They say the plugs will last a long time. I was wondering when you replaced your plugs and which plugs you recommend.

 

Hey brother! NGK TR 55s here, and I replace them every time the headers are off or anytime the mod bug bites and there is any possibilty of a banged up plug. Lots of opinions here on that but good clean fun Good luck!
Dave

 

Thanks Dave, any one else wanna comment?

 

NGK TR-55's gapped at .055, swapped every 20k or so.

 

Hey Cobra.

Curious as to why you are changing plugs frequently. Is that just a practice or does your car show symptoms that clear up when the plugs are changed?

As you know, the LS1/6 has a coil for each plug. So it take a serious plug issue to prevent it from firing normally.

I changed plugs a couple times on my 2001 Z06 looking for a performance improvement and never found anything measurable, even after removing a set that looked nasty from oil fowling and replacing them with new TR55.

Ranger

 

Well to be honest... I had the plugs changed at 25k when the re-ring was done, and now at 52k I just did it myself again... everything looked great so I guess I've actually been doing it every 25k or so. I simply read that copper plugs should be changed at 30k max. If this is wrong let me know. I wrote in my maintenance book to change them out again at 70k... might bump that to 75k.

 

Cobra,

Most of have maintenance rituals that seem compulsive to others. Like changing Mobile1 at 3K intervals. So you get to change the plugs whenever you want.

My 68 L71 435 hp 427 used to get about 500 miles on a set of plugs. But I could always feel the engine miss that alerted me that it was time.

I'm really just reminding readers that they won't likely see any performance improvement from changing the plugs in a stock/near stock LS6.

Ranger

 

I fully agree, but I run my car far harder than most and therefore stay on top of the maintenance. I drive the car almost everyday to work and run 4/5 HPDEs a year, and try to auto-x every other weekend. The car gets used hard and I just want to keep in it peak operating condition. Now if it was just a cruiser toy I'd put some platimums in and forget about them for 100k.

However you are right in that with all the electronic sensors the car will detect a misfire when somthing is amiss.

I change my oil per the DIC unless I'm running an HPDE then I put in a fresh change.

 

One of the best thing free things you can do.
On your new G.M. v-8 is to pull the plugs on day one and look
at your plug gaps. You will soon learn that G.M. Installs there plugs
out a bucket.

Your gaps will be all over the place. Don't spare the dielectric grease on the plug boots during reinstall,anti sieze is not needed. Modern
plugs are coated thread.
Just regapping at miniumum
Will help some.. There is power to be found in (along with better starting and mpg. (called efficiency) Old fashioned indexing your plugs (tr-55's my choice) ,new wires,
and so forth. I hear this all the time. This time slip at this track,
or this dyno compared to this dyno.
What I have proved to myself from hours of labor and real world
testing over 30 years is, stock to stock, same mods (apples to apples).
equal drivers,Example Ls-1 vs ls-1, lt-1 vs lt-1. The car with the stronger tune,ignition, spark whatever you want
to call it ... over all better maintence.. Wins When your side by side on the same road,or track.

 

Thanks, Rocken.

Opinions vary.

Checking the gap on the plugs is worth doing, no doubt. I did that on both my Z06s and found the factory gaps were consistent and correct.

My 01 Z06 had the fastest CF posted times for an 01 on DRs. That with stock plugs and wires. Ditto my 02 Z06. In fact my 02 ran slightly faster times on stock plugs & wires with 27K miles than at 17K miles.

Hence my view that most owners will achieve no performance improvement by changing plugs and wires on a stock/near stock Z06 unless an issue is perceived. Most owners who push their cars hard can feel/sense an engine misfire.

Ranger

 

Very curious about this. Are you doing this with washers or what? What "o'clock" position are you indexing them at?

 

I replaced the stockers with NGK Iridiums. I didn't realize until I took out the stock plugs that they were Iridium as well. The manual stated they were platinum.

 

Stock Plug.

