Derek is back from his holiday and is keen to replace his spark plugs. The job seems overly complicated but I am sure he will find an easy way to do it, and pass the info back to us. I am sure it is not a job we wish to perform to often nor pay the dealership to do, so lets find a way to lessen the pain.
Questions for all in the forum
1) Has any one had any long life spark plugs installed in any car they have owned?
2) What brands seem to work the best?
3) What is factory plug and gap?
I owned a Toyota Van that had long life plugs from the factory, but can't remember what brand. Pricey but lasted the life of the Van.
Yes Bill, I'm back from Virginia and will dutifully post the necessary pics in the future.
I still have to fabricate the extraction tool for the spark plug wiring.
Our spark plugs should be changed at 48,000 km and I'm only at 30,000 km.(so I have a bit of time)
It would be nice to know the answers to your questions though. Anyone??
I went to the UK sites and downloaded huge files with every car in the world just to get our plug. (not at all user friendly)
MB starts with the A class and then jumps to the C class. WTF???
On dial-up everything takes forever and all for not!!!
The latest info I could dig up for the B200 is #FQR8DE...or # 0242229724 or #0041593003. I'll probably go to the dealer and buy a plug to make sure because even with those #'s, they're still not available elsewhere in Montreal. I'll also pull one plug to get the #.
Any other "world" info would be greatly appreciated. Derek
Searched from this side of the pond & had very poor results. The car has been available over here for nearly 3 years now & still it does not show on the majority of websites not even Bosch's whom I would assume would supply them.
Using Mike's assumption of the A200 using the same plug I was able to get a Denso (never heard of them myself only denso tape) they gave 2 types a VK20 & an IK20 the VK seemed to be the better quality plug. Sorry I could get no further info, it would probably need an email to the Technical Dept of the Makers e.g Bosh, NGK, Champion
Using Mike's assumption of the A200 using the same plug I was able to get a Denso (never heard of them myself only denso tape) they gave 2 types a VK20 & an IK20 the VK seemed to be the better quality plug. Sorry I could get no further info, it would probably need an email to the Technical Dept of the Makers e.g Bosh, NGK, Champion
Other than NGK, the other big name Japanese spark plug manufacturer is Denso. Both NGK and Denso spark plugs are among the highest quality available, especially their Iridium lines, in construction, material, and quality control.
The Denso VK20 has 0.4mm iridium tipped center electrode and a platinum smear/pad on the ground electrode. Denso has made double sided iridium plugs before, but their earlier line had a larger center electrode. The Denso VK20 spark plugs will certainly give longer life than the IK20 spark plugs, but depending on tuning and engine, it is possible for the IK20 to give better performance and fuel economy.
Based on my experience with the IK20, the ground electrode is prone to wearing, as compared to its competitor such as the NGK Iridium IX, which is also a single sided iridium plug.
The NGK equivalent plug to the Denso Iridium Tough (VK20) is the NGK Laser Iridium line (IFR...). The NGK equivalent plug to the Iridium Power (IK20) is the Iridium IX.
Usually, without experimentation with a specific vehicle, it is difficult to know which spark plug will give better engine performance and fuel economy. However, double sided iridium plugs will undoubtedly give much longer life. And I don't mean end-of-life to mean when the engine start to give symptoms. The almost-new-plug engine performance level can be maintained for much, much longer time period than lesser plugs.
Thanks for that in depth info on those plugs, techyiam, presumably they will be available for the Canadian members to purchase. I have used NGKs in the past and have been well satisfied with them but not with a M/B. Sounds from your write up that iridium is certainly the way to go.
I am sure it is not a job we wish to perform to often nor pay the dealership to do, so lets find a way to lessen the pain.
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