I have used Champion Ar51's for years in our Yamaha Kt100s kart motors. Actually, 98% of the people running the motors use that plug. We also used to run them in our built stock car engines (550hp). Good products.

As far as for on road cars.. No experience. Im sure all the major brands are pretty close from a performance, reliability and longevity standpoint. I think price is the main variable.....

 

Let me start by saying I am not a mechanic - just wanted to save money. I had a ignition coil problem (based on the computer code I surmised this) and thought I would change the plugs on my 2K Maxima - 105K miles. The manual said to use platinum plugs (no brand specified) so I went to Pep boys and they sold me Autolite platinum because they were out of NGK. I installed them and the mechanic trying to figure out which coil was bad said I should have used NGK - autolite would cause bad gas mileage and wear out fast - they are cheap and meant for Fords. When back at Pep boys buying the ignition coil they said not to worry - autolite is fine. I put in the new coil and everything is working fine - been two weeks - car runs great. Does anyone think I will have a problem with the autolite platinum plugs? This forum thread seems the say all kinds of plugs work - just some work better or last longer than others. By the way-the OEM plugs I took out look as good as the new replacements (aside from being grayish, the shape of the tip was like new and the gap was fine on all the plugs). And after watching the mechanic I know how to figure out which coil is bad the next time that happens!

 

welcome. I would prefer NGK or Denso if I had all the brands to pick right in front of me. Only because ive used NGK's in my car for quite a bit and in the racing 2stroke engines. Id love to run Iridiums but they are around 20 to 30 a plug lol.. In my personal opinion id say you are fine with those plugs. 100k on plugs and they looked fine...is a good sign! My Ngk's were wore out after an unknown amount of miles...Gap was pretty big.
I would pull 2 plugs out after about 25k and check them to see how they are doing. Access the situation and go from there. Use your judgement.

Good Luck

 

"CPN-975 COPPER PLUS SPARK PLUG"

Fits the VQ and is cheap. Cheaper the better if using nos.

 

no nos...yet

just want a good spark plug. people say copper provides better performance and is cheaper but dont last as long (30k from what i heard) thats about 2.5 years for me so i can swing that

B

 

Thanks so much for your response. I feel better now. Good idea to check at 25K miles.

 

just replaced them with NGK G Power

 

I popped in the NGK Iridium IX plugs at around 100,000 miles and I'm thinking its time to swap the plugs again. I'm at 196,000 miles now.

 

My dealer says it is 2.7 hours for changing plugs on a '02. Thus the labour far exceeds the price of the plugs.

I found a how-to site describing removal of intake pipes and replacing gaskets, etc. Seems to be quite a job:

http://www.greghome.com/Greg%27s%20Garage/2002MaxSE/SparkPlugReplacement.htm

Why are there people here talking about this being a 30 minute job?

I've done my own plugs on simple 4 banger vehicles and there it is a quick and simple job, but it doesn't seem to be for the Maxima and a V6.

If you have a short cut for plug change, please clarify what it is.

 

On a 5th gen, I believe it's not too terribly difficult. On a 5.5 however, you have to pull the upper intake. That's not too difficult of a job. Some members have managed to change all six without pulling the intake. I thought that it was too much of a hassle trying to monkey my way behind it to get at the coils and just pulled the intake off. It took me about an hour (sans beer break ) the first time I did my spark plugs.

Now that I know what I'm doing, I bet I could get it done in half the time next time. It's like anything else. It's a learning experience, and once you get it down, you'll be able to do it quicker next time.

 

What do you guys think of E3 diamond fire spark plugs? I saw a before and after dyno on Horsepower TV a while back, and the motor gained like 5 HP. It was a small block Chevy though, so who knows how that'll translate to a VQ35. It was an engine dyno, BTW.

 

Where are you guys getting the NGK's? I checked courtesy last week and they where out, before putting my order in, anywhere else I should check?

 

I got mine online. Just googled the PN. Ir FTW!

 

there is nothing better than OEM NKG platinum

 

I installed NGK G-Power Platinum Tip Spark Plugs at 90k miles and have put 60k on them. Just now at a little over 150k am I even thinking about looking at them to see how they are withstanding the miles. I am experiencing no negative effects, just thought it would be worth it to see where they are gapped at now,etc.They were much cheaper than the platinum and at the time, I didn't have the money for the platinum's. I consider them a great alternative...

NGK # LFR5AGP (# 5018)

 

Dont know why people knock the Bosch I put those in my 2000 when I had it the Platinum 4's and it ran way smoother and sold it and on the 03 went with the NGK coppers to me they are not better than the Bosch 4's but maybe will try NGK platinums to see whats up with those.

