Vibration at idle, gone with spark plug change

ruthrj

ruthrj

:
2023 CX-5 2.5 Turbo AWD Auto
RIP 8/23:2013 CX-5 Sport FWD Auto 120k
Hey all,

Wanted to share my spark plug change experience. 2013 CX-5 Sport has 58k miles, 6 years old now. Only owner.

Noticed after switching between my CX-5 and my Odyssey that my CX5 vibrates a bit when idling. Nothing concerning, Id describe it as an annoyingly perceptible vibration that my newer Odyssey doesnt have. I think it comes on so slowly over time that you dont realize until you drive another car for a while.

I was initially worried that perhaps the intake valves had carbon buildup and needed cleaning but I really dont think thats an issue with these cars (especially with my highway commute). Found another thread that kind of hinted at a vibration at idle that I thought I had. They did some stuff along with changing the spark plugs and they reported their idle smoothed out.

I can report my slight vibration at idle is now gone. All I did was change my stock spark plugs with the equivalent Danko Iridium Plugs. Smooth idle now to where I can feel a difference when the AC compressor is running or not (like I did when new).Vibration idle was just large enough to mask the two different feelings through the wheel and my seat.
 
ruthrj said:
Hey all,

Wanted to share my spark plug change experience. 2013 CX-5 Sport has 58k miles, 6 years old now. Only owner.

Noticed after switching between my CX-5 and my Odyssey that my CX5 vibrates a bit when idling. Nothing concerning, Id describe it as an annoyingly perceptible vibration that my newer Odyssey doesnt have. I think it comes on so slowly over time that you dont realize until you drive another car for a while.

I was initially worried that perhaps the intake valves had carbon buildup and needed cleaning but I really dont think thats an issue with these cars (especially with my highway commute). Found another thread that kind of hinted at a vibration at idle that I thought I had. They did some stuff along with changing the spark plugs and they reported their idle smoothed out.

I can report my slight vibration at idle is now gone. All I did was change my stock spark plugs with the equivalent Danko Iridium Plugs. Smooth idle now to where I can feel a difference when the AC compressor is running or not (like I did when new).Vibration idle was just large enough to mask the two different feelings through the wheel and my seat.
Click to expand...
Did you mean Denso Iridium spark plugs? What kind of factory plugs do you have? I personally would go for NGK plugs although the price on equivalent Denso plugs for SkyActiv-G is much lower.
 
Yes, Denso. Stupid autocorrect on my phone lol. Danko isn*t even a word is it?

No NGK plugs in stock locally, and you*re right about the price. At 2x the price I can*t imagine NGK lasting 2x longer than the Denso plugs. No performance difference noticed between the old stock plugs and the Denso plugs. Vibration gone and that*s it.
 
ruthrj said:
Yes, Denso. Stupid autocorrect on my phone lol. Danko isn*t even a word is it?

No NGK plugs in stock locally, and you*re right about the price. At 2x the price I can*t imagine NGK lasting 2x longer than the Denso plugs. No performance difference noticed between the old stock plugs and the Denso plugs. Vibration gone and that*s it.
Click to expand...
But you don't really know true compatibility issues unless after many more miles. I've learned lessons that cheaper is not necessary always better, and there's no free lunch. Mazda specifys OEM plugs which are made by NGK, so I go for OEM or at least the NGK's. Again, what are the stock plugs of yours as I heard Mazda did put Denso plugs in for early MY CX-5's, i.e. 2.0L, although only NGK's are used for later CX-5's from factory.
 
Hah, left them in the house. Looking at the plug, it has these markings:

mazda DILKAR7F PE01 18110

Pretty sure that last number is a 0. Hard to read from the bit of crud baked in there.
 
ruthrj said:
Hah, left them in the house. Looking at the plug, it has these markings:

mazda DILKAR7F PE01 18110

Pretty sure that last number is a 0. Hard to read from the bit of crud baked in there.
Click to expand...
Your stock plugs are older version NGK DILKAR7F8 plugs. If you use Denso newer version ZC20HPR11 plugs with wider gap, it should be fine.


Anchorman said:
All the plugs versions for these engines end 18-110. The early versions - PE-01 and PE-02 have been superseded by later interchangeable versions PE-5S and PE-5R.

The only difference then is who made them PE-01 and the later PE-5R are made by NGK. PE-02 and the later PE-5S are made by Denso. Mazda no longer supply PE-01 or PE-02 although you might find old stock on ebay.

To help reassure you, Ive attached a screenshot from the online LIVE parts list - this is current as of now. If I try to select either PE-01 or PE-02 it comes up with a supersession box. In this screenshot you can see all these part numbers including the associated manufacturers plug and you can see that our OP has indeed got the correct plug. He could have bought Denso FC20HPR8 and he would still be correct. Hes basically taken the early Denso plug out and put the later NGK plug in - thats absolutely OK. So let me show it another way;

Original version PE-01-18-110 (was NGK DILKAR7F8) is now PE-5R-18-110 (NGK ILKAR7L11)

Original version PE-02-18-110 (was Denso FC20HPR8) is now PE-5S-10-110 (Denso ZC20HPR11)

I would always fit the later version. All these modern iridium plugs are going to wider gaps to improve performance and in the later part numbers, both NGK and Denso show the factory set gap in the part number - so the last two digits - 11 equals 1.1mm. Here is that screen shot with the supersession;

fullsizeoutput_17b0.jpg
Click to expand...

