Spark Plug Install

[LILIKE16ST]

Nice info here I'm about to change mine out for step colder ngk pregapped to .025 I'll have to check and make sure they're right before install. As far as that stuttering after full up issue that is a evap system issue and I have some good news to report with that. I had this issue almost since the car was brand new and I'm now at 46k...it even started throwing a code few thousand miles back here and there for evap not bleeding up vaccum something (can't remember exact code) but I installed a cpe intake like 2-3 weeks back and used the 14-15 style evap lines and the issue has completely went away no more codes no code for the intake either works perfectly. So anyone having having that issue should look into this as imo anyone installing an intake on a 16 and later fiesta should also use the older evap lines it costs a little more but keeps the system functioning correctly and works perfectly with no engine codes and I highly doubt I'll ever see any related to the intake install. Just food for thought.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Are there ANY problems/drawbacks/etc. at all involved with the one step colder plugs on a basically stock turbo system, with just a canned tune at most (cold weather/short trip electrode fouling, increased fuel dilution, whatever)??

Or should I have told Stratified that I planned to run a colder plug, and they would have adjusted the tune appropriately?

 

[Quisp]

Are there ANY problems/drawbacks/etc. at all involved with the one step colder plugs on a basically stock turbo system, with just a canned tune at most (cold weather/short trip electrode fouling, increased fuel dilution, whatever)??

Or should I have told Stratified that I planned to run a colder plug, and they would have adjusted the tune appropriately?

Nah. One step colder isn't that drastic. They have to account for worse case Ontario. Little old ladies just going to the hairdresser and what not.

 

[jtehh]

Are there ANY problems/drawbacks/etc. at all involved with the one step colder plugs on a basically stock turbo system, with just a canned tune at most (cold weather/short trip electrode fouling, increased fuel dilution, whatever)??

Or should I have told Stratified that I planned to run a colder plug, and they would have adjusted the tune appropriately?

Since you are near me weather-wise, my plan is to have my 1-step colder in for the summer, and switch to stock range plugs for winter (basically when my winter tires go on). I do take frequent short trips (no daily commute to work) and don't always reach full operating temps in the colder weather.

But I will stick with my colder plugs in the summer. Below is a quote from Stratified regarding reducing charge air temp and knock during warm weather:

– Run a colder spark plug to remove more heat from the combustion chamber.

That is from here

And I'm sure you have read it because it has been posted multiple times, but here is a more in depth explanation of the plug heat ranges. Since Delaware can be damned cold for much of the winter (especially in the morning), I don't want to risk fouled plugs. It is easy to swap them out, and I know the car will run just fine on stock range.

 

[Quisp]

Cold weather doesn't correlate to what's happening in the combustion chamber. The heat range is solely for the plug.

 

[jtehh]

Cold weather doesn't correlate to what's happening in the combustion chamber. The heat range is solely for the plug.

Isn't it possible that the cold weather keeps the engine from reaching a high enough temp to ensure the plug self-cleans? For short drives anyways. Eventually everything will hit the same temp in the dead of winter as it would in the summer. But the difference is the amount of time. I've also read that is can make it difficult to cold-start if the temps are super low. I didn't experience that this winter, but my car is almost always in the garage and isn't parked outside for more than an hour or two at a time.

 

[LILIKE16ST]

It's recommended by most tuners if you're running an ethanol mix tune on stock turbo to go one step colder and go with a shorter than stock gap. They say ethanol is hard on plugs. I don't foresee it being that big an issue in winter honestly and it gets around 0 here sometimes below. If you live where it gets way colder but short trips would prob do you in more long as your car reaches operating temp u should be ok.

 

[LILIKE16ST]

And as mentioned above if you're concerned you could swap them out summer and winter it's good to keep them changed anyways

 

[M-Sport fan]

Since you are near me weather-wise, my plan is to have my 1-step colder in for the summer, and switch to stock range plugs for winter (basically when my winter tires go on). I do take frequent short trips (no daily commute to work) and don't always reach full operating temps in the colder weather.

