opinion on iridium plugs

[Mike McNaney]

That pic goes directly into my favorites. Right next to camel toe Elvis.
Radio active plugs! What a hoot!
I wonder how many mechanics got sick after installing the "new technology" plugs day after day.

Heres a pic of a side gapped plug.

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h310/1970A-100/sidegapped.jpg

You cut the ground strap back and the spark can only jump from the one side of the electrode. Exsposing the spark. Mainly for Drag racing.

The life of the plug is significantly decreased since the spark cant walk around the electrode on this style electrode plug and it eats away at the electrode pretty quick. Especially with an MSD setup or similiar.
Of course the wear spot is switched primarily to the ground strap when using a small pinpoint electrode style.

Did you notice what denso says about the metals hardness?

I guess they are saying that the resistance of iridiuim is ultra low which would artificially increase the intensity of the spark generated. This may have a negative effect on the coils though. time will tell.

Somebody using them now should check in after a couple thousand miles with some input on coil performance (measured)

 

[Dink]

Was given a set of NGK Iridiums to try after rubbishing NGK plugs to there sales rep.
No noticable performance gain, no noticable milage gain, BUT they dont foul up.
I have noticed no other advantage to them, they dont foul up; oh and mine were free!!!

Dink

Ok progress report!!! my free NGK iridiums, crapped out:shock: Not surprised NGK are crap. I personally and professionally have only ever seen NGK plugs dud out.
I have a set of Denso Iridiums to go in.

Dink

 

[saddlewarmer]

Got a 82 gs850l friday. was running on only 3 cylinders. pulled the plug and cylinder 1 and laid it on the head, fired bike up and it was sparking all around the plug body, but not to the electrode. put a new plug on and tried it, sparked to the electrode only. put the plug in and now it runs on 4 cyls. Cleaned the old plug and tried again. did the same thing. any answers?

 

[saddlewarmer]

to above post. did set gaps, etc. gonna replace all 4 plugs anyway.

 

[cloudbreakmd]

I run NGK Iridium plugs in my sportbikes. They last a lot longer than standard plugs and it is a huge PITA to replace plugs on the 900RR. Performance? Probably not, but atleast the bike will run smoother longer.

 

[tkent02]

Dink, how did it fail???

Dink, how did it fail???

Ok progress report!!! my free NGK iridiums, crapped out:shock: Not surprised NGK are crap. I personally and professionally have only ever seen NGK plugs dud out.
I have a set of Denso Iridiums to go in.

Dink

Fouled out?
Something else?
Just for the record I've never had a problem with an NGK plug on anything.

And thanks for the book download yesterday.

 

[Mike McNaney]

Saddle warmer,
The electrode is probably seperated inside the plug insulator.
This is one of the standard ways a plug can burn out. Especially on a high heat motor like air cooled motorcycles.

What brand and type was it? You see alot of disdain for NGK on this forum (Dink) Was it NGK?

 

[Guest]

Im holding out for the depleted uranium plugs to come out.

ON a vehicle with impossible to reach plugs you need the ones that last the longest, but on a GS it takes about two minutes to change them all, so who cares how long they last?
My truck took several hours and I never got the last two, need to raise the motor up to get them. I still have scars on my arms from the attempt.
But a GS?

I paid a shop to change plugs in my car last week. It takes me two hours to change the front three and there's no way that I can reach the back three. Chevy used to have a car that they called a Monza (not a Corvair but it used the same back window) that required pulling the engine to reach one of the spark plugs.

 

[Mike McNaney]

Shops have a trick we dont have. A lift!! Alot of times its just as easy from underneath when you are standing straight up and can see your angle of approach. Alot of FWD vehicles are nearly impossible from the top but are cake from the bottom (with the right body position).

I know of two American Monza's. Corvair Monza with Spyder and Spyder Turbo models (cool and rare crap) and the Cavalier body Monza with the Olds 260 V8. (complete crap)

Sorry Ive never been a GM fan.

 

[Dink]

Saddle warmer,
What brand and type was it? You see alot of disdain for NGK on this forum (Dink) Was it NGK?

Ok progress report!!! my free NGK iridiums, crapped out:shock: Not surprised NGK are crap. I personally and professionally have only ever seen NGK plugs dud out.
I have a set of Denso Iridiums to go in.

Dink

Plugs always foul up somewhat as I live a kilometre above sealevel; this is why I trtied iridium to start with, I do noy know what is wrong with them past that there is no spark, one crapped out after 1000kms, and a second one went at 2500kms. EVERY dud plug I have ever seen has been NGK!!! Ten years in the industry BTW.

Dink

 

[lecroy]

EVERY dud plug I have ever seen has been NGK!!! Ten years in the industry BTW.Dink

Given a poor enough mixture I heve never seen a plug that would not foul. If you know of something that will not, let me know and I will toss a set into the GSXR. It's the worst 4-stroke bike I have ever owned for plug fouling.

