Ngk plug shortahe

[chuck hahn]

Ive heard a lot about lack of plugs and some even claiming NGK is stopping making plugs.. Heres the skinny right from NGK......

Thank you for your inquiry. Please do not believe people who are spreading rumors. NGK is very strong and is continuing expanding our spark plug and sensor lines. We have discontinued most of our non-resistor plugs because they are not used much any more. The reason for shortage of supply is because many of our shipments from Japan are being held up at port in California. There are hundreds of ships with containers that are waiting to be inspected and approved by customs. COVID-19 has affected not only NGK shipments but many other companies are going through shortages as well.

Lela Martin
Racing Sponsorship / Technical Support – Aftermarket Division
NGK Spark Plugs (U.S.A.), Inc.
(877) 473-6767 option 2

EDIT.... I asked specifically about our beloved B8ES plugs and heres the response......

B8ES has been superseded to BR8ES resistor plug or you can use the R5671A-8 which is non-resistor racing plug.

Lela Martin
Racing Sponsorship / Technical Support – Aftermarket Division
NGK Spark Plugs (U.S.A.), Inc.
(877) 473-6767 option 2

 

[Brendan W]

Last year it was toilet paper.
Some just aren't happy without a dire shortage of something or other in the offing.............

 

[Redman]

. . . . . .
. . . . . We have discontinued most of our non-resistor plugs because they are not used much any more. .
...

Good that you got response from the company.

Was a couple months ago someone posted about discontinuing the non-resistor plugs (that are stock for our GSs). ANd I was able to find a set on ebay for about $18 at that time. I dont think can find any B8ES now.

Carefull if searching for B8ES, the search may find BR8ES.

.

.

 

[grcamna2]

I was reading on another forum the same thing for B8ES and I like to keep a stock of plugs in my boxes in storage.I called around at a few different automotive parts places and was able to find some at an AutoZone by telling them the 4-digit stock # written on the end of the box next to 'B8ES'.I wanted a few boxes and they ordered some in from another store who had some,this was about 7 months ago.I can sell a set of 4 to one person here who wants them for $12+ shipping in a USPS envelope if needed.I'll keep the rest until someone wants me to do a tune-up on a bike which requires them.The other difficult thing I've found is trying to find 'old school' ND:Nippon Denso spark plugs.I find they're better build quality(truly Made in Japan)than the 'Denso' only name plug which tries to say they're compatible.

 

[chuck hahn]

I have edited the original post with information about B8ES plugs being superceded....

 

[Big T]

Check at Pep Boys
B8ES were on sale a week ago

 

[Grimly]

I've made the move to resistor plugs anyway, as it's better to change out the complete plug and resistor every X- thousand miles, than wait for the inevitable degradation of the inbuilt resistor in the plug cap.
Plug caps are the Cinderellas of the ignition world.

 

[bwringer]

B8ES plugs quietly went out of production long before the 'rona.

If you find a stash somewhere, grab 'em.

No, BR8ES plugs are NOT the same. Yes, they screw in the same, but they're resistor plugs.

That said, no one has ever noticed the slightest difference running BR8ES vs. B8ES in a healthy GS. What the long-term effects may be, I have no idea.

That extra "R" just... it bugs me.

 

[bwringer]

I've made the move to resistor plugs anyway, as it's better to change out the complete plug and resistor every X- thousand miles, than wait for the inevitable degradation of the inbuilt resistor in the plug cap.
Plug caps are the Cinderellas of the ignition world.

Good point.

I'm running aftermarket resistor wires with Dyna 3 ohm coils. My hazy understanding is that you need a resistor somewhere in the system (wires, plugs, or plugs cap), but you don't need more than one. So I use B8ES plugs.

Maybe the added resistance of resistor plugs doesn't make a difference, maybe it does...?

 

[chuck hahn]

So change to non resistor caps and the R wont scare you. As you read directly from NGK there arent gonna be anymore B8ES once existing supply is sold out.

Or use the other plug which is a non resistor plug with your resistor caps. Either way sooner or later youll never get B8ES

 

[grcamna2]

So change to non resistor caps and the R wont scare you. As you read directly from NGK there arent gonna be anymore B8ES once existing supply is sold out.

