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How long you gonna keep the car? If long enough, go with NGKs. Btw, Mazda had their fingers in that car a lot. So go with Asian.
You could use Autolite plugs. Autolite and Motorcraft are both made by the same company but might be cheaper than Ford. Just a slight difference in appearance with a different numbering system.
I drive a turbocharged Mitsubishi that uses iridium plugs. On a lark I bought Champions at Walmart (about a buck apiece then) and installed them. This would make any car enthusiast apoplectic. The car ran great. After 15K I went back to NGK iridiums which are still installed as I write.
Anyway I like to try things people say not to do (within reason). I recently wore out a set of high performance tires. In 27K they were never rotated. This again just to see what would happen. In my case they wore just fine.
For years I wouldn’t use Champion plugs in anything but a Chrysler or a lawn mower. This past month I have had three Chryslers return to me with misfires caused by faulty Champion plugs that I installed.
Needless to say I’m pissed.
That’s the trouble with one test – it only amounts to an anecdote. Still, curious as to what you saw or what you think is happening. I mean all a spark plug has to do is spark.
I’m not sure what’s causing them to misfire but I suspect that the porcelain is cracking inside the shell. One was a Chrysler Sebring 2.4lt and the other two were 08/09 3.3lt Caravans. Poor run and misfire codes. If I switched the misfiring plug with another cylinder the misfire followed.
Our supplier says they have had loads of defective returns especially the platinum plugs for 3.3lt. caravans.
just my thought go with motorcraft. ford built the car and the part so obviously ford knows what the engine nedds. oem is much less trouble, just a little more exspensive
[quote=”JTF” post=119005]After working on Fords for a number of years I would do as college man & mckrishes suggested.[/quote]
Geez them fords would have kept you busyYou could use Autolite plugs. Autolite and Motorcraft are both made by the same company but might be cheaper than Ford.
I would say that’s true. Motorcraft is a middle man (not a manufacture) that supposedly gives the specs the engineers order for an outside company to build and then puts their name on it. Ford claims the Autolite spark plug does not have the same specs as the Motorcraft…..that’s even hard for me to believe….but I’m not the guy with the big cigar that gives the orders……
Geez them fords would have kept you busy
The place I worked at before I retired was a Chevy/Ford dealer and I was a GM Tech/ part time Ford Tech. When GM went bankrupt people stopped buying Chevy’s and bought a lot of Ford’s. The GM Tech’s were asked to help with new car preps and light work when not doing warranty work on Chevy’s. Everybody refused except me, because I was worried about being laid off. After a few years and a lot of school, I became Ford certified….but still worked on Chevy’s most of the time.
Now… to your question….not as much as you think. I think the V-8 spark plug/coil issues went to the indy shops more than the Dealers because the spark plug issue usually happened after the factory warranty was out. I had a few 3 valve two piece spark plugs break off, but the tool to get them out worked for me.
NGKs, Motorcraft, Autolite, all good.
I fully agree with wysetech about Champion plugs. I quit using them a long time ago in the shop after running into problems with them on a number of occassions. In several cases new plugs right out of the box were badly misfiring with no visible flaws at all.
The last car was a Toyota that would barely run after the new Champions were installed. Put the old plugs back in and it ran fine. Reinstall Champions and back to garbage again. NGKs and all was well.A spark plug can do funny things when it’s subjected to high pressures in a cylinder and that’s why an eyeball test of a spark plug with the shank grounded is not always a good indicator of how well a plug is firing.
I agree with wysetech about Champion plugs. After running into problems with them (new out of the box) and putting up with grief at the shop because of it I swore off them and haven’t used one since.
In a few cases the engine would run so poorly the car would barely even move itself. None of those misfiring Champions showed anything wrong with them at all visually.
In several cases they would misbadly after being in operation for 40 or 50 miles. In other cases they would misfire badly immediately after installation.I used Autolites/Motorcrafts, Bosch, and NGKs for everything now.
Champions work well on the lawn tractor and Weedeater though…..
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