Spark Plug Preferences

Anyone have a preference of spark plugs? OEM vs Iridium, Platinum etc.. Im doing a tune up and am interested on opinions

 

For our Tacomas, stick with Denso. You will find that during the first plug change, the factory uses half NGK and half Denso but you can stick with all Denso.

 

Stock, Iridium?

 

There be many a thread discussing this subject. Personally, I use Denso Iridium Long Life iridiums. Check for wear and rear at about 60K; they should last 100K. Changed my first set (regular NGK iridiums) at 115K but ground electrodes were pretty worn down.

 

I was considering Iridiums, wondering if they actually have any improvement over stock

 

My plugs were changed not long before I bought mine, so I'm currently running with whatever they used.

In past vehicles I've always used NGK Iridium. But the consensus seems to be Denso for Tacomas.

 

No performance improvements noted. Only longevity and lesser plug changes.

 

Weird, why did they use half and half

 

And no gapping

 

Despite NGKs recommendation not to regap their iridium plugs, I had to when I checked my first set at 80K. The ground electrodes were very worn down. I re-gapped to avoid downtime and plugs went another 35K.

 

Denso plug part # K20HR-U11. It's rumored that toyota had a contract with both NGK and Denso so both gets installed from the factory which makes it easy to spot if the PO ever replaced the plugs after you buy the truck. No need to go with any fancy plugs when the OEM densos are usually trouble free. Mine could've lasted much longer than when it was changed for the first time at 90k.

 

I have always changed mine close to the 30k intervals using the Denso OEM plugs if for no other reason than to keep the threads free and working. Plugs always looked like they could have easily gone twice that. But they are cheap and the job is easy, so I'll be doing this again in another 5k miles.

 

Its nice that you can actually change these plugs yourself without to much trouble, its crazy how non-user friendly some ,... most modern cars are

 

I use Denso iridium or NGK iridium, whichever is cheaper/in stock.
I change them when I buy the used vehicle and after 90K-100K miles.
I do check the gap on new plugs but have not had to adjust any yet.

 

Stick with stock copper, unless you just want to pay more for iridium. No real point to iridium u less you are supercharged.

 

I had found the normal copper ones wear out faster then the iridium plugs. I had got around 50K with the coppers before they started to noticeable deteriorate, the iridium I run till around 100K and they are still working strong when I replace them.

 

Is it Friday already?

 

They both are fine and have worked for me with no known noticeable difference in performance or fuel economy. One is known to last much longer than the other. I think Denso is like 30K and the NGK Iridium is 60 or 80 if memory serves. I personally like the NGK's for the longer service life etc.

But out of all of these considerations, the most important one is where you buy them. I have heard several Toyota mechanics talk about how often they are doing major engine repairs caused by counterfeit spark plugs. So my friendly advice is that, after you decide on what plug to buy, be sure and buy from a dealership or direct distributor, etc. It will shock you how hard it is to tell the real from the fake offerings.

 

This is all true, and do yourself a favor and use a sparkplug gapping fixture when making the adjustments.