Or use the other plug which is a non resistor plug with your resistor caps. Either way sooner or later youll never get B8ES

That's the best way,just use non-resistor plug caps:NGK has them.I just don't know the stock number.I was told by a guy who understands resistors,etc. and he told me it's best to use just one resistor in the system and said using two resistor sources can change how the plug fires and makes the spark not-optimum.I hope someone can steer me toward some NGK or other foreign car non-resistor plug caps designed as well as the original NGK stock Suzuki caps,these OEM ones are quality Made in Japan.The other thing some folks were saying was:if you have the older style OEM plug(NGK)caps,the brass resistor part where it snaps onto the threads of the top stud on the spark plug,it can be unscrewed and then remove the resistor and substitute a similar size piece of round steel rod along with the small spring inside there,screw it back together and you've now created a non-resistor plug cap.I would rather purchase new non-resistor plug caps myself.

 

[Buffalo Bill]

Next question : Is there an equivalent non resistor plug from another manufacturer/brand?

 

[grcamna2]

Denso W24ES-U possibly?
I would like to have said Nippon Denso :dispirited: I miss those solid,old ND's and wonder what ever happened to the company to stop producing their excellent product.

 

[Guest]

man, glad I saw this thread, just found some at $2.50 each and ordered a dozen.

 

[bwringer]

Denso W24ES-U possibly?

Yep, that's the other OEM plug; you see both in the fiches. The supply of these can be a little spotty, but they're still available through RockAuto.com, and so I suppose they're not actually discontinued.

With both Denso and NGK, it's easier sometimes to use the numeric designation; for some damfool reason, most places don't list them by the code W24ES-U or B8ES. These codes designate the various specs of the plugs.

So for Denso W24ES-U, look for Denso 4030.

For NGK B8ES, look for NGK 2411.

I do know some places will substitute without telling you. I ordered 8 B8ES plugs from Napa a few years ago, and they supplied four BR8ES and the last four B8ES in their warehouse. Fortunately, it was a store pickup so I was able to decline the BR8ES plugs.

 

[roeme]

Thanks for getting the info right from the source, chuck!

And now we even have non-resistor replacement part numbers, which I can use until I have to replace my plug caps (unfortunately still have them, fortunately still good).

As for resistance, I think a healthy GS ignition system (or modern coils) can take both resistor plugs and plug caps (when I got my first bike, I've ran for about a year with caps that were nearly dead and went way up in resistance).
But you're doing both yourself and your coils no favors, methinks. And same as foregoing resistors completely; I'm not sure if and how much spark timing changes, but spark strength surely is impacted.

Replacements must match at the least those specs:

- 14mm thread,
- 1.25 pitch
- 19mm reach
- 0.8mm gap

Heat range I'd think depends on one's engine/location/driving style; terminal type (nut/screw) depends on one's spark plug caps anyway. As for the hex size, I'm not sure if bigger than 21 mm (maybe 22...) would still fit our engines.

So, to recap; so far we've got:

B8ES Replacements:
[table="class: grid"]
[tr]
[td](Usual) Order #[/td]
[td]Remarks[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Denso 4030[/td]
[td]W24ES-U[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]NGK 4554[/td]
[td]R5671A-8, "Racing Plug", oh my...[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]


Can confirm the hack with removing the resistor from resistor plugs, but it's quite a hassle to get a nicely fitting metal part in there. And in any case, I don't think with that hack you'll get a good contact...So you'll get the odd spark in the plug itself, which leads to charring, more resistance, more sparks and .... eh, maybe if you're in a pinch, or need a solution until nice fresh non-resistor caps arrive. Maybe this is also why resistor caps go bad

 

[bitzz]

Lots and lots of equivalent plugs
https://www.sparkplug-crossreference.com/convert/NGK_PN/B8ES

 

[alke46]

I just ordered two sets of plugs for my bike from partsfish.com -- will pick them up at the dealership 20 minutes away. $2.41 each. No shipping charges, just the local sales tax $20.63 total

edit: on the partsfish description it states "spark plug C&EC and N&EN; NOK,B-8ES.. So they are not claiming to be NGK but if it's good enough for Suzuki then I will keep on using them. No problems with previous purchases of said plugs.

 

[hank2]

For my GS650G, the original spec was your choice of NGK D8EA or Denso X24ESU ( Denso 4099) Got 4 of the available Denso's on Rock auto for less than $1.50 a piece.

For the NGK B8ES sub, the Denso 4030 ( W24ESU) is available at Rock Auto for $1.32 ea. plus shipping. Or at Amazon for $5.60 ea.

 

[tatu]

I had read or heard someplace that there were fake NGK plugs available. Does anybody know if this might be true?