Spark plugs

[T4Rscott]

So, I did do a search here, and the results were from 2012 or so and the consensus was mixed.

Here’s the question; can us 3rd Gens use single electrode plugs as long as they are double platinum, iridium or the newer Ruthenium?

I understand the aspects of the waste spark systems and want to hear if anyone had any luck running the long term and issue free. Please don’t tell me to run dual electrode plugs- I get it.

I also saw that a couple of members had good results with Denso TTs re-gapped to .44.

So I want to hear from people who have tried the single plug and what the life span was. Also, I like to know if the butt tach registered an improvement.

Thanks!
Scott

 

[JoeT4R]

Is this for information purposes only? Or is your intent to run a single electrode plug? I would only run what it calls for otherwise you may run into issues down the road.

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[T4Rscott]

Is this for information purposes only? Or is your intent to run a single electrode plug? I would only run what it calls for otherwise you may run into issues down the road.

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Little bit of both.

I understand how the system works. So, in theory, if I were to run a ruthenium plug, it should withstand the wear caused by the wasted spark system.

By no means am I jumping into this with both feet. I’ll probably go with the platinum dual electrode plug. However there are videos of people running these in these situations with great success.

I believe, if this plug was available in 96, it would’ve been a factory part.

 

[19963.4lsr5]

My 96 came with iridium plugs. I didn’t notice any difference going back to the dual electrode.


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[JoeT4R]

Little bit of both.



I understand how the system works. So, in theory, if I were to run a ruthenium plug, it should withstand the wear caused by the wasted spark system.



By no means am I jumping into this with both feet. I’ll probably go with the platinum dual electrode plug. However there are videos of people running these in these situations with great success.



I believe, if this plug was available in 96, it would’ve been a factory part.

I gotcha. I've ran the basic Denso plugs from Toyota as well as the basic NGK's with no issues. I think they're copper? Whatever the cheapest and most basic plug is, that's what I currently have in the NGK offering, dual electrode of course. No issues to this point.

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[brillo_76]

From what folks have told me all spark plugs wear twice as fast in this system. So their life is half. This is why there is a little sticker suggesting that you only use double electrode plugs.

It's up to you which spark plugs you run. I personally only use only the daul electrode spark plugs.

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[Malcolm99]

Spark plugs do not add HP or increase fuel milage as suggested by manufacturers, and the butt dyno is subject to the placebo effect and not a trusted method to measure HP. If Toyota spent money to have a specific sticker made and installed on every single 3rd gen, there is likely a reason.

 

[T4Rscott]

From what folks have told me all spark plugs wear twice as fast in this system. So their life is half. This is why there is a little sticker suggesting that you only use double electrode plugs.

It's up to you which spark plugs you run. I personally only use only the daul electrode spark plugs.

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From what I understand from researching wasted spark systems, and from NGKs website, iridium, platinum and now ruthenium plugs are a result of the wasted spark ignition system.

With that being said, this is about wear caused by it. I found a video on YouTube recently from a gentleman in Rhode Island with a 99 Camry, which has a wasted spark system. He installed them over an year ago. He pulled them at about 18k and again at 40k and there was no wear at all. He drives from Providence to Boston daily.

So to me, if he is driving 70-75 on the highway daily, it should be showing significant wear at this point. Also keep in mind I watched his video yesterday, and the update was posted 6 months ago.

I believe this is true advancement in plug technology. Are they cheap, no. But, so far the word is NGK is not over hyping the Ruthenium plugs

I still have about 10k to go before a change is needed.

Scott

 

[T4Rscott]

This is what I’m talking about
MyPartFinder

 

[Zhehan]

Here is the NGK Part#: FR5BHX

You cannot link to nor copy any info on that page. so, the link only takes you to the chooser, not the part #. You still have to search for it. Here is NGK's page for it: FR5BHX

EDIT: From the info on the NGK page: "Designed for Turbo/Supercharged Engines"

 

[19963.4lsr5]

My NGK standard plugs had .010 gap erosion at 30k miles.

I was under the impression that the dual electrode was also for tight combustion chambers. It’s an unshrouded gap and with two places for the spark to happen it will always spark where the highest concentration of fuel mixture is……


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[brillo_76]

I haven't used one of those plugs. Only the standard, iridium and platinum so those may last longer. If you are seeing evidence of them lasting longer they most likely will.. As wasted spark systems would be all the same I would think.

Granted, when these were made, mostly only standard plugs materials were extremely common. Around but not as common as they are now.

