E3 Spark Plugs

[shadows]

Originally Posted by street rodder

I put E3 plugs in my truck and my car at the same time, the parts guy said I'd be sorry. Well my car is an 93 Mustang and right now it will barely even run. Back firing, missing and runs very roughf. My truck is an 02 F150 and since I pulled my car 400mi round trip, I have a intermittent miss in the engine. Sometimes it will miss once or twice or it will miss constantly under load.
I wonder what it could be?
Im pulling the pluge ASAP and I'll let you know. It sure is a coincidence.

It's not the E3 plugs- you have other issues

OP- always has been and always will- one's who market something as better- simple truth- in 30 years have never seen or known one of the nuts to back up their better product in a head to head test- where the one that is known to not provide any proof ove standard

quite simple actually- you get a product/salesman to state their's is so much better- you say-

"if it isn't as you say and so much better you will pay time and effort in testing that proved such"

name one- I mean one- who well step up to the challenge where they will lost money wehen their- so called better than- proves up

in the early 80's I could never find any who would stand behind their so called "better than what the manuafature had"

always been willing to see what salesman have- always been up to a real terst

fools beware- someone is there to take your money

[camarogal]

Originally Posted by street rodder

I put E3 plugs in my truck and my car at the same time, the parts guy said I'd be sorry. Well my car is an 93 Mustang and right now it will barely even run. Back firing, missing and runs very rough. My truck is an 02 F150 and since I pulled my car 400mi round trip, I have a intermittent miss in the engine. Sometimes it will miss once or twice or it will miss constantly under load.
I wonder what it could be?
Im pulling the pluge ASAP and I'll let you know. It sure is a coincidence.

My husband is almost home with our car that was in need of repair due to those spark plugs. I have not seen the sheet on it yet, so I can't tell you exactly what the problem was. I do know that it is something to do with cylinder #4. I will post again once I know the details on it. One thing is for sure. I will NEVER use an E3 plug again.

EDIT: It turns out that the plugs caused the cylinder to misfire. The technician was NOT impressed with our choice of aftermarket plugs.

[jamesslcx]

I bought an 03 Toyota pick-up about two weeks ago. The plugs were in bad shape so I bought some E3 plugs to put in, mainly as an experiment. I have to say they made a difference, better idle and gas mileage so far so I have no complaints. They may not be the be all end all for plugs but they work out ok.

[knightjp]

Originally Posted by jamesslcx

I bought an 03 Toyota pick-up about two weeks ago. The plugs were in bad shape so I bought some E3 plugs to put in, mainly as an experiment. I have to say they made a difference, better idle and gas mileage so far so I have no complaints. They may not be the be all end all for plugs but they work out ok.

Its nice to see that someone had a good experience with them. I haven't heard anything about them supporting my engine yet.

[Levithan9]

As a professional tech, I say go right on ahead. They are great plugs until they ruin your gas mileage, and you come to my shop looking for answers as to why your only getting 200 miles out of a full tank of gas. I pull a spark plug, and BAM...there is the E3 logo staring me right in the face.

I've done plenty of tune ups on Ford F-150s that the owner thought E3s were a good deal. They were new, had a different packaging, and were on the shelf where they could put their hands on it. I think I'll grab 8 of'em.

Reminds me of the days of the Splitfire spark plugs. Witch got sued by the FTC and was basically taken off the market.

So yes, get them. I need money for my Christmas presents.

[SleepyHead98]

I had them, they did work great, but there apears to be manufacturer defects in them. IE nipple ends not punched they would loosen and cause misfires all 6 of them. Second set, one just wanted to randomly misfire. ... They did give me my money back though, so atleast they stand behind their product.

[haiderk]

Why all the hype about these E3 plugs? I've never really shopped around for plugs as NGK/ Bosch are cheap enough. In Australia you're paying between $20 for a set of coppers to $100ish for platinums that last 100,000kms on an n/a or properly tuned turbo motor.

[1LEguy]

I tried these in my 1969 SS Camaro and I had two foul out after 200 miles. These are nothing but a copper core plug with a gimmick side wire. I am going back to NGK Iridium's and would never put in any of my cars. Remember Split Fire? Those of us old enough to remember saw them come and go. Didn't work either just like Slick 50 another gimmick. If it's not OE there is a reason!

[knightjp]

Originally Posted by SleepyHead98

I had them, they did work great, but there apears to be manufacturer defects in them. IE nipple ends not punched they would loosen and cause misfires all 6 of them. Second set, one just wanted to randomly misfire. ... They did give me my money back though, so atleast they stand behind their product.

Perhaps there is something to them, but its always a chance that you're taking. I'd never try them on a new car engine like my 2014 Ram. I'd think that's just asking for trouble. Besides, I don't want to mess with the warranty...

[haiderk]

Properly gapped and correct rated spark plugs should not void warranty from a regular/reputable brand. In any case, spark plugs will never be a cause of catastrophic failure, even running rough without 1-2 cylinders. Still, check the fine print of your warranty papers and run properly gapped plugs on your beloved engine.
It sparks the fuel-air mix that begins the combustion process, therefore poor spark = poor/no bang.
Spark plugs can give indication of engine trouble - eg carbon build up = running rich.

