Popular plug for 97 2.3?

[Caulk04]

Any suggestions on what plugs I should go with? Any that I should stay away from at least? These appear to be a PITA to change, so I'd like to do it only once.

Thanks!

 

[Ranger44]

Use autolites or motorcraft.

The XP Iridiums are OE and in my opinion worth the $6 a piece. They keep their proper gap alot longer.

 

[rurouni20xx]

would you recommend the xp iridiums in a 92 ranger? i just got mine and am going thru doing all the maintenance at once so i know shell be sound, fig i would ask since im seeing plug questions. i know not to use anything other than motorcraft or autolite as i also own a blown 93 3.0 4wd ranger. it took ap764 autolite platinums at .044 gap.

 

[Bryan22]

i got soem from ford, the OE plugs are platinum not irridium.

 

[Ranger44]

the platinums are an iridium plug?

 

[98mazdaman]

Our 94 supercab 4cyl 5 spd man gained noticably more power after replacing original plugs and wires with Bosch plugs and wires after 150k.

 

[RangerFabWorks]

Our 94 supercab 4cyl 5 spd man gained noticably more power after replacing original plugs and wires with Bosch plugs and wires after 150k.

i dont recommend bosch or champion, they suck imo, i swear by ngk. there great plugs

 

[98mazdaman]

49k on the bosch's, no problems

 

[rurouni20xx]

champion plugs belong in 6:1 compression lawnmowers. an ex250 came into the shop, wouldnt run. compression ratio is 9:1 in this engine btw, engine had no compression. pulled the plugs and the guy said he just changed the plugs, low and behold champion plugs didnt want to buy the recommended ngk for cost reasons. well the reason he had no compression is cuz the champion plugs under the higher compression chipped the porcelain and ate up his rings. in an attempt to save 5 bux he spent over 500 to have the top end rebuilt, i wont put champion in anything other than a lawnmower or whatever recommends this plug, generally a low compression boat engine. we went back ngk and no more problems. bosch standard plugs and single electrode platinums are fine, the multi tip plugs will cause ignition timing problems since the spark is thrown all over the place from one electrode to the next. i went back autolite standard copper core (motorcraft plug) in my trk this time, other than a rich issue and exhaust leak from hell i have no problems from them.

 

[98mazdaman]

i'm curious about the e3 plugs.

 

[MikeInIdaho]

I thought the Autiolite XP's are copper with an iridium center electrode. Other plugs use the iridium/platinum combo, but not the XP's.

I used AC Delco professional Iridiums (single ground) on the Chevy and like them so far. I will be changing plugs in the b2300 soon and will likely use the Autolite XP iridiums. As stated previously, stay away from plugs with multiple electrodes as they may cause arcing of the spark. Also, it is a good idea to stick with the same manufacturer of spark plugs your car came with, as the motor was designed using them. That's why I went with AC Delco's for the Chevy, will use autolites/motorcrafts for the Mazda, etc.

 

[Bryan22]

Our 94 supercab 4cyl 5 spd man gained noticably more power after replacing original plugs and wires with Bosch plugs and wires after 150k.

after chasing a problem caused by bosch plugs for over a year, i very highly reccommend not using them! they are garbage.

 

[MikeInIdaho]

I can't say that I have any experience with Bosch spark plugs. I have, however heard of them causing issues on RBv's (from people on this forum). One thing I DO know, they make damn fine injectors, glow plugs, alternators and mechanical injection pumps for diesel VWs!

 

[rurouni20xx]

bosch makes excellent products dont get me wrong, but the multielectrode plugs of any make (splitfire etc) cause ignition timing problems in stock ignitions cuz the spark is going all over the place, not one consistent area. had a few bikes come in the shop (and a friend of mines chevy) w/ the plugs installed, wouldnt run. put the standard plugs back in would run fine, but every time we pulled a plug and watched it fire (which it did) it jumped from one electrode to the next and even shorted itself between two outer electrodes a few times, causing such a mis that it wouldnt even pop. another ignition issue ive run into is running IRIDIUM tipped plugs in ignitions that dont call for it. iridium is very resistent to corrosion of the tip, but is also a hellacious resistor to spark, unless your ignition is cranking some volts (which ford does not) its not recommended to run these. the same buddy w/ the same camaro put these in thinking it would help, the car did run w/ them. however, 3 months later he had to change the computer, and smoked 3 coilpacks. when the new computer was installed he noticed that after running 10 miles you couldnt touch the damn thing, took it to the shop and they said the plugs were pulling so much voltage throughout the system it caused voltage drop and shorted the system. we installed the recommended plugs again and no more problems. i asked how do you run these plugs they basically said upgrade your ignition to around 45k volts and youll run fine otherwise youll run into these problems. just food for thought from some expensive experience talking.

 

[skyy_4life]

the spark does not go "all over the place" the plugs go from outter to inner electrode and thats it. witch ever outter electrode is close will fire, the multi point plugs make no difference than a single electrode plug....