Spark Plug options

[biggersm]

It's a wet day in Florida so we have more time to type than to ride (second post today).

What are ya'll using for Spark Plugs? We just bought a set of Chapmpion 8809 plugs. They look to be an ordinary spark plugs. Not Platinum, not Iridium, only one groud electrolode strap (I wouldn't even know how to gap one of those dual strap setups). Champions are kind of the vanila ice cream of the spark plug world.

The bike is running fine (although we have never reached the cherished 50 MPG goal; 38-46 MPG is our range). We are eager to see what the big deal is about a spark plug change on an XII. We also want to have a look at the upper coolant hose after we take out the battery (it occasionally belches out some coolant when the fan comes on) Finally we also want to see how the wear is on the business end of the old plugs.

I hear the wrong plug could put an engine into the wrong heat range but on the other hand if we go with a platnium or iridium the concept of never having to do a plug change again is lucrative. What are everyone's thoughts?

[Rhinestone Kawboy]

I put iridium in mine because before I would change plugs every two years for best performance, been 6 or so years now since I went to iridium. I don't regret that. In fact, I put iridiums in my atv too, because if you didn't hold your tongue right, it would foul. Since I put the new plug in, have had no problems. In other words, I won't run anything but iridiums. The right plugs for the Voyager are listed in the Dollar4Dollar page (iridiums). Make sure the ends of your plug wire are good and fit tight on the plug caps. Trim them very slightly if they are mushroomed out and fitting loose, then reinstall on the plug cap by twisting.

[biggersm]

Hi Gary

Thanks for the reply. Which plugs do you use (you could PM me on that if you prefer) concerning the Iridiums I see the DENSO, Stock- X24EPR-U9, Iridium- IX24B, but I also see the NGK DPR7EIX-9 (but that may only be for a Goldwing 1500).

Does your choice stay within the correct heat range? We will probably return the 8809 plugs and get something better.

[flip18436572]

I am running the stock plugs per Carl Leo's advice. Not a problem with the plugs.

[Rhinestone Kawboy]

Hi Gary

Thanks for the reply. Which plugs do you use (you could PM me on that if you prefer) concerning the Iridiums I see the DENSO, Stock- X24EPR-U9, Iridium- IX24B, but I also see the NGK DPR7EIX-9 (but that may only be for a Goldwing 1500).

Does your choice stay within the correct heat range? We will probably return the 8809 plugs and get something better.

I use the NGK Iridium- DPR8EIX-9 plugs, that is supposed to be the stock heat range plug.

[biggersm]

Thanks Gary

I'll look for Denso's and return the Champions. The bike runs OK right now so its better to do it right than to do it quick.

[biggersm]

Good point (pun not intended). Tens of thousands of mile down the rode we will probably have to change the platnium or iridium plugs when we do install them (we know how long a Voyager XII lasts if taken care of).

Our van has the original Iridium spark plugs and now has 59K miles. We recently took it in for dealer service (we only do that every 30K or so) and we asked if the dealer was going to replace the plugs (we almost begged the dealer to take more of our money). The dealer said he would do it at 90K miles. Our van still starts, runs, and gets the same gas mileage as it did when new.

I guess we don't have what it takes to stimulate the economy :mrgreen:

[Nathan (South Carolina)]

I went 50,000 miles on a set of platinum plugs. I now use iridiums which are supposed to last 100,000 miles.

[Dave]

Hi Gary

Thanks for the reply. Which plugs do you use (you could PM me on that if you prefer) concerning the Iridiums I see the DENSO, Stock- X24EPR-U9, Iridium- IX24B, but I also see the NGK DPR7EIX-9 (but that may only be for a Goldwing 1500).

Does your choice stay within the correct heat range? We will probably return the 8809 plugs and get something better.

Although either the NGK or Denso iridium plug will probably outlast stock plugs, the Denso is performance oriented while the NGK is biased towards long life. I've run the iridiums for years and much prefer them to the stock plugs. It's not a controlled scientific test but the iridiums seemed to give each of my Voyages an increase in fuel mileag of about 2mpg. Whatever you chose, stay with the stock heat range.

