Dealer told me that 97 maxima can only use NKG plantinum spark plug??
 

I replaced my 97 maxima with BOTCH plantinum +2 spark plug just two weeks ago. As I read in this forum that I should have used NKG plug only, I just called a dealer and wanted to buy copper NKG plug. But the dealer told me that for 97 maxima, only plantinum plug is recommended by nissan and they
don't guarranttee anything for using copper plugs. I just doubt whether it's true for 97 maxima. For plantinum plugs, they are really expensive provided I already wasted some money for buying BOTCH ones.

Go to a different dealer. Yours is full of $h!+.

Yupp, just go to adavnce auto and get some NGK copper plugs.

its "bosch" by the way. and dealers just want u to spend $$$

i had a lady come in today and had her Engine Light checked...and she had 4 codes...that she just paid the dealership $675 to fix...and they didn't.

i work at autozone by the way. anyways...yeah dealerships suck

It is true, when having service done at the dealer only NGK plantinum plug is recommended by nissan.
I have afriend who is a mechanic for Nissan and when people bring their cars in thats what he tells them. They only recommend NGK platinums.
But we all know we can use the copper items.

They come with the NGK platinums, as long as you stick with NGK you're fine, I used Bosch +4 platinums (expensive!) and after six months my max was idling low and rough also at WOT a slight hesitation like I was being held back, I threw in a set of NGK coppers (cheap!) the car ran awesome and the idle was smooth again.

I think nissan's just covering their butts. They tested the engines w/ngk plat, so that's what they'll recommend.

It's the same deal with springs. Ask a spring company (eibach, sprint, progress) what strut they recommend... they say Nissan... .cuz that's what they tested the springs on.

Jae

just go to your local kragen or autozone and ask for NGK V-powers (coppers) they are like 2 bucks a pop. Last around 30k.

I have used platinum and I cant remember them being that expensive. I think I even had the option of buying some with like four tips or something.

:hahano:

:rolling_e jeez.

once again

http://maxmods.dyndns.org/index.php?MaximaSparkPlugs

I am running Copper BKR5E-11 right now. Runs great. They are a lot cheaper than the platinums and probably perform better.

What about NGK IRIDIUM IX plugs. Are they any good ?? There is a guy selling them on EBay for $36.

NGK all the way i had a bad experience with bosch on my 3rd gen and Densos suck in my 4th gen

wow yeah anyone?

they have it for $39.95 shipped.

is that too good to be true? I know iridium plugs are the top of the top but only $40 for them??

Spend $2 a piece on NGK coppers and don't question it :D

Go and do 1 of 2 things.

Put NGK Plats in and be happy your going OEM with best quality. OR you can go NGK coppers thats almost as good performance but alot less cost and only last 15-30 thousand miles. What is it 12 bucks for Coppers.

TO me its only 60 bucks to install NGK Plats. I mean if you cant afford 60 bucks for 60,000 miles - 90,000 miles then you need to look at your finances again.

Bottom line. Both provide equal performance but one last longer than other. Your choice. Do it youself or have a friend do it, its simple.

Gap? .44m

Proph

Good point but if a little math is done then:

$60 for the NGK plats that last 60K
$12 for BGK copper that last 30K

If you stick with copper after 60K in miles you would have spend $24 in splugs, versus $60 for the plats, that save you $36 which is 3 more plug changes (90K miles).

ofcourse you'd have to make time to change out the plugs, but its a 20 min job.

I say this in defense of those who have to watch each dollar as it comes and goes, we dont want it to be this way, but were trying to hold it down until we can get into better financial situations.

gap factor spec: .39mm - .44mm

bosch is a very good brand spark plug to use, but for our max's, only use ngk. and like mentioned by someone, copper lasts half the life of what the platinum does. but you'll get slightly better performance and reliability from platinum. i go platinum.
also, nissan did platinum for a reason. they are not trying to sell plat pops for more money, nor the incentive being that they initially tested the car with plat plugs. these VQ engineers don't just come up with plat plug requirements for nothing. Plat plugs are used because of the integrated timing requirements to ignite the fire for the volumetric efficiency to produce work. Dont' get the wrong idea, this doesn't mean that the copper ones do much worse. they are about the same. For Combustion under high Octane requirements, plats do differentially better. but due to the infinitely fast firing order from timing, this difference (differentially with respect to timing) between using plat or copper can be theoretically ignored. the only difference comes down to how long each lasts. and plats are much longer.

about the iridium plugs, hahaha, you've gotten to be kidding. it cracks faster than you think it'll last. iridium plugs are only advantageous if you go FI with Nitrous Oxide (Wet ones). it'll create "fast" fire, making force induction more responsive. and fast cooling occurs right after ignition. under regular combustion, it was said to be very unstable. combustion under iridium produces uneven exhaust volumes. this will create disorder in the firing sequence. iridium is extremely conductive, making it a ideal ignition spark plug; but not an ideal endurance based performance mod.

FYI- you can usually find the plats on eBay for $40 shipped for 6.

I hired a young engineer once who used to write reports in this manner. I made him rewrite them everytime, cutting out the BS.

http://www.sprintmax.com/tails/sparkplug.htm

The Nissan Part # for these plugs are 22401 - 50Y05

Uhhhh....the only reason platinum plug were created is to extend tune up intervals.

Don't be too worried about what the guy at the parts Nissan part department says. If the info is backed up on the org then you good. I go to a local Nissan dealership for alot of my I30 parts, fuel filters, plugs and such.... when I first went there I told them that I had an I30 and would always get hassled about what I was buying. Telling me that the cars are "similar, but not really" blah, blah, blah.