Spark Plug: Technical Service Bulletins Ignition System - New Spark Plug Type/Gapping
Bulletin No.: 03-06-04-060
Date: October 24, 2003
INFORMATION
Subject:
Information on New Spark Plugs and Gapping
Models:
2004 Buick Ranier
2002-2004 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade EXT
2003-2004 Cadillac Escalade ESV 2004 Cadillac CTS-V
1997-2004 Chevrolet Corvette
1998-2002 Chevrolet Camaro
1999-2004 Chevrolet Silverado
2000-2004 Chevrolet Suburban, Tahoe
2002-2004 Chevrolet Avalanche
2003-2004 Chevrolet Express, TrailBlazer
1999-2004 CMC Sierra
2000-2004 CMC Yukon, Yukon XL
2001-2004 CMC Yukon Denali, Yukon XL Denali
2002-2004 CMC Sierra Denali
2003-2004 CMC Envoy XL
1998-2002 Pontiac Firebird
2004 Pontiac GTO
2003-2004 Hummer H2
with 4.8L, 5.3L, 5.7L or 6.0L V-8 Engine (VINs V, P, T, Z, G, S, N, U - RPOs LR4, LM4, LM7, L59, LSI, LS6, LQ9, LQ4)
A new spark plug has been released for use in the above vehicles. The new spark plug has an Iridium tip instead of the current Platinum tip. Due to the different tip design, the gap of the spark plug has also changed. The new spark plug, P/N 12571164 with AC Delco P/N 41-985, is gapped to 1.01 mm (0.040 inches) when the spark plug is made. The spark plug gap is set during manufacturing and should not be changed or damage to the spark plug may result. Any new spark plug found to not be properly gapped should not be used.
__________________

 

^ I never knew that.

 

All good but it all bogus, Ngk manufactures a Iridium plug for ls-1,ls-6
There suggested gap is .060 the wider gap is better.
The recommended gap by AC is simply, so they (GM)do not replace
plugs for gap erosion.Starting at .040 makes the plug last longer. Just like the recommended 100k plug and or tune By GM is so you get "No claim" to replace plugs under warranty.
When in "real world" All new car plugs are shot by 70k , will still run
with lost performance. best place for the AC iridium. Is in the trash can.
A simple tune with NGk copper tr-55's .060-.062 is best for
performance. opinions vary but this is NOT opinion.
high end manufactures recommended (MSD, Jacob's Accel) nothing but copper plugs. get on the phone to msd or jacob's and find the truth
before you flame me. Any doubts, bring me your stock zo-6,
or ls-1. I will show you how the correct plug and gap,will pull
on any regular stock tune.

 

Why would you recommend NGK Copper over Iridiums? you seem to be very assertive on what you're talking about, so I was wondering if you have anything to back up Copper > Iridium.
Would you recommend Iridium to be also gapped at .060-.062?
-Goose

 

Ngk Iridium come set at .060. Iriduim plugs are design to last longer.Copper plugs are cheap and copper is the one of the best conductors.A Conductor's abiltity are measured by the valence electrons in the metal and they dissiapate
heat a whole lot better. A fresh copper plug is a whole lot better than
ANY plug with 50k on it. Iriduims and platuim are gimmick feel good plugs.For people that don't or can't change there own. I pulled the so called 100k plugs out of My truck at 70k Truck ran but like crap when compared to the fresh NGK coppers. The plug companys profit
on the gimmick plug is a whole lot more than copper plugs.So what do they want you to think?

 

I'm not an expert on this and this is just an observation. On a previous car (02 WS6) with 25,000 miles on the clock, I pulled out the stock 100,000 mile plugs and installed NGK TR-6's. I imagined the car would not run as well with the colder plugs but it seemed that the throttle response was crisper than before. I put these plugs in solely for the nitrous kit I installed but didn't expect this.

 

No Flame here but this is yours and their opinions. Do you think GM spends millions of dollars on engineering to be outdone by you or competitors stuff? Do you think they only tried one plug type? I stand by the above if you are looking for a good plug that lasts and will run fine stay with the stock plug. If you are racing or doing other then go for what you know.

 

The information was not bogus. It is from GM yes the same folks that built your car. You buy what you want. There are lots of choices out there. If you do not want to change them often then go with stock stuff. If you want to race or run nitrous go with something else. Don't believe everything you see posted. There is lots of information out there if you want to do the research. It's all in what you believe or choose to use based on how you drive and operate YOUR car.