Question re: new plugs and wires

[jonlong]

I'm at 78k miles and my car had a hard time starting this morning. Was driving in the rain last night and it was still wet this morning. The car felt like it was not firing on all cylinders for about 15 seconds and I had to feather the gas to keep it running. After a while, it was running fine. I'm on the original set of spark plug wires, so that seems like the likely culprit.

My question is this: What all do I need to order when replacing the wires/plugs? I plan on ordering from ngk.com. It looks like the set comes with only 2 wires, so do I need to order 2 sets? Do I need to order boots, or can those be transferred from my existing wires? Anything else I should know?

Also, what are the effects of using the long-reach ngk plugs over the standard ones?

 

[Dimitrios]

There are only two wires and two coil packs (which generally aren't replaced unless you have other issues).

The long reach plugs: everyone has had different experiences based on their setups and expectations.

 

[c4racer]

I accidentally installed the long reach NGK plugs and one of them got hit by a piston closing the gap up. I measured and they are just over .25" longer. I would just run the stock NGK plug - no reason to risk pistons hitting spark plugs IMHO.

 

[Tzar177]

Your pistons will not hit the long reach plugs if they are gapped properly. The JDM engine uses long reach plugs while having a higher compression with no probs

 

[c4racer]

Your pistons will not hit the long reach plugs if they are gapped properly. The JDM engine uses long reach plugs while having a higher compression with no probs

Well - mine did and they were gapped at .45

 

[i12drivemyMP5]

I use the ZFR5F-11 long reach NGKs and have never had a problem....unless idling smoother is a problem.


To answer the OP...2 wires, unless you are running the 1.8 coils.

NGK copper v pwr BKR5E-11 @ .044 are factory and the wire set is ZE76.

 

[jonlong]

Thanks for the info. I ordered the wires and a set of the standard reach plugs. I have been using the long reach, but I'm curious if there's any difference.

 

[16902]

You may want some of that dielectric grease for the boot and maybe some antiseize for the threads of the plug. Oh, and don't torque the plugs down too hard. You may already know this but just giving you a heads up.

 

[poison]

Pfft, I always make sure to grab a breaker bar and torque the plugs down real tight like.

 

[slavrenz]

Pfft, I always make sure to grab a breaker bar and torque the plugs down real tight like.

I hope that was a joke (pow)

 

[c4racer]

3 of the 4 holes did not have a problem on mine either!! And the one hole only hit once, didn't happen again. but I really think you are rolling the dice on the tolerances within the motor to run the long reach plugs in a regular compression motor. I do have a Japanese market take-out motor, but from what I understand the longblock is identical to the US spec motor.

Anyway - I would not recommend using long reach plugs on these motors based on my experience. You may have a problem, but then again - you might have piston to plug contact too. I did not notice any difference in idle between the stock plugs and the long reach either. Except it got a bunch worse once the piston hit that one plug and closed up the gap to almost nothing - idled like crap then and threw a misfire code too.

I use the ZFR5F-11 long reach NGKs and have never had a problem....unless idling smoother is a problem.


To answer the OP...2 wires, unless you are running the 1.8 coils.

NGK copper v pwr BKR5E-11 @ .044 are factory and the wire set is ZE76.