ihadacivicsi
Member
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- Speed 3 (True Red)
The Pulstars are touted as being high performance spark plug replacements that improve gas mileage and increase horsepower. Supposedly they produce a bigger spark. I was interested in better gas mileage so I ordered some and had them gapped and installed.
After I had them installed the car revved okay in neutral but when I drove the engine misfired and my CEL came on. Turned out cylinder one had a defective Pulstar. I called the company and they sent me a replacement. The car drove fine for a few weeks and then I had misfiring and my CEL came on again. Turned out the Pulstar for cylinder 4 had failed. Out came the Pulstars and back in went the high performance platinum FoMoCo plugs.
The first sign that the Pulstars are very fragile was when I read the warning included with the Pulstars that if you drop the Pulstar it will break it. The engine compartment is not a place for delicate/fragile spark plugs! I ended up going to the dealer to have my original plugs put back and the tech who worked on my car said that the porcelain is very thin and that one of the techs had broken a Pulstar while trying to install it in someone else's Mazda.
Many people on the Mazda forums have purchased the Pulstars and have had good luck with them but I have not. I think there is a reason Pulstar sells direct and is not sold through automotive stores etc. I doubt retailers want to deal with the hassle of all the defective Pulstars. There are other high performance spark plugs out there, such as from reputable companies like NGK and Bosch so I suggest stickling with those. Heck, the Ford Platinum plugs are meant for high performance vehicles so no need to go aftermarket.
While I did notice a difference with the Pulstars in, it wasn't enough to risk damage to my engine by having these fragile plugs constantly fail. I will NEVER use Pusltars again. I hope my experience is helpful to others.
After I had them installed the car revved okay in neutral but when I drove the engine misfired and my CEL came on. Turned out cylinder one had a defective Pulstar. I called the company and they sent me a replacement. The car drove fine for a few weeks and then I had misfiring and my CEL came on again. Turned out the Pulstar for cylinder 4 had failed. Out came the Pulstars and back in went the high performance platinum FoMoCo plugs.
The first sign that the Pulstars are very fragile was when I read the warning included with the Pulstars that if you drop the Pulstar it will break it. The engine compartment is not a place for delicate/fragile spark plugs! I ended up going to the dealer to have my original plugs put back and the tech who worked on my car said that the porcelain is very thin and that one of the techs had broken a Pulstar while trying to install it in someone else's Mazda.
Many people on the Mazda forums have purchased the Pulstars and have had good luck with them but I have not. I think there is a reason Pulstar sells direct and is not sold through automotive stores etc. I doubt retailers want to deal with the hassle of all the defective Pulstars. There are other high performance spark plugs out there, such as from reputable companies like NGK and Bosch so I suggest stickling with those. Heck, the Ford Platinum plugs are meant for high performance vehicles so no need to go aftermarket.
While I did notice a difference with the Pulstars in, it wasn't enough to risk damage to my engine by having these fragile plugs constantly fail. I will NEVER use Pusltars again. I hope my experience is helpful to others.
