It's never easy

[oddball]

(singing) Do you see what I see?






JB4 map 2 with fuel wires, premium gas, secondary cat delete, mufflers, FMIC, K&N panels, snorkels. Nothing special.
2.5 years, 19,000 miles. 2 plugs completely melted, 2 plugs nearly gone.

It's had a rough idle for about a year. I pulled one plug that was easy to get to months ago - and that one was great! Then last week had a major backfire and plume of black smoke while accelerating. Put it back to map 0 and babied it until the HKS plus came in. I haven't heard anything about coils failing so fingers crossed they didn't get damaged......

Moral of the story? Check all the plugs. Sigh.

 

[Ohiocruiser]

I see dead plugs

 

[JSolo]

Why so much crap on the threads?

 

[stoopid]

Word of advice for any passerby readers -- keep a spare plug or two around (order 7 or 8 plugs). You never know when you might need them, and waiting isn't always convenient if not available locally.

 

[Aarvix]

Those should have been changed 5000 miles ago.

 

[JSolo]

Word of advice for any passerby readers -- keep a spare plug or two around (order 7 or 8 plugs). You never know when you might need them, and waiting isn't always convenient if not available locally.

At that rate might as well keep an entire spare set. Just in case.

 

[Terry@BMS]

Denos do tend to eat the tips over time, which is why we like a 0.022 gap, even though a 0.026 gap would be fine when they are new.

 

[djerickd]

Denos do tend to eat the tips over time, which is why we like a 0.022 gap, even though a 0.026 gap would be fine when they are new.

What do you reccomend for HKS plug gaps? same?

 

[oddball]

Why so much crap on the threads?

Sometimes I get a little, uh, over enthusiastic with the copper antisieze.

Those should have been changed 5000 miles ago.

Clearly. But less than 15k miles on a set of iridium plugs? woof. and yeah they were gapped somewhere in the 22 range. It is what it is, but I was very surprised they were that bad.

 

[Aarvix]

Densos wear weird. The electrode is not 100% iridium, just the tip (lol), which is welded to whatever alloy makes up the rest.
It seems like the weld erodes faster than the iridium, which may explain the little ball you see on the tip of worn plugs.

I certainly wouldn't want this little ball breaking off and taking a ride through my engine, so I don't push my luck with replacement intervals (15k MAX).

 

[Silverghost]

so I don't push my luck with replacement intervals (15k MAX).


View attachment 69492

I am stock with almost 90,000 km and original plugs gapped at 0.025".
I am waiting for the right time to have the new set OEM plugs to be installed. Not sure how to tell when the "right" time is though. Any tips (no pun intended)?

 

[MerlintheMad]

I am stock with almost 90,000 km and original plugs gapped at 0.025".
I am waiting for the right time to have the new set OEM plugs to be installed. Not sure how to tell when the "right" time is though. Any tips (no pun intended)?

I was told at c. 45K miles that replacing plugs was recommended (someone on here pointed to the actual Kia recommended mileage as 42K miles for plug replacement). And, then all my problems began. Heh!? Flawless operation until I violated "if it ain't broke, don't mess with it". But, since the No. Six cylinder plug went bad almost right away after replacement, I'm suspecting that the boot/coil was already on the way out and I just hadn't noticed the diminishing power over probably several months. Hopefully, with the boot/coil replaced, I am not going to experience this again, until another boot/coil goes bad: which hopefully is either never or many thousands of miles ahead.

 

[Aarvix]

I am stock with almost 90,000 km and original plugs gapped at 0.025".
I am waiting for the right time to have the new set OEM plugs to be installed. Not sure how to tell when the "right" time is though. Any tips (no pun intended)?

Stock plugs on stock tune should last as long as the owner's manual says.

If your engine is missing under WOT I'd say it's worth pulling a couple to check.

 

[General_Vodka]

HKS plugs for life. I beat the life out of mine and so far they are doing ok. Oh and it also helps I'm not running the very tiny gap that the JB4 requires. I'm not saying that they are a cure all but if I'm going to have spark issues it probably won't be with my plugs. With Denos the issue will probably be the plugs

 

[oddball]

HKS plugs for life. I beat the life out of mine and so far they are doing ok. Oh and it also helps I'm not running the very tiny gap that the JB4 requires. I'm not saying that they are a cure all but if I'm going to have spark issues it probably won't be with my plugs. With Denos the issue will probably be the plugs

Soooo.... implying smaller gaps are "harder" on a plug? Never heard that before. What's the scoop?

Running stock gap with a Tork tune works because he mucked with the dwell timing on the coils. Seems the stock ECU tables run the coils right on the hairy edge of minimum power.

 

[General_Vodka]

Soooo.... implying smaller gaps are "harder" on a plug? Never heard that before. What's the scoop?

Running stock gap with a Tork tune works because he mucked with the dwell timing on the coils. Seems the stock ECU tables run the coils right on the hairy edge of minimum power.

I have been told the tips don't last as long with a tiny gap. Don't know the exact threshold but I assume higher quality plugs don't suffer as much as poor quality ones.

 

[44pirate]

Word to wise don't cheap out ge HKS and don't get JB4 tuned.

 

[G70LEbyAdoom]

Word to wise don't cheap out ge HKS and don't get JB4 tuned.

Well the first half of that message is pretty good advice, the second half, not so much.

 

[Ahawk1968]

Had the same deal with my Densos... Had a rough idle, followed by throwing misfire codes...
Were gapped at .22 and lasted approx. 12k miles..
New plugs and all is well...

 

[JSolo]

^^Do those look as dark IRL as they do in the pic? Running rich?