch.

Dmitry

when I bought my Tibby and replaced spark plugs, they were so old, that electrode was so small, that gap was 1.5 mm instead of 1.1 mm

but engine ran fine and I didn't feel big difference if any, after I replaced them

DTN

Platinum is alot softer metal then copper is. Platinum is softer then gold.

fonseca

^ Yeah, PURE platinum, which is entirely different from the platinum alloy used in spark plugs, as I'm sure you are aware. Platinum spark plugs last more than twice as long vs copper.

JonGTR

b****, you stole MY idea from 3 years ago!!!

I used to change them like that 3 years ago because I was running nitrous back then. One time, I got a little lazy and didnt change them for about 10k miles. One of the plug tips broke and cracked an exhaust valve. So I went back to changing them often.