Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Spark plug life #2686944
08/12/19 04:42 PM
08/12/19 04:42 PM
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,206
Minn
S
SportF Offline OP
pro stock
SportF  Offline OP
pro stock
S

Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,206
Minn
Just curious as to what this gang thinks about plug life. How many runs, or time?

I have a about 100 passes in two years on mine and probably should change them, but see no real reason. We are going mid 10's on a big block and they look fine.


What do you think?

Re: Spark plug life [Re: SportF] #2686949
08/12/19 04:59 PM
08/12/19 04:59 PM
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 25,850
United Socialist States of Ame...
T
tboomer Online work
Too Many Posts
tboomer  Online Work
Too Many Posts
T

Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 25,850
United Socialist States of Ame...
Tom...How old and what kind of plug wires are you using? wave


The end is near.....
Re: Spark plug life [Re: SportF] #2686950
08/12/19 05:05 PM
08/12/19 05:05 PM
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 1,098
Massillon, Ohio
C
cudatom Offline
super stock
cudatom  Offline
super stock
C

Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 1,098
Massillon, Ohio
My NGK's were installed in the fall of 2015. I have maybe 100 street miles and about 150-200 passes. The car starts fine, idles clean and my et's don't fluctuate. When I detect a slight miss at idle or the car seems to load up at start up is when I change mine.


Ok
Re: Spark plug life [Re: tboomer] #2686952
08/12/19 05:13 PM
08/12/19 05:13 PM
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,206
Minn
S
SportF Offline OP
pro stock
SportF  Offline OP
pro stock
S

Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,206
Minn
Originally Posted by tboomer
Tom...How old and what kind of plug wires are you using? wave


Good point. Accel super stock. I'll wring them out to see what kind of ohms I have.

I don't remember how old. hummm

Last edited by SportF; 08/12/19 05:17 PM.
Re: Spark plug life [Re: SportF] #2686962
08/12/19 05:41 PM
08/12/19 05:41 PM
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 20,116
PA.
pittsburghracer Offline
"Little"John
pittsburghracer  Offline
"Little"John

Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 20,116
PA.
4th race season for my ar3911’s and my ultra40 wires. Might put a new set over the winter if I rebuild the engine


1970 Duster
Edelbrock headed 408
5.984@112.52
422 Indy headed small block
5.982@112.56 mph
9.42@138.27

Livin and lovin life one day at a time




Re: Spark plug life [Re: SportF] #2686964
08/12/19 05:46 PM
08/12/19 05:46 PM
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 43,007
Bend,OR USA
C
Cab_Burge Offline
I Win
Cab_Burge  Offline
I Win
C

Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 43,007
Bend,OR USA
What ignition and plug gap?
My thoughts are if it ain't broken, don't fix it tsk
I use to change plugs at the track after every race, I would leave the old ones in it to warm the car up in the pits and then put the new ones in realcrazy
I had cans of spark plugs that had from 10 to 16 runs on them shruggy
Once I switched to the MSD race gold ignition boxes and their matching coil I didn't need to do that anymore boogie


Mr.Cab Racing and winning with Mopars since 1964. (Old F--t, Huh)
Re: Spark plug life [Re: pittsburghracer] #2686965
08/12/19 05:46 PM
08/12/19 05:46 PM
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 6,266
Renton Washington
T
Triple Threat Offline
master
Triple Threat  Offline
master
T

Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 6,266
Renton Washington
I'm on this program, change plugs when i rebuild the engine every 400-500 runs. There's 16 of them!


-Dustin
67 Dart, 9 second, 392" G3 Hemi
68 Barracuda 340 F/SA
Re: Spark plug life [Re: Cab_Burge] #2686970
08/12/19 05:52 PM
08/12/19 05:52 PM
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,206
Minn
S
SportF Offline OP
pro stock
SportF  Offline OP
pro stock
S

Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,206
Minn
MSD digital 6AL, .035 on the plug gap

I see a lot of folks like Cab used to do, changing plugs all the time, and it just gets one to thinking.

I'm going to change these, but not because they need it. Because I have them out.

