70+ hp from spark plugs?

[Fowvay]

I know it seems hard to believe but well... let me start from the beggining.

I have been chasing a progressive power loss for about 3 years now since about 30,000 miles. I replaced every vacuum line (twice), every fitting, N75H, Black top sensor, Fuel Filters (yes multiple) and finally replaced my Neuspeed TIP, KO3S and 2.5" down pipe thinking it could be the turbo.

Still all to no avial the power was going and it was going fast. I was down to a 0-60 of 9.1 and a 1320 of 16.8-17.1 thats not just slower than stock thats slower than a 2.0 folks.

So I noticed that my TIP was collapsing and thought maybe that was it and I upgraded to a Forge Turbo Inlet pipe.. still exactly the same. No gains and now my milage was dropping into the teens. The low teens.

I was complaining about this at the last GTG and someone suggested spark plugs... I quietly chuckled and said "wouldnt there be missing? wouldnt there be a thrown code" rolled my eyes and walked away.

Well I ordered some stock NGK double platinum PFR6Q thru Don and Herbie he works for Reville Wholesale distrubturs ($40) vs $57 from ecs (Thanks Don) and I bolted them in. I drove it around for a day and the revag com'd my car. Zero to 60 is now 5.7 and my 1320 is 14.4 Thats a huge improvement for some sparkplugs.

I guess the moral of the story is that even though these plugs are rated to last 100,000 miles the truth is they just arent going to last that long especially if you are heavily modded. So get out there and change those plugs every 30,000 miles.

[Toad]

whoo hoo!!!

spark plugs rock

[Fowvay]

One more note on this. The color was perfect however the gap had grown to almost double its original setting. These double platinums can not be adjusted either so there is nothing to be done about that. Thinking back on it.. Im stunned she even ran.

[iScott]

Wow. Good story, Tom. Glad you resolved the problem.

[MattP]

I'm going to swap plugs soon. I'm way overdue with 59,900k on the cah. I'll go with those NGK platinums that Fowvay used, and from what i'm reading I take it that we dont need to gap them, just thread them in? My car is pretty slow lately, so I can't wait to do this.

[Fowvay]

Originally Posted by MattP

I'm going to swap plugs soon. I'm way overdue with 59,900k on the cah. I'll go with those NGK platinums that Fowvay used, and from what i'm reading I take it that we dont need to gap them, just thread them in? My car is pretty slow lately, so I can't wait to do this.

Gapping the plugs will damage the contact point and the electrode. They come pregapped

[pencilneck]

Originally Posted by Fowvay

I guess the moral of the story is that even though these plugs are rated to last 100,000 miles the truth is they just arent going to last that long especially if you are heavily modded. So get out there and change those plugs every 30,000 miles.

Where did you get the 100,000K mile plug info? VW says to replace them every 40K for all the mk4 gassers.

[73standard]

They weren't fouled at all?

[mgwerks]

I'd cast a jaundiced eye as well at any claime you see for "lifetime coolant."

Oh yeah - real cars don't *need* spark plugs...

[Fowvay]

Originally Posted by 73standard

They weren't fouled at all?

The color was right, didn't smell like fuel the gap was twice as wide as it should have been and well.. I guess they were well and truly used up and ya... no fouling.


Thats what makes all this so wild to me. I have never seen this type of drop in power attributable to spark plugs. NEVER!! and if I didn't have a witness with me that day. I don't think anyone else would either.

[73standard]

Hmmmm.... and you didn't change the wires?

[Don_n_Herbie]

1.8 has coil packs no wires to change and I am Toms witness to all of this and I cant believe it either but I saw it happen/

Don

[73standard]

Wow. I'm just trying to figure out what would cause that much of a boost if there was no fouling, and since it looks as though there wasn't a resistance problem due to lack of wires.

[pencilneck]

Originally Posted by 73standard

They weren't fouled at all?

There was no plug left to foul over!

OEM plugs tend not to foul over even when pushed beyond thier normal life span. Cheap aftermarket plugs on the other hand (Bosch Platinums from Autozone) seem to foul up after about 36.2 feet. OEM plugs are the best.

[Fowvay]

Originally Posted by 73standard

Wow. I'm just trying to figure out what would cause that much of a boost if there was no fouling, and since it looks as though there wasn't a resistance problem due to lack of wires.

Join the "I wouldn't believe it If I hadn't seen it" club... I still can't believe it but damnit.. it did.

[73standard]

Originally Posted by pencilneck

There was no plug left to foul over!

OEM plugs tend not to foul over even when pushed beyond thier normal life span. Cheap aftermarket plugs on the other hand (Bosch Platinums from Autozone) seem to foul up after about 36.2 feet. OEM plugs are the best.

I run Bosch products in my '73 all the time and never have problems with them.

[Fowvay]

Originally Posted by 73standard

I run Bosch products in my '73 all the time and never have problems with them.

I'll back ya up on that.. I have been running Bosch plugs for decades and havent had a problem with any of them.

[awetsock]

Originally Posted by Fowvay

I was complaining about this at the last GTG and someone suggested spark plugs... I quietly chuckled and said "wouldnt there be missing? wouldnt there be a thrown code" rolled my eyes and walked away.

I am now a spark plug believer too. Like you I chuckled and figured that there would be a miss or some other inidcator that the plugs needed to be changed (They had about 30,000 miles and looked good when I took them out). My car had been jerking and hesitating during quick acceleration lately and it seemed to be getting worse. It felt like it was dropping boost between 2000-3500 rpms mostly in 2nd and 3rd gear. I figured the stock DV had given way so I put a new one in today and nothing changed. I read your post about the plugs and figured what the hell...

I went down to the local O'reilly's and bought some NGK Iridium plugs like the ones listed above. I put them in and I could not believe the difference...it was like a new car. I could hear the turbo build nice and solid and all the hesitation was gone.