[biggersm]

We went with the NGK Iridium- DPR8EIX-9 plugs. The plugs that came out were standard NGKs (so does that mean stock?). Not much wear on the plugs and they were the correct color at the business end. Pretty good for 25K but I still think it is running a little better after the change. The NGK web site confirmed that we choose the correct plug too.

I'm glad were done changing spark plugs for a while. At the recomendation of other posts on this site we had a leaf blower ready. We took out our battery, took off the air box, did some blowing and general cleaning and then I thought "if I just take off that coolant hose I'd really have great access to the plugs; DON'T DO IT! I was thinking that being essentially the top of the coolant system that not much would come out, boy was I wrong!!! Guess where all the coolant goes;, that's right!...into the spark plug hole that you are about to do a plug change on. When I pulled the old plug out the plug threads were covered in mud/wet sand, even after more time with the leaf blower. When I put the new plug in there was a sleight hint of sand in the threads too.

At any rate we are back on the road, have good starting, and good compression (I'm guessing at the compression). Still I can help but to think some sand/dirt might have went in the hole. I hope that any foreign matter has sucked out of the exhaust valve and is not scraping my cylinder walls and getting into the rings.

I was also able to tighten all the coolant hoses and have hopefully fixed that occasional coolant belch we get on a hot day; all in all a successful day.

For anyone about to do a plug change here's some things to consider in addition to your standard tools and sockets:

18mm long length socket for the plugs (rubber inner boot to protect the insulator would also be nice)
About a 8-12" socket wrench extender
leaf blower
long, wooden handled cotton swabs (like you see in a doctors office)
flashlight
a long extention flexable grabber tool (there was a nut leaned up against the spark plug boot that I used the grabber for and now I'm wondering where the nut came from)
alcohol (to put on the cotton swab to help clean)

It is really simple concept and of course now I could do it again in less than an hour (but of course we will wait tens of thousands more miles now that we have the iridiums).

Lesson learned...DO NOT TOUCH THAT COOLANT HOSE!

Only question left...Will any foreign matter be sucked out of the exhaust valves?

[Martin & Karen]

Hello Voyager's, when I changed my 'Vgers' plugs, I went for stock replacements as sugested by GOD (Carl Leo). I found after removing the battery and air box, our vacuum cleaner hose sneaked down the hole to clean out the rubbish around the plug.

Kind regards, Martin.

[Nathan (South Carolina)]

Mike,
I wouldn't worry about anything as small as sand getting into the cyclinder, it should get sucked out through the exhaust valve. The same thing happens to carbon build up on the valves and surface of the piston when an engine cleaning solution like Marvel Mystery Oil is added to the fuel. Something that small will clear the valves with no problem. Now if you had dropped that nut in there, you would have probably had a problem.

[biggersm]

Hi Nathan

Its funny you should mention the nut. If it wasn't for double checking with the flashlight and having a grabber tool handy we would have had a nut go in the hold when the sparkplug came out. Its amazing how much stuff gets into those two middle spark plug holes. It is comforting to know we are done with that for a while.

Ride Safe.

[davet]

Hi All

Just a quick thought, when changing the spark plugs look to change the plug caps as well. They are about $3.50 each and can be all the difference between the bike running well and running badly. Everybody seems to forget about the caps.

Have a look at my experiance on changing the spark plugs and caps on my Voyager, the caps wer not a pretty sight !!!

Changing Spark Plugs and Caps

Its a good job for all of you in winter over in North America.

[bikerking.biz]

I've found the end of the ingition wire being "mushroomed" out seems to be the worst problem (or most common) with the plug caps. If you have enough length, cut about 1/4 to 3/8 inch off the end, and re-install back on the caps by screwing them on. Made a big difference for me!

[blueridgevoyager]

I'm using the Denso IX24B Iridium plugs.
Please note: Denso recommends replacing these plugs every 30,000 miles.

[The Masked Rider]

Halo plugs. From what I understand the military signed a contract with the company after the results of the testing came out. Who knows, may be the future of plugs.

http://greenplugs.com/LSG%20Halo%20Spar ... esults.pdf

[Larry in Iowa]

Where can you buy those NGK caps?