Hey all,

I was just getting around to doing a little tune up on my 2005 SLE (82,000 miles) and was looking into doing plugs and wires in the next week or so. Over the past couple years of reading different car magazines, I have seen many new concepts within the spark plug industry and was wondering what your guys' opinions and thoughts were on them. What im specifically referring to are the new "Fuel Efficient" spark plugs. Do they work or are they just another false product? Would they even work in our cars since the NGK TR55 and Autolite 605 plugs seem to be most recommended? What about the dual electrode plugs which are supposed to be "better" than the conventional single electrode?

Thanks for your thoughts guys!
Eric

Spark is spark, and very simple and elementary part of the ignition. It set'* off a combustion and regardless of what people want to tell you and advertise it'* all BS and hype.It'* whats there to ignite that makes the difference, not the ignition. I took a bite at this in my younger days and had nothing but trouble. I put some Bosch multipoint spark plugs in an 85 *-10 as part of a normal tuneup. The truck missed from the get-go and I checked all the obvious and was perplexed. The truck ran alot better before the tune. I cleaned the old plugs and put them back in and the miss quit.I had quite the go-around with the parts counter guy when I wanted them replaced with AC Delco, he said their policy was not to refund/replace electrical parts. He met the snake in me and decided he better replace. Put the OEM in~ All Good.

Hey Venom,

I was looking around at local parts stores, trying to find the NGK TR55 spark plug which was recommended around the forum, and am having a hard time located that particular plug. Im finding mostly the NGK platinum or iridium plugs, which are supposed to be a decent plug, but wondering if they are capable in our cars. I know to stay away from Bosch, just wanting your two cents if the NGK Iridium plugs would be acceptable? Should i be concerned with the gaps on these?

As far as ignition wires, i been looking around to see whats available, and have found all sorts of options. I have ran across ACDelco, NGk, MSK, Autolite, all varying between $35-$100...again, just wondering what you would recommend and wondering if the upper dollar sets are worth it?

My car is a 2005 SLE..

Thanks Venom, really appreciate it!

Eric

The NGK TR55 is really for */C'ed engines where the different heat range helps. Personally, for your car I feel OEM ACDelco is your best bet and price for what you need.

Same with the wires. To make use of thicker gauge wires, you need improvements you haven't done. I have had good luck with the middle of the road wires from AutoZone and Advanced. Alot of people in the Old Staff had everybody doing the same thing on N/A'* engines as the modded */C'ed ones have. And IMO for nothing. If you went to hotter coils, larger wires, colder plugs, and switch to a colder thermostat your PCM is only going to fight,..... all you've done is emptied your wallet for no reason and make those people happy they influenced you. The will obviously be a very slight improvement, not enough to be noticeable, and as mentioned in the case of the thermostat...just create more work for the PCM. It'* a big matter of putting the cart before the horse.

From my experience, the only coils you should ever use are the OEM coils. Also I originally had Iridium plugs in my car and noticed better gas mileage (minor difference) than with the copper plugs that I currently use. Can't use iridium since I started modding, so I'm all copper now. You should be fine with iridium plugs, and they are supposed to last 100K or something like that compared to the much shorter life of most copper plugs. I spent $130 or something like that on some ZZFail wires that ended up being poorly constructed. I now have some bosch wires with a lifetime warranty, they ran me something like $26?

Feel free to experiment and share your findings! That'* what I've been doing.

Sorry to butt in but, Should i use the same plugs and wires on my Stock 1992 SE?

Been working on engines for a good 40 years. A plug is a plug. I buy autolite copper, under $10 for a set and I change them every year or so. No reason to buy plugs that are $25 each, they spark no better then the autolites. As for wires, again, no such thing as high performance plug wires. The thick wires look good, but really provide no better spark the stock wires. However, wires wear out so replace with OEM wires. I went with 8.5mm MSD wires because I wanted red, no other reason. Coils, they are all about the same. None seem to spark better then stock OEM coils. I had MSD coils and they worked good up to a point, then I had bad misfire and went back to stock coils. It'* all a bunch of hype.

And I want to reiterate something here. Do the mods that require things to be different or just forgetaboutit. You can't make an engine run better because you have done the things guys who have */C'* do. Nor will doing the things that people do because they have used smaller pulleys, reflashed PCM'*, changed out cams and head components and using free'r flowing exhausts. Without getting in there and changing the real things that matter, you are just "posin" and emptying your wallet for nothing. Plain and simple, and the Ad guys all the way up to Leading Manufacturer'* are playing you for a sap.

Hey guys,

Thanks for all your guys' feedback and input on this topic. I was pretty shocked to start knowing the prices of the plugs once i started pricing around. The iridiums (including all different brands) tend to run between 8-10 bucks a piece, the platinum are between 5-8, and then we basically drop down to the standard plug. After doing a little looking online...i think i will try to locate this plug to throw into my car. What are your guys'* thoughts on this plug...

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/par...er=441310_0_0_

As far as the ignition wires, i went with the standard autolite set for 31 and they will seem to be just fine. Planning on doing this on Thursday so I will let you know how it goes...any tips for getting to the rear plugs? Or just be patient and remove anything that seems to be in the way?

Thanks guys,
Eric

I believe several members use those plugs and have no problems with them

As for getting to the rear plugs, does your year have a cross brace? If so, remove it. If not, then just take your time.