I just bought my new set of Bosch Platinum spark plugs. $1.99 a pop. It was .99 for the older non platinum plugs. Both are suppost to be good for my car, so away I went. Another local parts place wanted $6.50, a peice, and only one place in town had 8 of them!

An intersting little thing put on the side of the box,

"Satisfaction Guaranteed
If you don't feel the diffrence
Bosch will pay for the plugs."

Intersting, no? Feel the diffrence? What exactly am I looking for?

Anyways, thats just intersting info.

I also bought a spark plug gap guage. I figured, just for grins tonight, I'd measure them. According to my owner's mannual, as one of the people on this board diricted me, the plug gap is to be 0.028-0.032 in, or 0.7+0.1mm.

All 8 of my plugs measure to 0.034 in, almost exactly, or 0.83mm. That bugs me.

Comments? If I should try to fix it, how should I go about fixing it?

Thanks.

 

I'm sure someone will flame me for this, but I usually tap the tip onto a flat hard surface. Remeasure, and do it again till it gets to 7mm. If I've gone too far, I pry the gap open with something that doesn't touch the ceramic part of the plug. Remeasure and do it again till it's 7mm. YMMV.

 

I'm with Ed but with a difference. I take the plug, hold it about an 1-1/2" of the concrete and let it drop by it's own weight. I enclose the impact area with a rag. Never had anything go wrong doing it that way. Remember, it doesn't take much to close the gap and this measure is not an OEM procedure. Handle with care.

I was always afraid that if I wacked it on something, I would bend the tip out of alignment.

I KNOW, I'm going to get flamed for this reply. All I ask is that you be kind!

 

Isn't there a gap tool that you can buy with a little dodad on it for bending the tip?

Hmmmmm?
I'm using the +4 Bosch plugs so no chance in hell of setting a gap on those - or is there?

 

The +4 plugs are better left undisturbed. YMMV.

 

Same w/ the +2 plugs.

 

Well I've been closing my gaps on the floor for years without any problems at all.

As far as the difference you should feel; I think that they are counting on your old plugs being well worn therefore it should run smoother.
The tapered tip should allow a better flame front in theory, but I doubt you'd feel that diff.

 

I use soft jaws in a vice and slowly close the gap to the required .028.

 

I've switched to the Beru Ultra4s, and man it made a BIG difference on my S4. The engine ran a ton smoother, and seemed to have better response in the engine. Of course my old plugs could have been horrible, but didn't seem all that bad. I think it made as much if not more of a noticeable difference as switching from standard oil to Mobil 1 15/50. I've heard someone that the Berus are actually better for our cars since they have a steel tip? Something like that? I don't know exactly, but the car ran a lot smoother and better with them in.

 

I use Ed's method as well...thought it was an old biker trick like adjusting breaker gap on Honda's with a matchbook cover.
I always saved my old plugs, jammed 5-6 of them into foam on the handlebar cross brace. When someone would relentlessly tailgate me on the open road I would toss/flip sparkplugs over my shoulder till the idiot went away. Not road rage... they put my life at risk, simply returning the favor.
John S. & Pattycakes

 

John, all you have to do is get one of those old AMF Harley's and the parts just fall off them naturally, keeps the tailgaters away!

 

My set of feeler gauges has a gap adjuster; it's just a small slot in the handle. I've always just tapped them lightly on a hard suface to close the gap and used a pair of jeweler's needle nose pliers to open the gap.

 

Where does one even find Beru plugs?

 

LOL, I am glad to see this, because that is exactly how I adjusted the gap on the plugs I just put in.

They were Bosch Super Coppers FWIW and most were right at 0.030 and I only had to "smoosh" 2 of them.

I figured there was something basic I was missing, but the high tech tool used was the garage floor.

 

Has anyone heard or tried the new bosch fusion plugs? I guess there the +4 technology and have iridium and platinum mixed together somehow to make an even more powerful spark plug. Just figured id ask to see how good they really are compared to the rest.