 

[spartacus]

Relatively easy to replace sparkplug on the 3.4l. Oem, denso, ngk are cheap and easy to do. I've run higher quality double platinum denso single electrode before without issues but no mpg gain or performance improvement so went back to Oem denso's.

 

[jross20]

I could have sworn that somebody did a bunch of test a while back and found that fuel mileage decreased with Platinum plugs?

Not that makes any sense, but yeah like some of the others have said the OEM ones are so cheap, who cares?

 

[T4Rscott]

Decided to go with the standard Denso plug because they 3.65ea at the dealer. Last time I put a set in was September of 2019.

It wasn’t worth it with the mileage I do.

 

[gamefreakgc]

I'm late to the game, but agree with above sentiments. I currently have Ruthenium spark plugs in my supercharged engine as it has a shortened ground strap to open up the flame kernel with less obstruction. I'm chasing fraction of a HP at this point but my engine eats iridium electrode plugs for breakfast so I'm trying other things. I was using Iridium IK22's and those would last 15K miles before they'd open up so much the engine would misfire. I could adjust the gap but by 25K miles they were in the trash. Tried IK24's, a step colder but those carbon fouled around town so those went in the trash early as well.

On my last Toyota I used to run copper 'V-Power' plugs that had a split center electrode so it wore out slower. Doesn't work on our 5VZ-FE but those plugs lasted for darn near forever. Same goes with the copper plugs for the 5VZ-FE, NGK or DENSO doesn't matter as from the factory they came with both brands! Like you said though, for $3.65 you can change all 6 for less than $25. I spent $75 on the Ruthenium plugs...

 

[Zhehan]

I'm late to the game, but agree with above sentiments. I currently have Ruthenium spark plugs in my supercharged engine as it has a shortened ground strap to open up the flame kernel with less obstruction. I'm chasing fraction of a HP at this point but my engine eats iridium electrode plugs for breakfast so I'm trying other things. I was using Iridium IK22's and those would last 15K miles before they'd open up so much the engine would misfire. I could adjust the gap but by 25K miles they were in the trash. Tried IK24's, a step colder but those carbon fouled around town so those went in the trash early as well.

On my last Toyota I used to run copper 'V-Power' plugs that had a split center electrode so it wore out slower. Doesn't work on our 5VZ-FE but those plugs lasted for darn near forever. Same goes with the copper plugs for the 5VZ-FE, NGK or DENSO doesn't matter as from the factory they came with both brands! Like you said though, for $3.65 you can change all 6 for less than $25. I spent $75 on the Ruthenium plugs...

Next time you need a set, get them from Rock Auto: NGK 96457 Spark Plug | RockAuto

 

[phattyduck]

I was using Iridium IK22's and those would last 15K miles before they'd open up so much the engine would misfire. I could adjust the gap but by 25K miles they were in the trash. Tried IK24's, a step colder but those carbon fouled around town so those went in the trash early as well.

On my last Toyota I used to run copper 'V-Power' plugs that had a split center electrode so it wore out slower.

The problem with most plugs in a wasted spark system is that the spark goes "both ways" - and sucks material off the ground strap much faster than a 'unidirectional' spark (usually not a special material, just the main electrode is). The Ruthenium's should work better for you.

The V-Power plugs are great in my 3s-gte. I still change them every 15k-30k though...

-Charlie

 

[19963.4lsr5]

I'm late to the game, but agree with above sentiments. I currently have Ruthenium spark plugs in my supercharged engine as it has a shortened ground strap to open up the flame kernel with less obstruction. I'm chasing fraction of a HP at this point but my engine eats iridium electrode plugs for breakfast so I'm trying other things. I was using Iridium IK22's and those would last 15K miles before they'd open up so much the engine would misfire. I could adjust the gap but by 25K miles they were in the trash. Tried IK24's, a step colder but those carbon fouled around town so those went in the trash early as well.

On my last Toyota I used to run copper 'V-Power' plugs that had a split center electrode so it wore out slower. Doesn't work on our 5VZ-FE but those plugs lasted for darn near forever. Same goes with the copper plugs for the 5VZ-FE, NGK or DENSO doesn't matter as from the factory they came with both brands! Like you said though, for $3.65 you can change all 6 for less than $25. I spent $75 on the Ruthenium plugs...

In your instance converting to coil on plug or a MSD DIS4 may help.

If I had a spare ICM I’d probably pull the trigger on paralleling two coils per OEM coil connector and use a ford or mopar coil on plug coil. My 4.7 (in my Grand Cherokee) ignition coils would fire a 3/16” gap. I pulled the plugs with 68k miles on them and the electrode was worn down all the way to the ceramic. With wasted spark the coil fires over twice the gap of coil on plug.


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