How old are you?: Sparkplugs

I pulled some spark plugs the other night from an Isuzu and the electrode was cone shaped and the little wire that the electrode arcs to was actually somewhat eroded away (not like damaged eroded, but just a dimple) other than that the plugs looked good. How long you think it takes for plugs to look like that?

 

Depends on the engine, if they were the correct plugs for the engine, if they were gaped correctly, etc. Just by looking at plugs, I think you'd be hard pressed to find a mechanic that could tell you how old they are but they'd quickly be able to tell you if they are any good.

 

well, yea I was just wondering like how many miles it takes to typically look likt that.

 

That's what I was trying to say, a poorly tuned engine can eat spark plugs quickly so it's not necessarily related to mileage.

 

depending on your region, wires are prone to go bad faster then the plugs.

 

I'm at 120,000km and changed once.

 

Ryan,
I am the tech manager at Autolite Spark plugs. What ou are seeing is just worn out spark plugs. Your truck will run better and get better mileage by replacing them before this gap erosion occurs. You could use a plug like our XP Iridium plug instead of the less expensive copper core plugs your using now and have zero gap erosion for up to 160,000km. They are expensive (around 8 dollars each) but make more power, get better fuel economy and have less emissions and will last over 160K. You can buy them at any autozone, napa or advance auto store

 

You can also learn more about plug technology and see video on ignition troubleshooting at www.youtube.com/cadzillals6