Aces High Bulletin Board

General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: aSTAR on June 10, 2004, 06:39:14 PM

Title: Spark Plugs ?
Post by: aSTAR on June 10, 2004, 06:39:14 PM
I have been using factory specks for the plugs, I do long cruse
driving in my 1997 Ford Tauras 3.0L gf.
iS there a better plug or leave well enough alone?
Appreciate any comments for improvement, BUT not a NEW CAR;)
I have the K&N air filter and it works GREAT.
Also I use Castrol Synthetic Oil :)
Thanks for the help.
Title: Re: Spark Plugs ?
Post by: -MZ- on June 10, 2004, 07:04:10 PM
Stick with Motorcraft.
Title: Spark Plugs ?
Post by: rpm on June 10, 2004, 11:30:23 PM
I'd stick with Motorcraft. An engine run that long does not need a hot set of plugs.
Title: Spark Plugs ?
Post by: Staga on June 11, 2004, 02:01:12 AM
You could try some with multiple electrodes like Bosch Platinum +4 or Beru Ultra-X.

Friend uses spark plugs without visible electrodes in his boat, they cost a bit more but are very reliable and care-free but so are pretty much every other product these days...
Title: Re: Spark Plugs ?
Post by: SaburoS on June 11, 2004, 04:18:57 AM
Quote
Originally posted by aSTAR
I have been using factory specks for the plugs, I do long cruse
driving in my 1997 Ford Tauras 3.0L gf.
iS there a better plug or leave well enough alone?
Appreciate any comments for improvement, BUT not a NEW CAR;)
I have the K&N air filter and it works GREAT.
Also I use Castrol Synthetic Oil :)
Thanks for the help.


If your back bank of plugs are hard to get to, I'd suggest you get Autolite's Double Platinum (any brand actually) spark plugs. Very long lasting.
How many miles on it? Does it burn oil? How did the last set of plugs look like after you changed them out?
Title: Spark Plugs ?
Post by: crowMAW on June 11, 2004, 07:22:33 AM
Save your money.  You could get fancy and expensive platinum or iridium plugs, but unless you think you will really feel that 0.1 sec quicker that you get to the quarter mile, then why bother.  A premium set of plugs might be good for 1-2hp on the right day.
Title: Spark Plugs ?
Post by: SaburoS on June 11, 2004, 09:29:15 PM
Quote
Originally posted by crowMAW
Save your money.  You could get fancy and expensive platinum or iridium plugs, but unless you think you will really feel that 0.1 sec quicker that you get to the quarter mile, then why bother.  A premium set of plugs might be good for 1-2hp on the right day.

Double platinum will just plain last longer than your conventional plug. Try to change the back bank of plugs in a FWD V-6 especially in a minivan. Some take 2-3 hours. Time is money :D
Title: Spark Plugs ?
Post by: flakbait on June 12, 2004, 01:17:28 AM
Quote
Originally posted by SaburoS
Double platinum will just plain last longer than your conventional plug. Try to change the back bank of plugs in a FWD V-6 especially in a minivan. Some take 2-3 hours. Time is money :D



Done that before, yech! Had a front-wheel drive '90 Chevy Lumina with a slant-6 in it that needed a plug change once. GAWD! You had to tear out half the motor just to get at the motor mounts, roll the whole thing foward, and THEN you could get at the plugs. Took about four hours because the plugs normally get tucked up under the firewall lip when the engine is bolted in. What a PITA. By contrast, my neighbor's '65 Cuda fastback with a 328-cube small block could go through a plug swap in under an hour.




-----------------------
Flakbait [Delta6]
Delta Six's Flight School (http://www.wa-net.com/~delta6)
Put the P-61B in Aces High
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Title: Spark Plugs ?
Post by: Staga on June 12, 2004, 02:25:39 AM
Slant-6 (http://clubs.hemmings.com/clubsites/nynjslant6/potent.html) in a FWD Lumina?
Title: Spark Plugs ?
Post by: SaburoS on June 12, 2004, 02:27:03 AM
Quote
Originally posted by Staga
Slant-6 in a Lumina?

