How long do spark plugs last?
The car is driven about 6 miles a day in the city (8 stops, both ways). The user manual says check (and replace if necessary) after 15000 miles. The car now has 14600 miles, 4 years old.
Also a second question: What brand of spark plugs is good? (Or does it matter at all?)
Thanks in advance!!
What kind of car is this? I’m curious what kind would recommend checking after only 15k miles.
2004 Hyundai Accent. It says “Replace under severe driving conditions”. There is a list of items to qualify to severe driving conditions. One is “repeated short distance driving”.
Well they’re probably just fine, but you might take one out and take a peek just to see how it looks. Even in short distance driving I would expect far more mileage out of a set of plugs than 15k miles.
As for replacements plugs I’d opt for the originals or quality replacement plugs like NGK, Denso, or Bosch. Depends how much the dealer wants for the originals.
Thanks.
BTW: Champion = not good?
I prefer foreign plugs with a solid track record on foreign cars, but that’s just me I suppose.
What brand came with it? That’s the safest bet.
The car isn’t reaching operating temperatures which is bad for the oil, not
spark plugs. You might want to consider changing oil between 2 and 3 thousand miles instead of 3 to 5.
Always use the type and brand of spark plug that came with the car.
It matters because 1: They’re made for your car
2: A parts person told me that they receive a bounty/bonus
if they can get the customer to “up grade” to a Platinum
plug.
3: Other plugs are just fads which is a nice way of saying expensive waste of money.
I’d follow Dave G’s recommendation and pull one out and look. Apply a smidgen of anti-seize on the threads before re-installing. Actually,
I’d put some anti-seize on all the plugs since in 12 years when you get 60,000
miles on the car the steel threads on the spark plug will strip out the aluminum threads on the heads, then you’ll have to tap and put inserts on at least 3 sparkplug holes.
Good luck,
Caballero
I think NGK are the OEM plugs. NGK is also a high quality plug. Look in the owners manual or pull a plug to determine what the OEM plug is. Using the OEM plug is best.
I recommend that people use a very tiny amount of anti-seize lubricant on plugs because an excessive amount can disrupt proper electrical flow between the plug and head. Additionally, you should be careful not to use ANY anti-seize at all on plugs that come from the factory with special coatings. An example of this can be found here: http://www.ngkplugpro.ca/content/contentfiles/pdf/NGKSP-0907-1-Anti-SeizeonSparkPlugs.pdf
Champion has improved greatly lately. Surprised me too.