To make a long story and a very long night short. I was at the track on saturday night running 75 shots of nitrous( nx kit with wot switch) and all the mods listed on my profile. I lined up next to a custom built Nova and naturally he took off quicker I hit the arming switch going into 2nd and i started catching up to him, evened out going into 3rd and POP(loud with a flash from the engine bay). It dies out and I sailed to the end and came to a halt. I got it started again with the #4 cylinder dead.

Learned the hard way not to run stock copper plugs regardless of what the guy at checker auto tells.

On the good side; When one door closses, another one opens. What doesn't kill me only makes me better. I will rebuild him, I will make him bigger, strong, and faster.

PS. Please keep the mockery light. Thanks.

 

thought the copper ngk would be fine with that?

 

Damn, sorry to hear about this. It would seem more likely it was a fuel problem than the plugs. Let me know if you need some help with the new motor.

 

yea, keep us posted when you find the cause. I honestly dont think it was the plugs given that they were the correct plugs and correct gapping.

 

RU serious. u really ran with copper plugs. lol oh my god.lmfao all the way to chevyville

 

copper plugs should be okay, so long as they were colder than stock.

 

You're a dumbass.

2naboy, have you looked at the plug? Any pics?

 

Well, what do you recommend then?

 

NX recommends 2 steps colder copper plugs and I have run them from the 35 HP shot to 150 and they work fine. They even work great N/A, I do a 14.6 with an auto with them.

 

damn.. sorry to hear about this man. Hope rebuild and come back even stronger!

 

Street tires?

 

damn man that sucks. So it was you driving that white Max with black rims I knew I saw your car there Steve told me you were running a 75 shot, but I didn't see you run.

 

Eric, race track, race tires, I don't even attempt with the street ones anymore. I did it once to compare, 15.4 to 14.6 N/A with a 35 shot it was 14.9 and 13.1 so its a complete waste even trying for me.

 

Thats the problem, I went to checker auto and asked the guy for two steps colder copper plugs but the guy tells me that I should be okay with the normal plugs just make sure that I gap them closer than stock.

 

Rule #1. NEVER listen to the parts store guys, especially if they've got a Nova parked out front.

Always go with that the mfg recommends- especialyl when they say to run coler plugs.

2. what have you done for fuel? you should be running a walbro pump at minimum for anything over about a 50 shot. more power needs more fuel.

no flames here, just noting that you've been misinformed by the parts store guy. I learned years ago that they (almost) never now as much about cars as the people buying the parts- especially on custom apps like NOS or boost.
if you need regular OE replacement type parts, they're great.

 

I assumed so.

 

Well I learned the hard way and they had a Camero in the front

 

not trying to make this a n20 thread but I once posted in the n20 forum about plugs and got the impression that I can still run a 50shot safely with stock plat plugs with stock gapping?

 

I have pictures scanned and saved on my computer but I dont know how to upload it on to the forum

 

You can reply, and when doing so, click the 'Manage Attachments' link above the 'Rate this Thread' box.

 

I would be really careful who's word I am taking to make a decsion like this. A few people here really know what they are doing when it comes to juice.

With my NX kit, NX specifically states to use 2 step colder copper plugs. No exceptions. I would much prefer to follow their guidelines than an anonymous post by someone with limited or no experience!

Big Cracker

 

Good Point Grandmaster Triscuit

I would follow the suggestions of the manufacturer, not Bubba the parts guy who has no clue about mods

 

I doubt your engine blew because of spark plugs. You probably have some fuel delivery problems. If your spark plugs failed, the fuel/air mixture just won't burn. Ignition problems will result into surges and some intake backfire/pops. It won't blow up your engine.

 

2naboy, If you can you should swing by the store so we can help you with whatever you need.

 

Not sure honestly, But just plain old copper plugs arent always 2 steps colder.


humm.. dunno.. but i will say this, WITHOUT platinum plugs i really really wonder what kinda of HP he's producing during everyday driving?
Colder plugs cant really be good for ur car in the first place.

 

why do you think platinum plugs are so good?
did you know that copper is a better conductor than platinum?
it also has a larger electrode for a larger spark IIRC.

platinum may last longer, but copper is cheaper and puts out better performance.

