How long can you get out of a set of spark plugs.

[jonyyuma]

Labor rate here is $85.00-110.00. The last iridum-tipped plugs plugs I bought were $12.00 apiece , only took four, but it was worth the performance and piece of mind..Yeap they were straight-down in heads 12 inches. Always afraid of dropping them from my rubbertipped sockets?

 

[Diamondpilot]

"I mean they say a oil filter is only good for about 3k miles but most people I know don't change there oil to about 5k now and don't seem to have any issues."
You told you that ridiculous statement? My Ram has a 8k oil/filter change schedule. My Toyota had a 7.5k oil/change schedule.

Same thing with my Titan but I change it at 4,000 miles because I work it so hard pulling loads upto 10,000# about 150 miles per week.

Our BMW recommends 15,000 mile oil changes.

Chris

 

[JDgreen227]

Same thing with my Titan but I change it at 4,000 miles because I work it so hard pulling loads upto 10,000# about 150 miles per week.

Our BMW recommends 15,000 mile oil changes.

Chris

May be a dumb question, but does your Titan have an electronic oil life monitor like my 2004 Lesabre does? Reason I am asking is I wonder if those electronic monitors have any way of sensing "severe service" such as towing and thus indicate the need for an oil change at a shorter interval?

 

[jonyyuma]

Maybe someone can open another thread and get that oil Monitoring explained? I see it on a lot of expensive Hydraulic equipment...Questioned the value of it on automotive.. or just spell it out here, either? I do know it has a probe and uses computer chip? We still take a Sample and send it in to a LAB for a report??

 

[Diamondpilot]

May be a dumb question, but does your Titan have an electronic oil life monitor like my 2004 Lesabre does? Reason I am asking is I wonder if those electronic monitors have any way of sensing "severe service" such as towing and thus indicate the need for an oil change at a shorter interval?

Yes, both vehicles do. I am not really sure if they monitor severe conditions but its more of a time/start stop/miles/ect math formula. It even tells you when to rotate your tires but I just do it every other oil change.

Chris

 

[Soundguy]

What I'm on about is really restricted fuel filters - at this point, I'd say you can't count on the fuel rail being at spec pressure.

Consider WOT, and low fuel pressure. Injectors max out at what - maybe 90% duty-cycle (I'm just grabbing a number out of the air, but it is obviously less than 100%). So, you can end up delivering less fuel than what should be delivered at Wide Open Throttle.
D.

if the computer is doing it's job and sensors working.. this still shouldn't result in a lean situation.. just less power. 02 sensor should smell the exhaust.. etc..

soundguy

 

[clemsonfor]

I did the timing belt in my ranger a few months back when i pulled the champion double platnums i put in it a few years earlier no more than 50K ago probly more like 30K miles ago, they were worn to rounded ends!!!

This truck has 290K miles on it though and my theory is an older engine wears them out sooner? The truck is a 1990 EFI 4cyl with the 2 plugs per cyl.

 

[clemsonfor]

Plug wires? I have not owned a vehicle in 10 years with plug wires. Now all them are Coil On Plug design.

Chris

They have had EFI for 25+ years on normal vehicles. Not all of us drive stuf as new as you!

 

[3930dave]

I checked with my buddy who runs a full service independent garage, and also does vehicle emission testing.

Many traditional EFI systems (fuel pump in tank, running flat out, and a filter either under body, or in the engine compartment) can run into a lean burn condition with a restricted/plugged fuel filter.

In this case, lean burning does result from the fuel rail pressure being too low, and the O2 can not compensate beyond a certain point.

Here, we test for NOx emissions. My buddy had a good example recently, a GM car with about 300k km(180k miles), failing on NOx. The customer asked about the catalytic, my buddy said "it could be an issue, given the mileage, but when was the fuel filter last changed ?". Turns out, it had the ORIGINAL factory fuel filter on it. Changed the fuel filter ONLY, the car passed the emission test, no problem.

Yeah, my buddy could have sold him a cat he didn't need, but he is not only a sharp mechanic, but an ethical one.

This lean NOx failure can be fairly common on GM and VW (gas) cars. If your area does not test for NOx, you may still see this as an Engine fault code - Lean Misfire - often solved by just by changing the fuel filter.

I'm not trying to drift this thread; I do believe this lean condition described above can be pretty hard on sparkplugs.

Personally, if I acquired a gas EFI vehicle with a pretty ancient fuel filter, I'd be moving up my schedule for changing the sparkplugs in it.

If you never own a gas car/truck past 80k miles you likely will never see the problem I'm describing unless you get a tank or 2 of really bad gas.

Rgds, Dave.

 

[dfkrug]

Plug wires? I have not owned a vehicle in 10 years with plug wires. Now all them are Coil On Plug design.

Yeah, there are a few holdouts in the plug wire dept: Subarus still have
distributors, believe it or not. My 2004 Toyota Taco V6 has only
3 coilovers on one cyl bank, with 3 HT plug wires connecting to the other
bank. Strange.

I have never experienced a broken plug on any vehicle, and that includes
dozens and dozens, but most were Toyotas, Datsuns, Hondas, and
Kawasakis. I always use anti-sieze/grease. My first car with Iridium plugs is
now at almost 80K mi, but the mfgr says go for 100K. I have taken them
out, checked them, and reinstalled. They sure look great.