FAIL! NGK Platinum Laser Dual Ground Plug

[BamaDrewski]

OK…so I had a sudden onset of a poor running engine. It acted like the fuel injectors. The code was the dreaded P0300.

I pulled the coil packs and plugs. Low and behold, the plug on cylinder three looked like it had exploded. These were NGK Lasers (Dual ground). The entire plug was shot to pieces. The “sparking core” had either burnt up or fallen out. (Wondering if it is rattling around in my engine now…) One of the ground prongs was gone…The tip which connects to the cable came right out of the core of the plug. There was black soot everywhere. I have used these plugs many times before with no issues but this time, no such luck. These plugs only had 25K miles on them!!!

Cleaned everything us as best I could, put in a new coil pack on plug on #3 cylinder. Made sure all the coil pack connections on the others were clean as I could get them. Replaced ALL the plugs as I did not want to risk another episode of this. (Replaced with Denso “standard” dual grounds) The other plugs looked “OK” but had signs of rust at the base of the ceramic insulator.
Cranked her up and she runs right again.

I am sending NGK a letter about this. They were not cheap plugs and to have one totally crap out on a very well-maintained engine (New plug wires just 25K ago) is ridiculous!

 

[2016 4Runner SR5]

Here's the scary part. Where are the pieces? It didn't burn it, it fell apart. Real good way to destroy your engine if they're bouncing around on top of your piston.

 

[BamaDrewski]

Here's the scary part. Where are the pieces? It didn't burn it, it fell apart. Real good way to destroy your engine if they're bouncing around on top of your piston.

I completely agree. Gotta find a way to get it checked.

 

[2016 4Runner SR5]

I completely agree. Gotta find a way to get it checked.

Bring that cylinder to TDC and look in there with a borescope if you have one. If not, try and fish around in there with one of those flexible magnets. See if you cant try and get it out. May have got lucky, could have blown through an exhaust valve and be down in the cat but you never know.

 

[19963.4lsr5]

You can get a borescope for your cell phone pretty cheep. The center electrode may not be magnetic depending on material used.


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[LittleCaesar]

Why is the insulator itself so dirty? Is the coil that fits over that plug original?

 

[T4R2014]

What's a boroscope gonna do? Just ruin your day when you see the results? If it's running fine then don't think too much about it. If it's damaged then you'll basically need a new engine. I guess if you're looking for a piece to remove then fine.

 

[JWaldz]

I've heard mixed reviews along with bad performance with the NGK platinum's in our 4Runners. They don't tend to last long in these engines. The NGK & Denso standard duals work the best.

I don't know how easily the piece(s) will be able to be extracted, even if you do find them. Just be aware if you do go scoping and looking for them, you'll always have it in the back of your mind if you can't get them out. Run it till it blows up. You'll know when it does.

 

[LittleCaesar]

I would bring the cylinder up to TDC, then buy the borescope. If you see something, buy a flexible magnet and with a little dab of thick grease, try and stab it.

At the worst the head has to come off.

 

[19963.4lsr5]

I would bring the cylinder up to TDC, then buy the borescope. If you see something, buy a flexible magnet and with a little dab of thick grease, try and stab it.

At the worst the head has to come off.

Depending on the materials a magnet will not help. If the platinum is tipped to a copper electrode a magnet will not help.


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[theesotericone]

I would bring the cylinder up to TDC, then buy the borescope. If you see something, buy a flexible magnet and with a little dab of thick grease, try and stab it.

At the worst the head has to come off.

Depending on the materials a magnet will not help. If the platinum is tipped to a copper electrode a magnet will not help.

That's where the dab of thick grease comes in. lol

 

[pluton]

Any chance that these plugs could have been counterfeits?

 

[baja1]

wouldn't a strong vacuum cleaner suck it out?

 

[Drcoffee]

I had installed NGK laser iridiums in my lexus IS300 and like you had a notable drop in mpg. 3 of the plugs had lost the platinum pucks off the ground. Gapped at 0.07". They were only in there for 50,000 miles. I emailed NGK and never got a reply. So now I only use Denso plugs.

 

[LittleCaesar]

That's where the dab of thick grease comes in. lol

Having been there, after a full barrage of four letter words, my friend and I pulled an electrode out of his cylinder with a magnet and some thick grease, Lucas red I think. No real damage we could see.

The magnet. Everyone who wrenches should own one:
http://https://lsdinc.com/installation/7317/Wet-Noodle---

 

[DaMonkey]

wouldn't a strong vacuum cleaner suck it out?

Exactly. The engine is basically an air pump. If he was running the engine, it’s pretty hard to imagine those little pieces aren’t long gone out the exhaust.