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One popular mod for my engine (a Volkswagen/Audi 1.8T) is to take the coils from the 2 litre version and install them while widening the spark plug gap. It’s one of those things where some people say it makes a difference and others say it is meaningless. Surrounding this debate, I believe, is a great deal of confusion about what spark plug gapping effectively accomplishes. Since you are a strong advocate of OEM plugs and gapping, I’d be curious to see a video in which you explain the effects of gaps and your opinion on gapping.
Thanks!
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To be honest it’s been years since I gapped a spark plug. I’m also not familiar with the mod you mention. With that being said, I’m not sure if a video on this topic is in my future. Perhaps if I read up on it a bit I might have something to contribute. For now, I’m going to thank you for your suggestion.
[quote=”EricTheCarGuy” post=136100]To be honest it’s been years since I gapped a spark plug. I’m also not familiar with the mod you mention. With that being said, I’m not sure if a video on this topic is in my future. Perhaps if I read up on it a bit I might have something to contribute. For now, I’m going to thank you for your suggestion.[/quote]
Hi, Eric how about just gapping spark plugs it self.I too read and heard stories about it. Some shop tech don’t gap spark plugs, and some i know that do,Not gapping spark plug burns fuel more ! as i was told. Is that a true or false?
stay dirty..
I always check gaps on plugs, just good practice. Putting a hotter spark/wider gap on something without having a valid or proven reason is just a waste of time. There was a time when cars had crappy ignition systems and could use an upgrade (hotter coil with wider gap with points or old stuff like that), but that time is long since gone. Lots of plugs with multiple electrodes, splitfire, all that stuff, bunch of hype. A really wide gap can cause a car to start hard, but thats basically just an out spec thing. If your spark was so weak with the stock gap that power could be gained by adding joules with extra gadgets or increased spark kernal to the plug, then it would surely be passing enough unburned fuel to ruin your cat and make your car fail any and all emissions regulations it or any car ever had and it would run like crap. We had a 1965 Ford on a shop scope one time about 3 decades ago, and its firing patterns were different for each of its 8 cylinder, and the foreman said to the young tech, did you gap your plugs and he said, NO, and we laughed and moved out with our day. He didn’t notice any running problem, just looked goofy on the scope.
[quote=”rafael.nieves72″ post=136148][quote=”EricTheCarGuy” post=136100]To be honest it’s been years since I gapped a spark plug. I’m also not familiar with the mod you mention. With that being said, I’m not sure if a video on this topic is in my future. Perhaps if I read up on it a bit I might have something to contribute. For now, I’m going to thank you for your suggestion.[/quote]
Hi, Eric how about just gapping spark plugs it self.I too read and heard stories about it. Some shop tech don’t gap spark plugs, and some i know that do,Not gapping spark plug burns fuel more ! as i was told. Is that a true or false?
stay dirty..[/quote]
I was a Honda tech for years. Mostly I was installing NGK plugs. They come in a protective sleeve and are gapped at the factory. I’ve installed thousands of spark plugs without gapping them with no difficulty at all.
Also, you have to consider the person doing the gapping. It is something that’s rather subjective. In truth you’re talking about thousandths of an inch. Once ‘humans’ get involved with spark plug gapping they tend to have subtle differences in gap. It’s a bit like valve adjustments. Some people are good at it, others aren’t.
My point, I believe most people are better off not gapping plugs. Not to say that they can’t, but this might be one of those situations where leaving something alone is better than messing with it.
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