Thread: spark plugs

so i got autolite 606's and autolite 104's and i am planning on dropping my pulley in the kind-of near future and i was wondering if i should stick with the 606's or go ahead and use the 104's now? and im guessing a .053 gap on the 104's or a .055 gap on the 606's. any recommendations? thanks

edit: also would a smaller gap be better? in a post here i saw that a .050 gap for copper plugs is recommended. any truth to that?

stick with 606's for now at .060-.065........when you drop plug ranges your gap will be smaller. Stock is .065........if you drop plug heat ranges now your gas mileage will suffer greatly. Drop it when you get a pulley/tune.........they will help kill the KR. Make sure to have all supporting mods and tune before you drop that pulley size.

thank you so the .050 gap is a no-no?

not sure how much it would hurt it, but I was told to gap mine at .060 so that is what I recommend to you...

the bigger the gap, the cleaner the spark will be.

bio.........you want to give us a mini clinic on how to gap a plug as far as when you should have close gap vs. the wider and what advantages are for each.......???

get feeler gauges. open up the gap with a small screwdriver, then put the feeler gauge in between the gap and then close it back up by hitting it with something or hitting it on something. then youve successfully gapped your plug. i used something like this:



a lot of people use something like this (this kind you just slide it along to open it up and stop at the point you want):

The wider the gap the farther the spark jumps. That exposes the spark to more of the a/f mix. The narrower does just the opposite. You have to run a smaller gap with more boost or the spark will get blown out. You can keep opening up the gap till you start to miss. Then back it back down.

Originally Posted by Bio248

get feeler gauges. open up the gap with a small screwdriver, then put the feeler gauge in between the gap and then close it back up by hitting it with something or hitting it on something. then youve successfully gapped your plug. i used something like this:



a lot of people use something like this (this kind you just slide it along to open it up and stop at the point you want):

I know how to physically gap them.........I was just wondering how you determine what your gap should be???

read my post question answered.

gap them bigger until you start misfiring like said above. then close them up a little bit.

im pretty lazy though, so i usually gap them once and run the car. i gap mine at .052 usually and then put them in.

Originally Posted by BullzEye

I know ya'll mentioned spark plug gaps, but I just ordered NGK TR6's, and was wondering what should the gapping be on those. My GTP is completely stock, 2002 Grand Prix. I do plan to drop in a 180* thermostat in the future as well, but doing it little right now.

I wondering if the TR6's are fine on a stock GTP and what the gap should be on those??

I will drop a S/C pulley when I have the $$$.

Any help would be greatly appreciated... new to this performance moddin' gig..lol

Thank you for your time and help.

BullzEye

Before you mod anything, please read the safely modding your 3800 thread in the general tech section.If you just drop a pulley size without the correct supporting mods, your car is a time bomb. A thermostat change will not do anything for you until you can have the pcm reprogrammed to activate the fan turn on points at other than stock temps. I dont know for sure what to gap those plugs at but I have 606's gapped at .58 If those are the stock heat range plugs then gap them at .055-.060 That should work and if you are getting any pop then close the gap a little bit.

copper is way cheaper and runs better but they dont last nearly as long. You have to change copper plugs every 10k for best performance. what are they gapped at out of the box?

just so you know the msd coils are not any better than your stockers(unless there is something wrong with them) they are a looks mod only.

actually rated less than the stockers..

Originally Posted by reallyfast1

they must be it says on the back of the package DO NOT GAP because of the electrode being so fine... im yet to install them im waiting for my msd coils on monday then all the new stuff goes in!!

Because you don't want iridium plugs with our cars...you want copper core. Take them or send them back and buy autolite's.

Originally Posted by Liquifire

just so you know the msd coils are not any better than your stockers(unless there is something wrong with them) they are a looks mod only.

Who cares...I just bought them because they look pretty

Originally Posted by Bio248

actually rated less than the stockers..

True dat.

Ok got your suggestions.

Bought my Autolite 606's Platinum today...adn just got those NGK TR6's I ordered in the mail.. since it was suggested to go with 606's since my Supercharged GTP is stock.

THey wrote on the reciept to gap the TR6's between .52-.55

now, what is the stock boost a Stock 2002 GTP Supercharged puts out??..

and which one of these plugs should I install.

I just wanna clarify this before I install the 606's.

Suggestion: TR6 or 606?.. whats the recommendation..if you say 606, hey well atleast I already have the TR6's for when I do later mods..lol