But I will stick with my colder plugs in the summer. Below is a quote from Stratified regarding reducing charge air temp and knock during warm weather:


That is from here

And I'm sure you have read it because it has been posted multiple times, but here is a more in depth explanation of the plug heat ranges. Since Delaware can be damned cold for much of the winter (especially in the morning), I don't want to risk fouled plugs. It is easy to swap them out, and I know the car will run just fine on stock range.

THANKS!

I was considering that as well, but thought that it might be harder on the threads in the head to swap them that often (but it WILL make sure they don't get cold welded in there either! ).

 

[Quisp]

Isn't it possible that the cold weather keeps the engine from reaching a high enough temp to ensure the plug self-cleans? For short drives anyways. Eventually everything will hit the same temp in the dead of winter as it would in the summer. But the difference is the amount of time. I've also read that is can make it difficult to cold-start if the temps are super low. I didn't experience that this winter, but my car is almost always in the garage and isn't parked outside for more than an hour or two at a time.

Maybe in a 68 impala on leaded fuel and points and condenser. Both plugs start at ambient at startup. The inferno in the combustion chamber doesn't know winter or summer.

 

[jtehh]

Maybe in a 68 impala on leaded fuel and points and condenser. Both plugs start at ambient at startup. The inferno in the combustion chamber doesn't know winter or summer.

I've only read about the cold startup issue. As I said, hasn't happened to me with my 1-step colder plugs and I can't really figure out why it would happen. Seems like it would be more of a battery issue than a plug issue if you have trouble starting in the cold.

But on the subject of hot/cold plug based on the weather - the issue is heat dissipation out of the plug. On a hot day, heat transfer from plug to engine head is slower because there isn't much of a temp difference. We don't want the plug to overheat, so we go a step colder since cold plugs are better at dissipating the heat out of the plug. Also why highly tuned engines are recommended to go colder. They run a bit hot and if the plug is too hot, it will have trouble staying within max ideal operating temp. On a cold day, heat dissipates quickly due to temp disparity so we go with a hotter plug that will hold on to enough heat to reach operating temp and not foul.

 

[LILIKE16ST]

Just changed my spark plugs for the first time. Mileage was 55k.
The days before changing them I noticed my idle stumbling at red lights and stop signs almost stalling out. Very similar to the
symptoms i get from fueling up. Acceleration seemed normal with no missing.

The new plugs from tune + fixed the stumbling and the car noticeably runs better all around.

Moral of the story is 50k is the max the plugs seem good for. I would go on to say I will not wait that long the next change out.

Total time to change the plugs out was 15 minutes. I did not encounter any problems with the spark plug socket I had.

I am at 47k on original plugs and car seems to run well no misfires and such but I know they're probably on borrowed time which is why I'm throwing in my ngk step colder plugs today...I'm running .025 gap I bought my pregapped 3 were on the money the 4th seemed around .027 so it was pretty good it I fixed that 4th one. I ran a livernois tune from 2800 miles till about 42k at which point I started running the stratified e30 tune I am now running so the plugs def need changed and I'll probably go with 15-20 k intervals from here on. I will probably run the colder plugs year round...in Southwest VA we see 0 degrees some but never much below that and usually not even that cold majority of the time...i don't anticipate problems as most say the stock plugs are almost too warm even in factory form let alone running a ethanol mix tune with alot more timing and boost.

I just changed my plugs out to one step colder NGKs at 5000 miles to better match my E30 tune. I will note that my 5/8 dedicated plug socket with rubber insert was too thick to reach down into the holes, so I started by using a deep wall socket without the rubber sleeve inside to hold the plugs, used a magnet to retrieve them once loose, used my socket with the sleeve to hold them and lower them in without dropping them and to start them, then finished with a standard deep wall socket. It helps to have an extension that will not allow the socket the pull free until you push the button or slide the sleeve.

I won't say where I bought my plugs but I will say that I paid a bit of a premium to have them "pre-gapped." More than one great vendor here offers that service, and it doesn't matter at all where I bought my plugs. All 4 of the plugs I bought easily allowed an .028 tool to pass, meaning that they all were gapped too large. My tuner, which is Stratified, recommends .026, while some other tuners say .027 or .028. My point is that you should still check the gap of your new plugs, even if you buy them pre-gapped. It only takes a minute.

