Premium Spark Plug Wires

[Bottom_Feeder]

Originally Posted By: ueberooo
Oh well, I've now replaced the plugs. The bosch +2's that are out look in really good shape, and could've probably gone about twice as long. In: a pair of bosch +4's and a pair of cheaper ngk g-power plat's.

Why are you doing this? Did you get them for free or something? There's no reason at all to use platinum plugs in this engine, especially non-matching ones, especially those +4's!

Spend $6 on a set of matching NGK 'copper' -11 plugs. Nothing fancy and exactly what the car was spec'd for. Same goes for the wires.

 

[ueberooo]

Originally Posted By: Bottom_Feeder
Originally Posted By: ueberooo
Oh well, I've now replaced the plugs. The bosch +2's that are out look in really good shape, and could've probably gone about twice as long. In: a pair of bosch +4's and a pair of cheaper ngk g-power plat's.

Why are you doing this? Did you get them for free or something? There's no reason at all to use platinum plugs in this engine, especially non-matching ones, especially those +4's!

Spend $6 on a set of matching NGK 'copper' -11 plugs. Nothing fancy and exactly what the car was spec'd for. Same goes for the wires.


+2's are hard to find in stores these days, and the driver's side spark plugs are more of a bother to work on (not quite not as bad as modern volvo pcv valves!! -but still unpleasant enough).

I'm going to run the bosch +4s at around 75k while replacing the other side more conservatively. The key is keeping better paperwork records this time so that I won't forget when to do what

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

Originally Posted By: ueberooo
The key is keeping better paperwork records this time so that I won't forget when to do what

No, they key is to install what the engine calls for so you can reap the benefits of a better running, more efficient engine. How hard is it to remember when you gave your car a tune-up? Just write it down somewhere and be done with it.

Those double-strap and quad-strap plugs (designed for waste-spark ignitions which the Subaru EJ certainly doesn't have) are not doing you any favors. Neither is mixing parts in general. I just have no idea why you would do this but then complain about your fuel mileage decreasing.

 

[Kestas]

I've had cars that went to 200K with original wires, and others that needed replacement every 40K. Random selection of a replacement interval is not a good way to manage maintenance on a vehicle. It is wasteful.

 

[dparm]

Originally Posted By: barlowc
Originally Posted By: Chris142
Wires are normally due for replacement @60k

I'm not trying to pick a fight here, but replacing wires at 60K miles as "normal" maintenance? You shouldn't have to replace them that soon unless the 60K miles came over many, many, many years.


Best way to tell is to get the service manual and lookup what the resistance is supposed to be. Measure it and replace if necessary.

 

[surfstar]

I used to blindly replace the wires every 60-90k miles with a NGK set along with the cap/rotor with the cheapest parts from rockauto. Finally started testing the resistance instead and have just left the wires alone as they always test good.
Picked up a used 2000 Civic w/ 142k miles - factory OEM wires tested absolutely fine. Did plugs and cap/rotor (OEM).
Realizing that if the OEM cap and rotor did fine for 12 years / 142k miles, I should pay a little extra and do it once and not twice as often with cheaper parts.
Those car enthusiast forums would often recommend tune-up intervals WAY too often and many times M1 OCIs at 3k miles - "b/c I want the best for my sweet ride". At least BITOG has more thoughtful advice.

 

[meep]

the copper core wires are not "resistor" wires, and that *may* impact behavior, or at least electronic noise. the stock subbie wires are resistor core. the resistance varies based on the lngth of the wire, so it's not an exact thing. longer leads are more resistant.

My subie burned its wires around 60-70k if I remember. It started to miss during acceleration at lower rpms. I stayed with oem but have no issues with mid or upper tier products. I'd be leary of copper core, not knowing if the ecu will react oddly to it.

I ran bosch +2's on my 2.2 and never had any trouble with them. also the older 1.8 in the GL/Loyale.

 

[wtd]

I typically stay with OEM wires for my vehicles which are AC-Delco for my GM vehicles but I have not been very impressed with the last few sets of Delco wires as the wires did not seem to go very long before I had a light show under the hood in the dark. You could see the wires arcing all over the place and this was with all new ignition components.

I'm currently using Magnacor plug wires on my 98 chevy 1500 and they seem to work very well. I'm using Delphi wires on the 2004 Monte Carlo and O'reilly's Omni-spark wires on the 98 chevy K3500.

 

[cchase]

Originally Posted By: dparm

Best way to tell is to get the service manual and lookup what the resistance is supposed to be. Measure it and replace if necessary.


You also have to consider the condition of the wire insulation. Some wires will be in good shape but the insulators will be toast.

 

[zzyzzx]

Regular Autolite wires are good and (last time I bought them) made in USA. I wouldn't waste money on anything fancier, and I would avoid made in China [censored].

 

[cptbarkey]

denso or nkg only plugs and wires. anything else you are asking for issues.

 

[another Todd]

I go to the parts store with an ohm meter. I test every plug wire before I buy them. You would be amazed at how many sets I have rejected because one or two wires in the set were 10 times the resistance of the other wires. Just poor quality control by many many brands, even so called premium ones.