However, therere people here, including OrangeVirus Tuning, believe we should use OEM plugs which provide ion sensing function.

GAXIBM said:
The plugs provide ion sensing for the engine computer. Some have used non oem (see engine misfires thread) and after a lot of diagnostic work the problem was fixed by replacing with oem...
Click to expand...
OVT said:
Without getting into too much detail...you guys really...really..really want to use OEM plugs....
Click to expand...
OVT said:
the reason is because the ECU uses the ignition coils, which measure a resistance across the OEM plug for pre-ignition, and extremely low levels of knock retard the knock sensor cannot pick up, along with that it gives the ECU individual cylinder information, the spark plugs are actually used "as a sensor."

How it works exactly is proprietary information that I am not willing to share, you want to use OEM plugs.
Click to expand...
 
Thank you! Should I run into any issues, back to OEM plugs for sure.

EDIT: bang up job summarizing that other thread for me btw, greatly appreciated! I wonder if those misfire issues were caused by non-iridium plugs. Switching straight back to OEM plugs would be the best way to minimize variables when troubleshooting.
 
Last edited:
ruthrj said:
Yes, Denso. Stupid autocorrect on my phone lol. Danko isn*t even a word is it?

No NGK plugs in stock locally, and you*re right about the price. At 2x the price I can*t imagine NGK lasting 2x longer than the Denso plugs. No performance difference noticed between the old stock plugs and the Denso plugs. Vibration gone and that*s it.
Click to expand...

How corroded were the stocks?
 
Not bad at all actually. Iridium tips were nice and clean. Color looked healthy, no flecks of anything present. Spot at the base of the insulator where the boot left it exposed was filthy brown though. About 2x the amount of oily residue going up the threads on spark plug from the rightmost cylinder (looking down at the engine from the front of the car). Gaps on the OEM plugs visibly smaller than the Denso plugs that replaced them.
 
Last edited:
ruthrj said:
Not bad at all actually. Iridium tips were nice and clean. Color looked healthy, no flecks of anything present. Spot at the base of the insulator where the boot left it exposed was filthy brown though. About 2x the amount of oily residue going up the threads on spark plug from the rightmost cylinder (looking down at the engine from the front of the car). Gaps on the OEM plugs visibly smaller than the Denso plugs that replaced them.
Click to expand...
You have older version of stock NGK plugs. Older version plugs have smaller gap.

sergeyv said:
Workshop manual shows different plug on the pic though.

am3uun00001936.gif

Specification

Spark plug type
PE01-18110, PE02-18110

Perhaps they're different from those in early models and 2016 has a different plug.
Furthermore,

Spark plug gap (PE01-18-110, PE02-18- 110)
Standard: 0.751.10 mm {0.0300.043 in}
New spark plug (reference): 0.750.85 mm {0.0300.033 in}

Spark plug gap (PE5R-18-110, PE5S-18- 110)
Standard: 1.051.40 mm {0.04140.0551 in}
New spark plug (reference): 1.051.15 mm {0.04140.0452 in}
Click to expand...

I have never experienced any difference in ignition by installing a good NGK/Denso spark plug instead of OEM one. I've always used iridium or double iridium.
Click to expand...
 
For what it's worth...I replaced my spark plugs recently and went with OEM. Turns out they have NGK model numbers on them...

I'll just get the NGK's next time.
 
ColoradoDriver said:
For what it's worth...I replaced my spark plugs recently and went with OEM. Turns out they have NGK model numbers on them...

I'll just get the NGK's next time.
Click to expand...

And I got the NGK's which were half the price of the OEMs. OEM "Ion sensing" comments aside, the NGK's have been perfect.
 
I'd opt to not replace mine. This board and all the people here led to me replacing mine at something north of 80K miles I believe, and the only difference was to my bank account and 20 minutes of my time. Runs 100% identical. 100% identical fuel economy. 100% identical everything, and the plugs I removed gapped within 0.001" of spec. Waste of money and time.
 
Why did you replace them anyway? If you have a rough idle its the first thing Id suggest checking before going elsewhere. Just pull them out and check for build up. No load racing or cleaning with gasoline could be your fix. But if you dont have an issue to begin with, like you said, dont fix what isnt broke. Or just replace according to schedule as preventative maintenance.
 
Last edited:
ruthrj said:
Why did you replace them anyway? If you have a rough idle it*s the first thing I*d suggest checking before going elsewhere. Just pull them out and check for build up. *No load* racing or cleaning with gasoline could be your fix. But if you don*t have an issue to begin with, like you said, don*t fix what isn*t broke. Or just replace according to schedule as preventative maintenance.
Click to expand...

Schedule is 75k miles. This forum swore it mattered and I was past that, so i did.
 
Please log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Catch22
    • Wow
2019 CX-5 Turbo Spark plug change at 32000 miles
Replies
12
Views
5K
TBD
T
A
Reading Spark Plugs While Tuning? 2024 CX-5 Turbo
Replies
4
Views
566
AL Cx5
A
T
    • Like
NGK Spark Plug ILKAR7L11 long term usage
3 4 5
Replies
87
Views
16K
yrwei52
yrwei52

Latest posts

Back