Mazda Protege5 Spark Plug Question.

[Lockleaf]

I work for checker auto and have sold a couple of sets of these Pulstars. Same customer put them in his 06 Infiniti FX35 and in his 1984 Chevy 350. He told me in his FX he saw a jump of almost 30% gas/power but in his Chevy he got 2 days and then straight misfires. He returned the ones for his Chevy but is die hard about them in his FX. I don't know if that helps any but he feels that imports enjoy them.

On another note, i have used the E3 plugs in the P5 and they don't seem to be really any worse, but they are definately not any better.

And last off, I would never use a bosch plug in anything but a Euro, and even then I would probably switch to NGK.

 

[i12drivemyMP5]

Beginning to appreciate your comment, but do you think these plugs are the problem or something else is going on?

Cost ya 10.00 for a set of NGK BKR5s or ZFR5s to find out. Bet it'll be all better.

so to be very clear: these long reach plugs are worth a try ina fully unmodified P5 engine?

The ZFR5s are the long reach plug. They are fine, car will idle a bit smoother. They came stock in 2000 1.6s or 1.8s, not sure which. Gap them smaller than BKR5s. IIRC, .035

 

[bgibb68]

subbed

 

[RABID_MP5]

All this brings up another question as to plug gap. Has anyone ever experimented with non-specified gaps, especially larger ones? Intuitively I'm thinking you want to widest gap possible, just shy of where misfire starts to occur. (and the ECU as well as mileage/performance can help tip you off to this) I'm thinking the spec gap allows some tolerance for erosion over miles. But if you're willing to maintain the plugs better, maybe you can go wider, for performance & mileage? You're even getting a slightly "longer reach" when you do this too. I've never really messed with this.

 

[pasadena_commut]

Its been an interesting weekend. Saturday night I had a spark plug literally pop-out of the cylinder head while on the interstate.


I went to Autozone yesterday with the intent of installing the plugs myself (most mechanics in my area closed on Sunday) and purchased the Bosch Platinum Plus 2's, which is a 2 prong design. The car fired up fine and I gave it an oil change for good measure. Today, driving to work I notice what feels like a misfire at low RPMs when shifting through the gears (5 spd).

When it "popped out" perhaps it damaged the corresponding wire or coil boot? Did it literally fly out of the engine or did it just back out far enough that the cylinder died?

 

[poison]

Ok, this works. Installed over the weekend, the difference is drastic. Less vibration, smoother idle, easier takeoff from a stop, seemingly more pull throughout the powerband (shifting at 5k seems natural, instead of 4k)...I'm sold, as long as there aren't any ugly possible repercussions, which can't be worse than a bad idle, and a quick $8 switch back to regular plugs.

Thanks, guys!

 

[bgibb68]

yeah i did it too this week....replaced everything coils, wires, plugs....smoothness

 

[poison]

My precision-calibrated butt-dyno gets a tingle every time I press the gas. It must be working! lol

Seriously, it's WAY more drivable.

 

[RABID_MP5]

which heat range did you go for ZFR5 or the colder ZFR6? If you're too cold it takes awhile for fouling/misfire to show up. But if too hot, the pinging should be there right away I think. I wanna try these long reach.

 

[poison]

Zfr5

 

[theROOSTER]

any difference/gains/drawbacks in the NGK line, from the "stock" Vpower BKRE11's?

say, like the "G-power" BKR5EGP's?

 

[lesper4]

i am new on here, but frequently the rx7 and rx8 forums. anyway i was working on my wifes car trying to get some of the recommending maintanace done and i run into a problem, similar to what people are talking about on here.

so here it goes.

WHY FIX IT IF IT IS NOT BROKE THEY SAY. well because the mazda owners manual says to replace the spark plugs at 60k miles and the car is at 80k on the protege5. so i replace the spark plugs, now the car has a rough idol, so i figure the wires should be replaced with the plugs, well still a rough idol and now a check engine light. so i replace the coil pack, still nothing!?

what is going on? i made sure the plugs are in tight and the all the connections are also tight. basically the car idols at 1000 rpm roughly but every few seconds it drops to 500rpms and then back up. Kind of like my car when i replaced the battery but i never got a light and it returned to normal farily quickly.

Anyone have any solutions? I got my parts at autozone and i got the bosche plugs for about $5 or so.

 

[theROOSTER]

....and i got the bosche plugs for about $5 or so.

I'm going to bet you get some "THATS the problem right there" dealio's....

 

[lesper4]

really, damn! mazda likes NKG, my RX has the same thing, i am getting ready to replace those with identical, i guess i should do the same on the p5

 

[bgibb68]

i am new on here, but frequently the rx7 and rx8 forums. anyway i was working on my wifes car trying to get some of the recommending maintanace done and i run into a problem, similar to what people are talking about on here.

so here it goes.

WHY FIX IT IF IT IS NOT BROKE THEY SAY. well because the mazda owners manual says to replace the spark plugs at 60k miles and the car is at 80k on the protege5. so i replace the spark plugs, now the car has a rough idol, so i figure the wires should be replaced with the plugs, well still a rough idol and now a check engine light. so i replace the coil pack, still nothing!?

what is going on? i made sure the plugs are in tight and the all the connections are also tight. basically the car idols at 1000 rpm roughly but every few seconds it drops to 500rpms and then back up. Kind of like my car when i replaced the battery but i never got a light and it returned to normal farily quickly.

Anyone have any solutions? I got my parts at autozone and i got the bosche plugs for about $5 or so.

did you reset the ecu??

 

[lesper4]

yeah a friend of mine told me about that but i couldnt figure out where it tells you how to do it. Any help?

 

[bgibb68]

yeah a friend of mine told me about that but i couldnt figure out where it tells you how to do it. Any help?

unhook the neg side of the bat and pump your brakes a few times then hook the bat back up.....


and just to warn ya...you'll get crappy gas millage and the engine may run funky for about 100-200 miles

 

[slavrenz]

So if the long reach plugs were standard for the 1.6 and 1.8 liter engines, why did they change the plug for the 2.0L engines? Wouldn't a larger engine need a longer plug to get to that "sweet spot" in the combustion chamber?

BTW, I'm currently running the long reach plugs. Not much of a difference, but my gas mileage has gone up slightly.

 

[mp5123]

do they make the one step colder plugs for the fs and if so has anyone tried them/use them and do they make any real difference with an n/a engine

 

[lesper4]

unhook the neg side of the bat and pump your brakes a few times then hook the bat back up.....


and just to warn ya...you'll get crappy gas millage and the engine may run funky for about 100-200 miles

thanks i will write that down.