As I stated above I bought mine pregapped to .025 and 3 of 4 were spot on one was about .027. I'm not going to state where I purchased either I don't seen it as that big a deal. That's close enough for me I fixed the 4th one. I'm swapping them in today at 47k...been tuned since 2800 miles and been running an e30 tune since 42k. Still no issues but I know they need changed and I'm going 15-20k from here on.

 

[KnockOff]

I thought 26 was the gap to go with. I guess I'll take mine out and take em down to 25 when i get time.

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[LILIKE16ST]

Just changed my spark plugs for the first time. Mileage was 55k.
The days before changing them I noticed my idle stumbling at red lights and stop signs almost stalling out. Very similar to the
symptoms i get from fueling up. Acceleration seemed normal with no missing.

The new plugs from tune + fixed the stumbling and the car noticeably runs better all around.

Moral of the story is 50k is the max the plugs seem good for. I would go on to say I will not wait that long the next change out.

Total time to change the plugs out was 15 minutes. I did not encounter any problems with the spark plug socket I had.

I thought 26 was the gap to go with. I guess I'll take mine out and take em down to 25 when i get time.

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Nah man 26 is fine that's actually what stratified recommends I think I just went with .025...anywhere between 25-28 is prob fine and different tuners recommend different things I'm pretty sure stratified recommends 26 as you stated so you're golden

*edit*
I think stratified recommends 26 or it may have been 25-26 I think Jason from dizzy tuning also says 25-26 so if you're in that area that's perfect I just wanted to go with the most narrow gap that is recommended just like with my old svt focus (naturally aspirated 2.0) it was always said it was best to widen the gap from .051 to .065 and adjust it narrower until you don't get misfires but mine ran fine at .065 it was more snappy and seemed to run better and smoother overall...wider gap is good for na narrower is good for forced induction. So I've seen most tuners recommend closing the gap to .025 to .028 I went with .025. .026 is perfectly fine

 

[jtehh]

Nah man 26 is fine that's actually what stratified recommends I think I just went with .025...anywhere between 25-28 is prob fine and different tuners recommend different things I'm pretty sure stratified recommends 26 as you stated so you're golden

I also ended up pulling out my pre-gapped plugs (Tune+) and checking them a couple weeks ago and looks like they were all at about .027. However, I do get misfires. But since I never monitored misfires on my stock plugs I'm not sure how much is just "eh, misfires are fine if they don't throw a light" or how much is something else. It isn't consistent, but I can end up with about 10+ misfires per my AP in a 15 minute drive on the high end. Probably average about 5. When I pulled them to check the gap, there wasn't any fouling.

I should probably just not put the misfire gauge on my AP since I think it just leads to stress when it shouldn't be a concern. But would be interesting to see what you see with your new step-colder plugs.

 

[KnockOff]

Nah man 26 is fine that's actually what stratified recommends I think I just went with .025...anywhere between 25-28 is prob fine and different tuners recommend different things I'm pretty sure stratified recommends 26 as you stated so you're golden

*edit*
I think stratified recommends 26 or it may have been 25-26 I think Jason from dizzy tuning also says 25-26 so if you're in that area that's perfect I just wanted to go with the most narrow gap that is recommended just like with my old svt focus (naturally aspirated 2.0) it was always said it was best to widen the gap from .051 to .065 and adjust it narrower until you don't get misfires but mine ran fine at .065 it was more snappy and seemed to run better and smoother overall...wider gap is good for na narrower is good for forced induction. So I've seen most tuners recommend closing the gap to .025 to .028 I went with .025. .026 is perfectly fine

Funny you bring up the focus. My 03 2.3 I run a 55 gap. I was told that 65 would work but seemed so wide it scared me Lol. Never tired colder plugs on that car. Cosworth cams, f2 header, focus sport tune. (Remember when it was focus sport?) FRPP head, cfm intake exedy clutch and fly. Had Randy install the head and cams there. I got a bunch of other stuff done on that car. 242k still runs and don't leak a drop. Hope I have as good of luck with the fist.

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[Intuit]

I always feel extra safe when I use anti-siege. Keeps marauders, pillagers, and ne’er do wells far, far away.

Anti-size, however, I’ve never been a fan of.