 

I doubt it was due to the heat-range of the plugs.

Are you sure your fuel pump is up to the task? I mean if that's the original or you haven't at least cleaned the filter in awhile, I'd suspect that over the plugs.

 

Well I replaced all the injectors and filter and I ran a fuel system cleaner. When I race I always take of the air filter and leave it open at the MAF

 

BC Ive read over 30 threads of kids not knowing to put in platinum plugs and ruining there engine and performance.

Factory Plugs are Platinum. $70 a set
Copper plugs belong in a mustang. $20 a set

Im going to believe YOU with Copper is Better WITH NOS ONLY!

IMO. If Nissan Felt Copper $1 plugs were ok then they would have put them in the car from the factory. Hasn't anyone else seen these threads with newbies puttin autozone plugs in? Nos will ruin an engine either way, i just feal that cooper could not help since platinum is a higher metal standard.

Either way guys, im not a mechanic and I DONT want to claim to be one.
Im just really confused as to why in the World hes puttin cheapo plugs in.

 

I only use copper plugs in my car. I'm going to use copper plugs with nitrous. It's all in the tuning of the nitrous and properly gapped spark plugs.

 

Here's the pictures of 2naboys spark plugs.

 

Yeah i guess its possible, ive just read and read and read so much about these maximas, and now everyones saying these coopers are cool ,

ill believe you totally steve, im just not really sure what i missed on the NOS readups, What is wrong with the Platinum anways, i thought platinum was the best there was. Thanks for sharing information.

 

Nitrious tends to burn off the platinum tips an the plugs therefore rendering the ineffective( so I've been told) and using two stepd colder copper plugs with nitrous allows the plugs to withsdand higher tempratures. This is my understanding.

Thanks for posting the pics Steve.

 

Copper is the way to go with nitrous, NOT platinum.

 

Car manufacturers use platinum so that the time between changes is increased and they work fine on a N/A car. Copper plugs are a better conductor, are less likely to blow out during nitrous use and colder plugs are used because they carry the heat away better. ie each step colder reduced exhaust gas temp by 80 deg F.

All nitrous kit manufacturers recommend using copper plugs and colder ranges for those reasons.

 

IMO, copper is the only way to go, NA or with artifical induction. Copper is a better conductor, pure and simple. Nissan uses plat. plugs to extend service intervals and so that they can brag about how the car doesn't need servicing until 60+K miles (even plats rarely last that long). Copper doesn't last as long as plats (20-30K), but it does perform better. The important thing to remember is that you MUST use NGK plugs in the VQ. The VQ will run poor if you don't. I'm using factory range copper NGKs in my Max and I'm happy to change the $1.35 plugs every 20K instead of paying $7 for the OEM plat NGKs.


Dave

 

I don't buy that. I've put Bosch's in theblue's car, and I know other people here use Bosch's (SR20DEN IIRC). A spark plug is a spark plug. I use NGK because the parts store close to me carries them, and I remember the part number, but otherwise, I don't really think it matters.

I wouldn't get a "+4" or "splitfire" type plug though. Just a normal copper plug should work fine, regardless of who makes them.

 

Come on now....Blowing your engine up with 75 shot and blaming it on the spark plugs. There are plenty of people running 125 shot - 175 shot.

 

Not on stock heat-range plugs. He should have been using colder plugs. That may not have caused this problem, but it could have saved him.

 

I've run Bosch platinums in my VQ a couple years back and that was a huge mistake. They were gapped correctly, etc and I had all kinds of issues with them. I experienced some detonation above 5000rpms fairly regurarly, idle and general acceleration wasn't as smooth, gas mpg went down 2mpg, and when I yanked the plugs after 3K miles, they already looked like they had been in there for 40K miles and they had a whiteish hue to them (too hot). I installed NGK platinums back in and everything went back to normal. I just recently switched to NGK coppers and everything is great.

It's just been my experience that the VQ is VERY picky about plugs. I use to think that was just BS that I plug could make a car run crappy. My prior CRX Si and 94 Z28 were fine with different make plugs. The VQ on the otherhand is not and others have reported the same exact thing. There is a saying that you should never put German plugs in a Japanese engine. I think I'm a believer of that one now.


Dave