Have a friend who swears by the iridium plugs in the 2 stroke sleds.

At Cummins we did some strange things. This was Luigi's crazy plazma ignition....

http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/4766855-description.html

Do a search on magnetic or plazma plugs and see what you can find....

 

[Carter Turk]

I agree with The mess's post. A local mechanic stated that if the gap is bigger, the greater the likelyhood of complete combustion.

Sounds logical. Stock they say about .028 and he suggested .035, so I've been doing it ever since. Seems to work.

If you just look at the difference between the two gaps you can see that a much larger spark will result.

Don't know a thing about Iridiums.

 

[Guest]

I know of two American Monza's. Corvair Monza with Spyder and Spyder Turbo models (cool and rare crap) and the Cavalier body Monza with the Olds 260 V8. (complete crap)

Sorry Ive never been a GM fan.

I owned a '68 Corvair with the standard 110 HP engine and a 4 speed. It's the only car that I regret selling. For the era, it had excellent handling, braking and acceleration. Best visibility of any car I've owned. The only thing that would stop it in the snow was low ground clearance. And 25 mpg with that old technology was fantastic.

Today, designers could do wonders with the configuration. Water cooling would be easy, and electronic shifting. A truly flat floor is fantastic, too.

 

[Dink]

Given a poor enough mixture I heve never seen a plug that would not foul.

I said they no longer produce any spark NOT that they are fouled up, what can we expect though NGK are crap!!!

Dink

 

[lecroy]

I said they no longer produce any spark NOT that they are fouled up, what can we expect though NGK are crap!!!

Dink

No recommendations, just that NGA are crap?

Are you just looking at the plug with your eyes while your cranking over the motor and that's how you determined there is no spark?

 

[Guest]

I agree with The mess's post. A local mechanic stated that if the gap is bigger, the greater the likelyhood of complete combustion.

Sounds logical. Stock they say about .028 and he suggested .035, so I've been doing it ever since. Seems to work.

If you just look at the difference between the two gaps you can see that a much larger spark will result.

Don't know a thing about Iridiums.

In the '70s, the now-defunct magazine Cycle published a lot of good technical articles. An article on spark plugs explained reasons for larger and smaller gaps, and said that in almost all applications the best gap is 0.035". But most motorcycles of the era specified smaller gaps. This was only because the alternators of the day couldn't pump out enough power to run coils big enough to consistently reach a voltage that would throw a spark across a gap that large. That explains the 0.028" gap.

Lots of GSRers own very new bikes. What is the factory recommended gap on those?

 

[lecroy]

But most motorcycles of the era specified smaller gaps. This was only because the alternators of the day couldn't pump out enough power to run coils big enough to consistently reach a voltage that would throw a spark across a gap that large. That explains the 0.028" gap.

Lots of GSRers own very new bikes. What is the factory recommended gap on those?

My old Triumph I ran 0.022".

In my old H2 (have to laugh what they sell these for now) I ran plugs that were flat across the face. There was no way to adjust the gap. Older than that most of my bikes had a mag.

My old Hodaka dirt bike w/mag was 0.024"

I think my 94 GSX1100RW (all stock) is 0.026" and she is a plug eater. Not sure how much energy the stock ignition is good for. Something to measure but I would guess its well under 100mJ. It's weak. I doubt there is a plug made that this bike won't foul out once the temperatures fall below 40.

When I was running Methanol (race bike) I was in the low 20s gap. If you spray, it gets a little less.

With my current setup (gasoline) I am running NGK D9EAs set around 0.030" to 0.035" This ignition will put out 190mJ once the RPMs are up. At idle (where the bike makes a lot of sludge in the intake) it can put out 2.28 Joules. Its more like a flame thrower and can arc 2+ inches in air. I never foul a plug with this ignition.

The following is from the ignition manual...
Spark Plugs: Choosing the correct spark plug design and heat range is important when trying to get the best performance possible. Since there
are so many engine combinations and manufacturers, FDP cannot recommend which plug or gap is exactly right for your application.
It is recommended to follow the engine builder or manufacturer?s specification for spark plugs. With that, you can then experiment with the plug
gap to obtain the best performance. The gap of the plugs can be opened in 0.005" increments, then tested until the best performance is obtained.

 

[Dink]

No recommendations, just that NGA are crap?

Are you just looking at the plug with your eyes while your cranking over the motor and that's how you determined there is no spark?

No the cold pipes, poor performence, backfiring etc was a gead give away, being as I had crap NGK's in it then just a matter of finding which one this time.

Recommenrations, dont use NGK!! Am currently trying out Denso iridiums, will let you know.

Dink

 

[lecroy]

And what makes you think they are not fowled? Must be more to it.

 

[Dink]

And what makes you think they are not fowled? Must be more to it.

Visual inspection, a lot of years of experience etc etc and so forth.
Plus they were NGK plugs so I knew they would give problems.

Dink