When I go get parts now I just either tell them I have a 96 maxima or try to just give them a part #.

But at the same time you can't expect a dealership parts guy to know everything about every part of every Nissan.

ìf the dealer is bullying on spark plugs, imagine the rest he can bullsh*t customers about.

1- change dealer
2- install NGK copper spark plugs at $2 a piece

copper = more conductive then platinum.
they don't last as long, and dont have a cool name, thus cheaper.

but, guess what, technically speaking they're better

from the factory, of course they can install plugs that only cost a few bucks more. you think anyone cares that their $10k+ price tag has another 30 bucks on it for more expensive plugs then copper? plus they last longer. only reason they're in there to begin with

On top of ALL that has been said here, think of the simple economics of the situation. Markup on the platinums is GREATER than the markup on the coopers, right? Now, don't most "normal" car owners go to the dealer for those types of parts- particularly when they buy cheap-o spark plugs and have failures? Yes. So they at least go to the dealer for diagnostics and the dealer says what? That thay need ot run platinums. And low-and-behold, the dealer happens to sell them- at a huge markup.

That is a contributing factor in why the car comes with them from the factory- because all that a dealership guy has to say is "well, they came that way from the factory for a reason. the car was designed with platinums in mind." Saying this will have 99% of people reacing for the wallet right there at the dealer.

I find this whole argument absolutely hilarious. Some of the useless crap I see on cars on this board and people worried about saving money on spark plugs.

You can go on and on... but the fact is, you can't substantiate the argument.

I use platinum’s because that is what Nissan recommends and the ONLY argument against them is the cost. Now, I have never sat down and figured it out, but I see a lot of problems with coil packs, O2 sensors, and knock sensors on this board - yet with platinum’s I still have my stock coils, O2s, and KS and they are all approaching 200,000 miles.

Now, like I said, I haven't sat down and tried to correlate people’s posts... and I am sure this is more than a little superstition. However, I'll stick with what works when there is no evidence in my mind to switch and a sneaky suspicion that using different plugs just might have something to do with it. Or maybe I am just lucky... which means I should stick with what I know, so my luck doesn't run out.

Either way, I figure I am ahead with the platinum's. :)

since you brought it up.. How many people with coil pack problems are using Copper plugs?

you don't know do you? so in actuallity your statement has no value.

I use copper plugs and i have been using them for over 100,000 miles now and i don't have coil pack problems. So what are you talking about again?

no evidence for you to switch? i guess you don't like money in your pocket.

Whatever man.

I think I said three times that I had no evidence and that it was likely just superstition. No reason to get all butthurt and defensive.

Oh, and I have changed my spark plugs twice. So $60 times 2 = 120 bucks.

120 bucks for 186,000 miles and 6 years. Yeah, my pocket book is hurting soooo bad.

Let's see. If I had used copper... I would have replaced them maybe 5 times at 15 bucks (I am trying to be conservative). That's 75 bucks for a difference of 45 dollars and 3 spark plug changes. Doesn't sound so bad to me.

Question. If the coppers only last about 30k, are they already degrading by 30k? Or will they performing very well at 30k? When I change my plats at 60k, they are actually performing pretty much as new or est.. 80% as new when I change them.

I don't see a very large loss in gas mileage as my plugs get older (using platinum) and they come out after 60K (or so) looking VERY clean.

A standard plugs voltage requirements increase by about 1000 volts after 30,000 miles (it's linear, so figure 500 volts for 15,000 miles) and there is almost no perceptible change in voltage requirements for platinum.

The chance of misfire with copper plugs is so much higher (at the end of their life span) than platinum as to make it almost inevitable.

A good platinum plug (like the NGK) should be able to go well over 60,000 miles. We are going by Nissan's recommendations there. We are only going over maybe half the life of the spark plug (maybe a little more with the HEI) while the coppers are pretty much done at 30,000 miles.

But hey, our coils can handle the extra load... our O2 sensors love unburnt gas... ;)

arent platinum plugs just ordinary coppers, just platinum coated?

:thumbsup:

Ill have to agree, more maintenance intervals for what? a few HP? A few bucks? The time it takes to install the sparks plugs makes up for the money saved. And yah what he said.....

by the same token i spend $24 when you spend $120 .. i guess you are a very rich man.. but i don't have a problem spending $24 instead of $120

In some cases yes, but in the case of these rather expensive specimens, there are actual chunks of platinum welded to the ground and center electrodes.

Well, if you can get 30 spark plugs for 24 dollars (even coppers) then by all means, go the cheap route. But even at only 2 bucks a plug, it would have cost me 60 bucks for the same interval of time and I still would have changed my plugs three more times.

At 60,000 miles, my plugs haven't seen near the wear yours have at 15,000 miles.

As a matter of fact, I am willing to back it up. I am at 186 or 187,000 miles right now... so I am about due. Anyone who would like compare (visually at least) the condition of our plugs and has a copper set with around 30,000 miles I would be interested to post pictures to see the results.

it takes 15 mins to remove and install spark plugs :rolleyes:

if you are two lazy to spend 15 mins on your car you might as well take it to the dealer :rolleyes:

I do have one smart a$$ comment to make here though.

I see the body kit in your avatar. I assume it is on your car.

Now, I am paying an extra 60 bucks (by my math) for a piece of mind over a 6 year period of time (that's ten bucks a year btw).

What are you paying for by getting a body kit? Other than extra weight?

I mean, at least I don't have any disadvantages. I'm paying more for what I perceive as a superior product.

You’re paying for extra weight. Don't get me wrong, not saying it looks bad or anything. But it really is all a matter of perception and priorities.

Can someone else chime in and answer my question? ie.. someone that's used coppers?