[1LEguy]

Originally Posted by haiderk

Properly gapped and correct rated spark plugs should not void warranty from a regular/reputable brand. In any case, spark plugs will never be a cause of catastrophic failure, even running rough without 1-2 cylinders. Still, check the fine print of your warranty papers and run properly gapped plugs on your beloved engine.
It sparks the fuel-air mix that begins the combustion process, therefore poor spark = poor/no bang.
Spark plugs can give indication of engine trouble - eg carbon build up = running rich.

There are no aftermarket spark plugs that will void the warranty. There have been several guys having issues with the E3 plugs fouling because they consolidate heat ranges to consolidate part numbers. Thus the lack of heat ranges. They have also been known to turn on check engine lights and to short out coils in the applications that have coils for each plug. These are facts. In the case of my engine an old 350 single coil running perfectly with NGK plugs and no fouling issues. I changed to E3 because of horsepower and fuel economy claims. 200 miles later two plugs fouled. I put back in old NGK'S and it runs like new again. For the record you can't gap an E3 plug. The combustion process is not complicated. You basically blow up gas. Platinum and Iridium don't enhance performance they simply make the plug work longer in terms of hours. Remember Split Fire, all hype and basically shut down by FTC because of false ad claims with no proof. Plugs for the most part are same design for over 120 years. They are not a complicated part and there have been no significant real advancements such as fuel injection over the carburetor. With that said, copper is the best choice for performance and conducting electricity. Plain old $.99 Champion will perform better than an iridium or platinum just won't last.

[Black Lotus]

Any spark plug that has a very sharp or pointed end on the center or side electrode will have a lower voltage requirement to fire the plug. This is where the irridium spark plugs score. They have a very fine wire center electrode and usually have a tapered to a point side electrode. Since irridium is a very hard metal and is corrosion resistant, it will last a long time and the volts required to fire the plug should remain lower than a conventional plug for a longer time.
Since an irridium type plug takes a lower voltage to fire at a given plug gap, you can widen the plug gap a bit and possibly help the low speed drivability, or run a leaner mixture, and the plug will still fire the mixture.
Sometimes a super or turbocharged engine will require quite a narrow plug gap from the factory, with an aftermarket irridium plug you can open the gap a bit and possibly (possibly!) help the drivability.
Changing the gap in an irridium plug is simply a matter of using a gapping tool. You just want to make sure you don't break the fine wire center electrode.
In both my turbo cars, I installed irridium plugs with a bit wider gap, and pretty much forgot about them.
This is also a matter of degree, and shades of gray, so what works in one application may not work in another.

[1LEguy]

Originally Posted by Black Lotus

Any spark plug that has a very sharp or pointed end on the center or side electrode will have a lower voltage requirement to fire the plug. This is where the irridium spark plugs score. They have a very fine wire center electrode and usually have a tapered to a point side electrode. Since irridium is a very hard metal and is corrosion resistant, it will last a long time and the volts required to fire the plug should remain lower than a conventional plug for a longer time.
Since an irridium type plug takes a lower voltage to fire at a given plug gap, you can widen the plug gap a bit and possibly help the low speed drivability, or run a leaner mixture, and the plug will still fire the mixture.
Sometimes a super or turbocharged engine will require quite a narrow plug gap from the factory, with an aftermarket irridium plug you can open the gap a bit and possibly (possibly!) help the drivability.
Changing the gap in an irridium plug is simply a matter of using a gapping tool. You just want to make sure you don't break the fine wire center electrode.
In both my turbo cars, I installed irridium plugs with a bit wider gap, and pretty much forgot about them.
This is also a matter of degree, and shades of gray, so what works in one application may not work in another.

It is the fine wire that makes a difference. However the Iridium does nothing for the performance. The iridium in an iridium plug is so small that it is almost insignificant. It is merely a touch of the precious metal just as the platinum plugs. The focus here and my comments were specific to E3 were that the plugs did not last. Sparks take the paths of least resistance. The E3 plug offers multiple sharp edges that the spark may land. With these and a copper center electrode and no precious metal the plug in theory should perform better than any platinum or iridium as it exposes the flame front with it's open configuration the flame front should get to the most robust air and fuel mixture rather than a plug with a standard j wire configuration that causes the flame to create a mushroom. Thus carbon in center of piston on an old engine when torn down to rebuild. It is quite strange that the E3 plugs fouled at 200 miles. For a long lasting plug iridium or platinum will do the job. For horsepower gains they do nothing. Have spent countless hours in dyno rooms on cars and motorcycles to see a .99 Champion outperform all platinum and iridium plugs. Also platinum is around $1100.00 per ounce and iridium is around 600.00 per ounce which warrants the question of how much of a precious metal is really in a 6.99 spark plug? Until someone makes a plug that exposes center electrode or increases watts to plug a standard j wire plug of any flavor will not increase horsepower any more than a copper core plug it will only last longer.

[1LEguy]

Has anyone tried the new Pulstar PlasmaCore plug? Sort of expensive and say they have a capacitor.