Thanks to internetautomar for the instant message convo.

Cannot find any type of heat range conversion chart online. NAPA and Advance don't know of any. Blah.

NAPA and Advance, when given make: Nissan, model: Maxima GXE, year: 1992, VG30E/SOHC ... all pull up NGK Coppers with a heat range of 6 ... even though the FSM posted in this thread says 5 is standard. Have to do a custom search for the 5 heat range with part numbers.

It seems like if these places pull up 6 heat ranges for NGK ... the Champion rc12yc I got may also be the equivalent of the NGK 6. The FSM lists:
VG30E- 2960CC/3.0L V6, 9.0:1 Compression Ratio.

Standard = BKR5
"Option for service" aka WTF? = BKR6
Cold = BKR7

VE30DE- 2960CC/3.0L V6, 10.0:1 Compresion Ratio.

Standard= PFR5
Hot = PFR4
Cold = PFR6

I'd don't understand why it doesn't just list "Standard", "Hot, "Cold" for the VG30E and has to confuse with the "option for service" and omission of "hot".

It seems to me that if you can run a NGK heat range of 4 on the VE then you can run it on the VG too, but of course the FSM does not say this so it seems "sketchy" to just make that decision for yourself and makes you want to be content with the NGK heat range of 5. My instinct tells me that a 4 would be okay though. ... especially with the lower CR.

PFR/BKR#ES = Standard model plug for NGK.
PFR/BKR#E = V-power.
There seem to be no price differences in V-Power and Standard.
internetautomar told me he thinks V-power is worthless but he hasn't explained yet.

Consider no price difference, read the claims of v-power:
http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/product...200&country=US

"The v-groove center electrode on a V-Power spark plug forces the spark to the outer edge of the ground electrode, placing it closer to the air/fuel mixture. What this does is allow the spark to more quickly ignite the mixture, providing more complete combustion."

"NGK Spark Plugs answered the call for a spark plug with lower sparking voltage requirements by developing the V-Power, the only spark plug with a v-groove center electrode on the market today."

"V-Power Spark Plugs also require lower ignition firing voltage, resulting in quicker starts and easier cold weather starts throughout the life of the plugs."

"The flame kernel will quickly grow and allow the engine to potentially make more power since it now is operating more efficiently.

As an added bonus, the v-groove forcing the spark to the outer edge of the ground electrode helps reduce the "quenching" effect, reducing misfires caused by high cylinder pressures "blowing out" the spark."

Decide for yourself.

I'll probably eat some humble pie and get some NGKS. Not sure if I'll get 4s or 5s. 5s is the safest bet.

Thanks to internetautomar for using his FSM to find that the hose I mentioned that runs from the IACV to the TB is actually designed to carry coolant to the TB ... which I don't recall having ever seen on any other engine. He said it is to warm cool air (but I always thought colder air is best) ... and he said to keep the TB/butterflys from icing up ... which makes sense since this can happen with condensation .... but I'd think the engine heat alone could melt it without running atifreeze directly to it.
The good news is, the leak I see is probably not fuel getting way up there ... from a leaky o-ring or something ... but rather coolant. I'll check the hose out.

 

I didn't finish our IM convo because my laptop battery died.

all of these multiple electrode plugs are BS. no matter how many electrodes there are the spark only jumps to one of them. the spark follows the path of least resistance.

 

I am running the Iridium IX plugs they seem to work great but the engine does get alot hotter then with the basic $2 NGK plug

 

No prob on the disconnect. I figured it wasn't intentional.

I wanted to try the V-Power but they didn't have them. I got the BKR5ES (Standard electrode) instead of the BKR5E (V-Power electrode). I wasn't pumped enough on the idea to go to another store to get the V-Power. I'll try them some other time.

Found this great write up on all sorts of plug types:
http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:...s&ct=clnk&cd=1

Here's a pic of the V-Power:


Basically, there is one center electrode that has a slit/groove in the center of it. As I understand it, the theory is actually that the spark is not going to jump out the shorter center groove in the center electrode and will instead travel to one of the edges of the center electrode since the edges extend slightly further and then this will make the spark contact the edges of the ground electrode instead of the center of the ground electrode and thus expose more of the spark to more of the air/fuel mixture. Maybe it helps. Maybe not. Lab tests would be the only way to prove it ... it seems.

 

Heh. How much were those ... like 10$ each?

It seems to me that iridium is only really going to be worth it when you have an extensively modified engine running high CR or fairly high boost pressure.
They should work great though.

 

how does heat range work? i heard plugs dissapate heat from block?
i heard hotter plugs pull more heat?making colder engine

 

Great question. Curious minds like ours want to know. I don't know at the moment. Maybe somebody else can answer.

Update:
I stripped the bottom scew on the TPS and most of it got stuck in the TB female hole for it.

So, the top screw is especially crucial. I had it tightened down well enough to use the throttle violently for several hours with no problem. Today, the top screw also broke while I was screwing with it as I was reinstalling the IACV to TB hose ... but I recognized that it broke before it came completely off the rest of the screw so I managed to get all of it back out.

Going to get new screws from a local Fastenal. Fastenal happens to be next door to NAPA. So, I'm going to get the V-Power BKR5E plugs at NAPA to just try em out. Will be an even exchange for the standard BKR5ES I just bought last night.

Now that I'll be pulling the plugs again and I have those new champions in there to work with, I'll evenly divide up 1/3 a can of SeaFoam for each plug hole. I already figured out what that amount is for each hole to pour into my measuring glass. Then I'll use a gas tank funnel to line up with the plug hole and pour it in. I'll put the champions back in to burn the SeaFoam up before I switch to the BKR5E. Hopefully this will help clean the injectors and piston tops in addition to the 93 Octane + Octane Booster with MMT + STP Super Concentrated Fuel Injector Cleaner + SeaFoam in the gas tank ... lol. Also got a new fuel filter that I'll put on after some attempts to clean.

 

I still haven't made up my mind on which plugs to get. I know they're going to be NGK. I read some where that it's a good idea to replace your spark plug wires when you replace your plugs? is this true, and if so who makes good wires, I know NGK makes some or are they all the same?