How does my spark plug look

2401 Views 14 Replies 9 Participants Last post by smj999smj, Dec 25, 2017

Nissan4Life

Discussion Starter · Dec 19, 2017 (Edited)

Changed my oil at 85K this weekend. Thought I would pull a spark plug and take a look. Looks OK. Surprising that this is the first time I have pulled a plug yet. Those new plugs sure are fancy and long lasting; as well as expensive. Took a gap reading. Looks to be at .045" with the factory gap at .043. after 85K the plug only wore 2 one thousandsth of an inch. How does it look to you guys. Was thinking about doing some engine maintenance this summer. Maybe I'll hold off. And do we run the "11" version of this plug? That is the "//" I see on the plug below the PLFR5A.

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smj999smj

· #8 · Dec 23, 2017

"11" is "wide gap." The "5" is the heat range; on NGK's, the lower the number, the hotter the plug.

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smj999smj

· #10 · Dec 23, 2017

Iridium is not a poor conductor of electricity. Is not as good as copper, gold, silver or aluminum, but it is better than tungsten, zinc, platinum, iron and steel. The advantages or Iridium is that it is very corrosion resistant, it has a very high melting point and is very hard, making it able to last over 100,000 miles as a spark plug electrode.

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smj999smj

· #11 · Dec 23, 2017

Clint said:
My 07 Pathfinder and my 10 Frontier both had DILF plugs which are iridium, are the PILF plugs standard plugs?

Clint

The NGK 6240 (PLFR5A-11) was the factory plug in the VQ40DE engine up to 2007, when they switched to the Iridium. Ironically, Nissan still kept the service interval at 105,000 miles, which the Iridiums can easily surpass. Performance-wise, I've used both and haven't noticed any difference other than the price and longevity. I can get 6240's for around $10 per plug compared to around $18 for the NGK Laser Iridiums. Couple of notes: do not mistake the Laser Iridiums with the IridiumIX plug, which is an economy iridium plug with a service life of 60,000 miles. Also, beware of counterfeit Nissan and NGK spark plugs on Ebay. I got a set of Nissan plugs (PLFR5A-11 NGK) on Ebay and when I received them, I noticed a copper core inside the ground electrode; NGK Laser Platinum plugs are supposed to have a solid Nickel ground electrode. When I looked at the box, it had the NGK part number correct, but had the Nissan part number for the PLFR6A-11 plugs (I think it was 22401-01M16 instead of -01M15). So, stick to reputable part sources like Rockauto, Advance Auto, Autozone, NAPA, etc.

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smj999smj

· #15 · Dec 25, 2017

rodhotter said:
i had never seen any comments on the variations of iridium plugs, thanks for the good info as the learning never ends. i like to cross reference to a standard ngk plug when possible but prolly due to higher profits many sites do not show that!

If you go to NGK's site, it has a part locator. If you look up your application, it'll show all of the NGK plugs that will work in it and will footnote the original equipment plug. It also has part #'s for coil-on-plugs, ignition wires and oxygen sensors. They also have some good information on the site about their plugs.

www.ngksparkplugs.com

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