Never knew there was stuff out there for keeping spark plug waist sizes from expanding. Sounds like the Jenny Craig for spark plugs. That would certainly help prevent seizing but then I'd be afraid of blowing a plug out the hole or having combustion byproduct seep into and foul-up the threads.

Personally, will follow the manufacturer recommendations to the letter, including torque specifications.

For those that use anti-seize lubricant, here's a tip...
http://www.feoa.net/threads/tip-cleaning-spark-plug-well-threads.78481/

 

[alexrex20]

I also ended up pulling out my pre-gapped plugs (Tune+) and checking them a couple weeks ago and looks like they were all at about .027. However, I do get misfires. But since I never monitored misfires on my stock plugs I'm not sure how much is just "eh, misfires are fine if they don't throw a light" or how much is something else. It isn't consistent, but I can end up with about 10+ misfires per my AP in a 15 minute drive on the high end. Probably average about 5. When I pulled them to check the gap, there wasn't any fouling.

I should probably just not put the misfire gauge on my AP since I think it just leads to stress when it shouldn't be a concern. But would be interesting to see what you see with your new step-colder plugs.

Here's how to fix the misfires:

1) Unplug the AP.
2) Put the AP in the case and in the glovebox.
3) Smile.

 

[jtehh]

Here's how to fix the misfires:

1) Unplug the AP.
2) Put the AP in the case and in the glovebox.
3) Smile.

Good advice. I may not remove the AP, but I'll definitely drop the misfire gauge in order to stop obsessing over it.

 

[LILIKE16ST]

I also ended up pulling out my pre-gapped plugs (Tune+) and checking them a couple weeks ago and looks like they were all at about .027. However, I do get misfires. But since I never monitored misfires on my stock plugs I'm not sure how much is just "eh, misfires are fine if they don't throw a light" or how much is something else. It isn't consistent, but I can end up with about 10+ misfires per my AP in a 15 minute drive on the high end. Probably average about 5. When I pulled them to check the gap, there wasn't any fouling.

I should probably just not put the misfire gauge on my AP since I think it just leads to stress when it shouldn't be a concern. But would be interesting to see what you see with your new step-colder plugs.

I have never monitored misfires on the ap and I don't plan to start now. Now I am the type who keeps it in the car plugged up because I like to monitor coolant temp oil temp charge and air intake temp and boost and the other is map slot so I can be sure I'm on the correct slot (93 and e30 is on the same map difference slots...but I haven't used 93 since feb when I started running e30 and probably won't but it's nice to know I'm on the correct slot to be safe). Misfires id's something I won't monitor. Imo if you can't tell it's misfiring without that gauge there isn't anything to be concerned with. I dropped my new plugs in yesterday and she runs smooth as silk and it's noticebley better all around although my factory 47k mile plugs actually looked pretty damn good considering the milage and the fact I've been tuned since 2800 miles. They were tan golden and slightly darker at the tip just as they're supposed to be and the car was running fine with them I just went with the ngk because of my e30 tune plus the milage on the stockers figured it was time to change. Car is running great with them. Now I can finally get my datalog refinement and also get my update to the new 4.0 tune with the high torque e30 option my stock plugs were also all gapped at .028 on the money I was surprised by that after seeing alot of people saying theirs were mismatched on gap and in the .030+ range stock. This is the first time I've ever had them out.

Funny you bring up the focus. My 03 2.3 I run a 55 gap. I was told that 65 would work but seemed so wide it scared me Lol. Never tired colder plugs on that car. Cosworth cams, f2 header, focus sport tune. (Remember when it was focus sport?) FRPP head, cfm intake exedy clutch and fly. Had Randy install the head and cams there. I got a bunch of other stuff done on that car. 242k still runs and don't leak a drop. Hope I have as good of luck with the fist.

I wasn't in the focus community that far back although I do remember when randy was with fswerks. I got my svt in 2013. The plugs I put on the svt was not one step colder the were plain Jane motorcraft copper cores I just widened the gap on them as people recommended and it responded well. Turbo Tom on focus fanatics and focal jet swears by the copper cores. They're cheap as crap and the svt loved them the only downfall is you gotta change them out more often but at 2 bucks a pop it isn't that bad lol. My friend owns my old svt and it's probably getting up to 160-170k now still going strong they're good cars. I'd say your 2.3 was stout for what it was.
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