Re: Spark plug life [Re: SportF] #2686972
08/12/19 05:55 PM
08/12/19 05:55 PM
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 9,791
MI, usa
dvw Offline
master
dvw  Offline
master

Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 9,791
MI, usa
Many 100 run seasons. Still ET/MPH the same as when they were new.
Doug

Re: Spark plug life [Re: dvw] #2686998
08/12/19 07:04 PM
08/12/19 07:04 PM
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 4,457
Washington
M
madscientist Offline
master
madscientist  Offline
master
M

Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 4,457
Washington
Depends on the plug and how it was designed. I'd much rather use an easy to fire, much fewer run plug than use something that is designed to go 50 or 100k miles. Plugs are cheap.


Just because you think it won't make it true. Horsepower is KING. To dispute this is stupid. C. Alston
Re: Spark plug life [Re: madscientist] #2687002
08/12/19 07:08 PM
08/12/19 07:08 PM
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 20,116
PA.
pittsburghracer Offline
"Little"John
pittsburghracer  Offline
"Little"John

Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 20,116
PA.
An old Mopar mechanic 40 years ago told me after I had issues with Champion plugs to throw them in the trash, buy some Autolite plugs, gap them at .028-.030, put them in and go race. Still doing it, still working good.


1970 Duster
Edelbrock headed 408
5.984@112.52
422 Indy headed small block
5.982@112.56 mph
9.42@138.27

Livin and lovin life one day at a time




Re: Spark plug life [Re: SportF] #2687018
08/12/19 07:57 PM
08/12/19 07:57 PM
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 12,379
Taxes & Virus's R-US, NY
Dragula Offline
I Live Here
Dragula  Offline
I Live Here

Joined: May 2004
Posts: 12,379
Taxes & Virus's R-US, NY
I typically get two years out of mine.....I keep running them if the electrode holds up....


'70 Cuda,...605 EFI Hemi Street Car (6.20 best pass, 1.33 60ft)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYw6RA-k5Bk (6.25 at 108.75mph from inside car)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zQEb9uxFng (6.25 at 108mph from outside car)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCvfzsC4NgM (9.9)

'66 Barracuda AWB Stretched nose Blown 440 Car in build stage

'71 Duster Drag Car 400 Low Deck 512 best 6.002 at 115.44mph
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Znuo3jMUXTk
Re: Spark plug life [Re: Dragula] #2687031
08/12/19 08:23 PM
08/12/19 08:23 PM
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 1,440
central ohio
N
nss guy Offline
pro stock
nss guy  Offline
pro stock
N

Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 1,440
central ohio
I run autolites ar3911 change out at the beginning of the season just for the heck of it. But for $30 once a year why not.
Just had a $50 coil go bad and quit without warning, around 5 yrs old for it.
changing out the inexpensive parts every so often might not be a bad idea.

Re: Spark plug life [Re: nss guy] #2687056
08/12/19 09:09 PM
08/12/19 09:09 PM
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 43
Otsego, mi. by Martin 131 stri...
JT612GTX Offline
member
JT612GTX  Offline
member

Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 43
Otsego, mi. by Martin 131 stri...
Anybody out there using the E - 3 plugs? the pro guys claim they use them, probably just for advertising purposes.
Thought about trying them but are they worth the price? ive had good luck using NGK race plugs and autolite.....


86 Daytona - 612/ glide - 2400lbs - 8.60 alot more left
71 S/G Challenger - 469/glide - 2800lbs - 9.20s and tuning
70 Challenger - mild 440/727 - 3475lbs - 10.96 best
70 GTX - future quick 16? more $$$$$$
Re: Spark plug life [Re: JT612GTX] #2687152
08/13/19 08:26 AM
08/13/19 08:26 AM
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 13,318
Marion, South Carolina [><]
an8sec70cuda Offline
I Live Here
an8sec70cuda  Offline
I Live Here

Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 13,318
Marion, South Carolina [><]
I used to run them a long time in my cuda...at least a year or more. No reason to change them all the time. I use NGK plugs and MSD 6AL boxes on all my cars. Plug wires vary, never had a set that didn't run good, some just fit much better than others.