 

Just a habit people fall into. I've used NGK Iridiums since having my 1989 240sx and I swore night and day the engine felt smoother. Now the experience of those Iridium IX in the 2002 Maxima.. is a different story. I didn't feel any difference.

 

but sort of opposite.

I recently changed from Pt to Ir on my VQ35 and IMO, and I'm always questioning EVERYthing, never promote spark plugs of any kind, but it does have a smoother idle with the Ir's.

The only reason i went with Ir was because the price was identical if not less than 1$ per plug, so I figured why not.

 

what about the NGK double Platinums?

 

put in what u take out O.E all the way. for get cost

 

That's what I do... OEM plugs changed around 90+K miles.. Put in what came out, should have those in there for another 100k miles. NGK makes the best spark plugs around. It's the same story for my old Saturn engine.. NGK coppers are the ones.

 

OEM = NGK Double Platinum = NKG Laser Platinum

 

I went with Ir ... same price as Pt's. In my application, my idle smoothed out.

 

According to NGK the Ir plugs have "superior ignitability". I'm leaning towards getting the Laser Ir, which has Ir on the center electrode and Pt on the ground electrode.

I think that's what you got since both the Laser Ir and Laser (or Double) Pt cost about the same.

 

It was only because they were the same price. If price was a factor, I would have gone with Cu, but the VQ35's plugs are all in the same price range, hence why I went with the Ir's.

I always used Cu in my VQ30, due to the p;lugs being less than @$ per plug.

 

I am near 100K and about to do plugs also.

Since I only want to take the IM off once my plan is to

1) NGK Iridiums
2) New OEM IM gaskets
3) 04 Valve covers

Coilpacks seem good. Hopefully I won't have to go for new ones.

 

I used to put Cu (V-Power) in my '97 Max and they were great. Even though they last only about 30k mi. they still cost less / mile than the Laser/Double. (Cu ≈ $3.00 vs. Pt/Ir ≈ $12.00)

I must be gettng lazy in my old age since I'd rather not change plugs as frequently as I used to.

 

when i got my max in 06 it had 53k on it so i replace the plugs with the Bosch Platinum theirs a few different ones but i got the best one at the time done remember which one it was then at about 75k i got the NGK which im still running and everyone i asked back then said NGK is best for the max and it did start up a little better at least to me

 

Holy run-on sentence Batman!!!

 

 

I would go with Iridium cause it's stonger than platinum so it will last longer and it's a better conductor than platinum. If you want to be technical though silver is the best conductor, but it's reletively expensive and its a soft metal so it doesn't last long in an engine. Copper is the next most conductive metal and it's cheap which is why most racers use them, but like silver it's a soft metal and doesn't last long either. I said all of this jsut to say, if you just want a really good conductor get silver plugs. If you want a good and cheap conductor get copper. If you want a descent conductor that will last a long time get iridium. And leave platinum alone because it's the best at nothing.

 

I've got copper in my VQ35 now and plan to swap them for the Iridium IX once I get a chance to. I fully dread having to mess with the upper intake collector but that's the price to pay.

 

Don't forget NWP Spacers while you're at it! Definitely worth it.

 

I would suggest using NGK Laser Iridium plugs instead of the Iridium IX. They should last longer since they have Platinum on ground electrode where the IX does not.

 

It's a pretty easy job honestly

 

Spacers? What are they and what do they do?

 

Spacers are a high-heat plastic spacer between the valve block and upper intake collector. The idea is to lower heat soak on the intake collector which helps keep the intake air cooler.

 

There's a ton of stuff on the org about them, and here's the website:

http://nwpengineering.com/Phenolic_Spacers.html#VQ35DE

They're pretty much a guaranteed 10hp and 12tq. This has been dyno tested, and tons of people (including myself) can attest to their effectiveness. They give you increased power in 2 ways. 1. They drastically decrease intake manifold temperatures, making the air coming in cooler and more dense, and 2. They increase intake runner length, which, by some process I don't completely understand, increases hp and tq (increases air velocity?). Just get them, you won't be disappointed. They're $225 + $10 shipping. Best bang for your buck mod there is for our cars. Well, these and headers...

Just make sure you use the RTV sealant mentioned in the instructions. Eh e-subliminal-2?? hehehehe

 

... and it's something that you and I have no use for, if I'm not mistaken. Our Intakes (on 2k maximas) are plastic (non-metal), so they don't do anything to our cars. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

They do increase runner length, therefore increasing intake air velocity & volume, thus resulting in a slight power increase. There is a DEK with them on here somewhere.