Why the short life of spark plugs?

[777David]

Hello. Just bought a new 22 Stinger GT1 and was reading the manual regarding maintenance. It says to change the spark plugs at 42k miles. I thought that was odd. With today's iridium plugs, my other vehicle will go 100k miles on a set of plugs. Is it the high performance aspect of the 3.3L that requires a much shorter interval between changes? Maybe hotter burn in the cylinders during combustion degrading the plug life? Just curious why 42k. Thanks.

 

[MerlintheMad]

I just had my plugs changed a couple of weeks ago (at c. 45K miles), and was told as I went in for the 45K service that changing the plugs "on this engine" is recommended. The GDI burn will continue cleaner with fresh plugs: less carbon buildup? Not a gearhead, so I'm just guessing. But, my philosophy from the getgo with the Stinger is, do it their way, don't second guess it. So far, everything has been smooth sailing.

 

[Sybaritic]

Yes, I too read this and found it odd how short relatively the replacement interval is. Maybe it’s because it’s a twin turbo and these engines run hotter. I’ll change it at 70K and will do it myself to save labour costs.

 

[777David]

Yes, I too read this and found it odd how short relatively the replacement interval is. Maybe it’s because it’s a twin turbo and these engines run hotter. I’ll change it at 70K and will do it myself to save labour costs.

Yup, I'll plan to change mine myself too. Good thing is won't have to worry about it for a while with only 433 miles on the ODO so far. Another thing I've noticed is if you go by the manual, they want you to have EVERYTHING done by the Kia dealer. Kind of wonder if that's why they left out part numbers of simple things like Oil filter, air filter(s), cabin filter, spark plug, etc.
Regardless, will be interested to see what the plugs look like at 42k.

 

[CKeeler]

I’ve yet to do mine and I’m at 53k.

 

[Sybaritic]

Yup, I'll plan to change mine myself too. Good thing is won't have to worry about it for a while with only 433 miles on the ODO so far. Another thing I've noticed is if you go by the manual, they want you to have EVERYTHING done by the Kia dealer. Kind of wonder if that's why they left out part numbers of simple things like Oil filter, air filter(s), cabin filter, spark plug, etc.
Regardless, will be interested to see what the plugs look like at 42k.

All manufacturers say this in their literature to try to retain the service business. It can probably go a bit longer since engineers build in some redundancy in service intervals, but always a good idea to replace sooner or at the recommended interval if we care about the car holistically and don’t live paycheque to paycheque.