The E3 plugs are a joke...along w/ every other "revolutionary" plug design. There's so much snake oil in the ignition products market it's ridiculous...plugs AND wires. There a lot of gimmick parts out there, but the ignition system market seems to be saturated with them. Maybe I shouldn't say "gimmick", but a lot that work fine, just never live up to their hype.


CHIP
'70 hemicuda, 575" Hemi, 727, Dana 60
'69 road runner, 440-6, 18 spline 4 speed, Dana 60
'71 Demon, 340, low gear 904, 8.75
'73 Chrysler New Yorker, 440, 727, 8.75
'90 Chevy 454SS Silverado, 476" BBC, TH400, 14 bolt
'06 GMC 2500HD LBZ Duramax
Re: Spark plug life [Re: an8sec70cuda] #2687162
08/13/19 08:52 AM
08/13/19 08:52 AM
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 8,005
Tulsa OK
Bad340fish Offline
master
Bad340fish  Offline
master

Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 8,005
Tulsa OK
I had 4 Drag weeks on my AR3911s, when I put my new motor in I forgot to buy plugs so I took the ones from my 360 and moved them to the 416. So four drag weeks with two motors haha. They still looked good but started to show a little wear, and I just freshened up the top end so I changed them out.


68 Barracuda Formula S 340
87 "Chrysler" Conquest
Re: Spark plug life [Re: SportF] #2687262
08/13/19 01:45 PM
08/13/19 01:45 PM
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 43,007
Bend,OR USA
C
Cab_Burge Offline
I Win
Cab_Burge  Offline
I Win
C

Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 43,007
Bend,OR USA
I use a dental 10X magnifeyer to look at my plugs closely,, I do replace them when the center ground electrode gets rounded off from wear or it is wearing on a angle to the ground strap shruggy
I do see what looks like slag or metal hanging off to one side of the center electrode also when the motor is to lean making the plugs do that shock down
Get a good magnifer to help you get a good close look at your plugs and then decide scope


Mr.Cab Racing and winning with Mopars since 1964. (Old F--t, Huh)
Re: Spark plug life [Re: Cab_Burge] #2687265
08/13/19 01:50 PM
08/13/19 01:50 PM
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 4,662
On the parachute mount
N
n20mstr Offline
master
n20mstr  Offline
master
N

Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 4,662
On the parachute mount

How can you call it a "race engine" and leave plugs in for so long?? LOL

Plugs tell you all about whats going on in there...

Run some nitrous , and you will go through a lot of plugs...LOL


....BAD A$$ STREET CAR.....
Re: Spark plug life [Re: n20mstr] #2687268
08/13/19 01:56 PM
08/13/19 01:56 PM
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 1,768
Keymar, MD
DusterKid Offline
top fuel
DusterKid  Offline
top fuel

Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 1,768
Keymar, MD
I usually change the plugs whenever I freshen the motor up after 400ish passes. I run autolites in my cars.

Last edited by DusterKid; 08/13/19 01:57 PM.
Re: Spark plug life [Re: n20mstr] #2687276
08/13/19 02:07 PM
08/13/19 02:07 PM
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 43,007
Bend,OR USA
C
Cab_Burge Offline
I Win
Cab_Burge  Offline
I Win
C

Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 43,007
Bend,OR USA
Originally Posted by n20mstr

How can you call it a "race engine" and leave plugs in for so long?? LOL

Plugs tell you all about whats going on in there...

Run some nitrous , and you will go through a lot of plugs...LOL


I switch to E85 5 yrs ago, that stupid fuel seems to be VERY sensitive to the plug heat range, but that being said I ended up switching motor parts which led to R&D problems in the valve train that I may have interpreted as spark plug problems. Same deal on the new motor with a goofy distributors and some bad ignition parts, I hate motor problems(race car or any other vehicle problems) rant whiney
Time to take a step back and really focus on this rascal to get rid of those type problems wrench work grin

Last edited by Cab_Burge; 08/13/19 02:10 PM.

Mr.Cab Racing and winning with Mopars since 1964. (Old F--t, Huh)






Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.1