He meant V-6, I'm sure.
Title: Spark Plugs ?
Post by: Staga on June 12, 2004, 02:36:26 AM
Yeah I thought so; Getting a Mopar inline-6 under the hood of a GM FWD could be a little tough job :D
Title: Spark Plugs ?
Post by: beet1e on June 12, 2004, 04:52:02 AM
My car doesn't have spark plugs. :D
Title: Spark Plugs ?
Post by: Staga on June 12, 2004, 06:41:02 AM
Do you wash your hands after refueling or do you use rubber gloves or somekind of full body condom ? :D
Title: Spark Plugs ?
Post by: crowMAW on June 12, 2004, 06:47:23 AM
Quote
Originally posted by beet1e
My car doesn't have spark plugs. :D

Damn deisel drivers...:cool:
Title: Spark Plugs ?
Post by: beet1e on June 12, 2004, 07:45:22 AM
Quote
Originally posted by Staga
Do you wash your hands after refueling or do you use rubber gloves or somekind of full body condom ? :D
None of the above. I smell like furniture polish for hours afterwards! Refuelling is so infrequent that I forget to wear gloves.
Title: Spark Plugs ?
Post by: DREDIOCK on June 12, 2004, 08:39:12 AM
Quote
Originally posted by SaburoS
Double platinum will just plain last longer than your conventional plug. Try to change the back bank of plugs in a FWD V-6 especially in a minivan. Some take 2-3 hours. Time is money :D


LOL know what you mean. had the same prob with a peice of watermelon Corsica my wife had. (Man I hated that car)
Dontcha just love engineers.
Title: Spark Plugs ?
Post by: Staga on June 12, 2004, 01:09:43 PM
Local Renaul mechanic said to my friend that engineers shouldn't design cars when they're drunk when that mech was fixing some engine support strut under friend's Laguna... :rofl
Title: Spark Plugs ?
Post by: AKIron on June 12, 2004, 01:16:14 PM
Just a side note here, my brother-in-law has a Mazda, think it's a 626, that was running rough until a couple of weeks ago when he changed the plugs for the first time, he bought the car new. He drives about about 70 miles to work each way and has for years. The spark plugs were worn almost to the nub, as well they should, they had over 200,000 miles on them.:eek:
Title: Spark Plugs ?
Post by: zmeg on June 12, 2004, 03:30:10 PM
Any good platnum plug will last over 100,000 miles in modern engines, if they're not something is wrong with your engine that no spark plug is gonna fix.




      (perk the slant six)
Title: Spark Plugs ?
Post by: flakbait on June 12, 2004, 05:13:33 PM
Nope, it wasn't a V-6. There were no plugs up on the front-end of the engine; all were in a straight row along the back of the engine almost under the firewall lip. Plus, they pointed down at an angle into each cylinder. Hence slant-6. If it had been a straight-6 all the plugs would've been along the top of the block.


-----------------------
Flakbait [Delta6]
Delta Six's Flight School (http://www.wa-net.com/~delta6)
Put the P-61B in Aces High
(http://www.wa-net.com/~delta6/sig/veggie.gif)
Title: Spark Plugs ?
Post by: AKIron on June 12, 2004, 06:35:55 PM
I've heard that it is unleaded gas that we have to thank for the much longer lived spark plugs. When I first started driving in the '60's seems that plugs need to be replaced every 20,000 miles or so. Much more frequently than that in my two stroke bikes.
Title: Spark Plugs ?
Post by: rpm on June 12, 2004, 06:44:50 PM
Quote
Originally posted by AKIron
I've heard that it is unleaded gas that we have to thank for the much longer lived spark plugs. When I first started driving in the '60's seems that plugs need to be replaced every 20,000 miles or so. Much more frequently than that in my two stroke bikes.

Not true. Better technology. A set of stock plugs will last 100,000 miles today. With today's computerized ignition changing to a "stock" set like we ran in the 60's and 70's will cause major performance loss.
Title: Spark Plugs ?
Post by: Staga on June 12, 2004, 06:46:07 PM
Well that was one strange '90 Lumina if it had Mopars slanted straight-six mounted transversely at the front.

especially when Chrysler quit manufacturing that engine in eighties.

Oh well :)

http://www.allpar.com/slant6.html
Title: Spark Plugs ?
Post by: Otto on June 12, 2004, 06:49:26 PM
I just rented a 2004  Ford Tauras 3.0L w Fuel Injection for a 600 mile trip.  It is a fantastic piece of engineering, and great fun to drive, but it only got 20 MPG cross country.

  My 1993 Ford F-150 with a 5.0L V8 gets 18 MPG on the Interstate.

  None of this is really important but notice I'm still 'on tread'  :D