80k on original spark plugs

[ProtegePower]

Yeah you heard right... I bought the car new in June 2002, and it just now occured to me that I might want to replace the spark plugs, having rolled over 80k this week. Never had any problems though, and I'm curious to see what they look like coming out. I'll post if anyone wants to see.

Also, I'm on my original battery, but I already bought a new one and just need to pop it in. No battery problems either in 6 years...

Thought you guys would get a laugh out of this. Are 80k on the same plugs (not to mention battery) completely unheard of?

Oh, and I'll probably go for the NGK v-power from reading other threads here.

[i12drivemyMP5]

Yeah I'd go back with whatever lasted 80k with no problems too.

[aMaff]

wow, I'd LOVE to see pics of these plugs LOL. I pulled a set of V-Powers out of the Miata right when I bought it that you could barely tell there was a "V" cut into the electrode anymore. It was bad. No clue how many miles were on those plugs tho.

[fishdonotbounce]

ummmm I saw this thread and just realized that I'm about to roll over 80k. What's even funnier is that I think I still have the original plugs in there as well lol. I'll get a tune up this summer and tell you but by then it'll prolly be around 85-90k lol.

[Wolf Man]

i just did a full tune up on my 2003 protege 5, 130k. plugs shot, and wires fell apart pulling em off..ran great up till about 3 days before i got the tuneup..started sputtering and missing a lot..

im so ashamed...lol....and they were all original parts...

[whitemp5seattle]

wow that's impressive...my oem battery failed last year finally. I'd be interested in seeing the plugs

[Nomad]

Sounds like 90% of the cars on the road. Nobody changes plugs and wires regularly, even the sellers sho say they do...

[Diehonda]

V Power FTW!

I have done really well with these.

[aMaff]

I change my plugs every 20-30k miles...

[evilmonkeyMSP]

I'll be grabbing some plugs this weekend for the Pfizzle

[ProtegePower]

Photos as promised... and they aren't pretty either! Note: the gaps are twice what they started out as.

[aMaff]

also the electrodes are really worn down. Nice.

[RABID_MP5]

yeah plugs are pretty cheap and it's good to remove them occasionally anyway to help prevent seize-up (plus yeah use anti-seize lube) And inspect for differences across them for possible cylinder problems etc. But it's not like a 70s era car with leaded gas and lower voltage ignition secondary. You were lucky to even get like 20K off those. I hear of people hitting 100K on a variety of cars. But at these gas prices, I want my ignition parts spot-on. Always remember the gap, and don't think to heavily under-gap to let the electrode erosion "grow into it"; the best mileage/performance is basically at the biggest gap that will reliable fire.

[Tom03es]

Nice. Those things are worn down to little nubs.

The plugs in my ecotec motor equiped Saturn VUE are rated for 100,000 miles. I've got about 50,000 miles on it now. I haven't done anything under that hood other than change the oil and add new wiper fluid. The coolant is suppose to be rated for 100,000 miles too, but I think I'm going to change that out soon.

[Beau M]

Notice any improvement with the new plugs?

[ProtegePower]

The new ones were pre-gapped, so I just verified the gaps, used a little anti-seize, and popped them in.

I replaced the very old battery at the same time, but regardless, startup and running felt amazingly smoother immediately. It's one of those things that change so slowly that you never notice the difference until you gain it back. I couldn't find V-power in my local parts stores (autozone, advance) so I figured the regular NGK ones would be fine... especially now that I'll be changing them *on time* from now on!

And yes, every little bit helps with gas prices expected to reach $3.75 this summer! I filled up yesterday for $43 at $3.18/gal. It always makes me remember filling up my red 1994 protege for about $12.50 at $0.97/gal when I first started driving in 1999...