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Spark Plugs

3K views 19 replies 11 participants last post by  61106 
#1 ·
I replaced NGK, TR5 with E-3, E3.53 plugs.

Trying to get the last bit of performance out of the light weight cougar.

The old plugs, two years old looked new. E85 burns real clean.

The performance was the same. 11.88 NGK, 11.89 E3.

Bottom line, don't waist your money.
 
#5 ·
No change in how the engine ran, idled, etc.....

Also e3's are made in china.

I didn't know that, but they pay $150 for a win and $75 for a runner up.
NMCA
 
#7 ·
You guys do realize the requirements for spark plugs are completely different between our cars, and marks, right?
 
#8 ·
Yes ..i just like 1st hand information on products i may use that you guys personally used already...i will come to you guys be for I would take my car to any shop any where around here.
You guys are a fricken Tbird encyclopedia.
 
#10 · (Edited by Moderator)
I've run the E3 spark plugs in my TBird. I had misfires from bad (Motorcraft) coil packs and plugs. I put new MSD coil packs, 9mm Ford racing wires and E3 plugs in and it ran better than it ever had so I was happy with them. They were in the car 6 years (2008 to 2014) before I finally decided to freshen things up for maintenance. Not 1 misfire out of those plugs and ran strong before I replaced them.

I replaced them with platinum NGKs that lasted about 8 months and had to replace them with more NGKs that are still in now but haven't been driven in 2 1/2 years. Every year I go to Texas it starts on the first try with no issues while idling or revving.

The E3s are pricey but for as long as they lasted I say it was worth it. I even put them in my 04 Navigator 5.4 4V in 2011 and sold the vehicle with them in there in 2015 with no issues.

I say try **** for yourself sometimes and if it doesn't work go back to original parts. I have learned some expensive lessons but it wasn't the end of the world. I tried the MSD coil packs because of the deal I got on them at the time. Everyone said they were junk and wouldn't last long but 10 years later they're still going strong. Maybe it's just the luck of my car because the original 95 transmission is in it still after putting it through accidental neutral bombs and 15mph shift into reverse lol.

I always drove it hard to break something to have a reason to upgrade things but nothing major has broke. This is not an attempt to prove anyone wrong or right just my experience.
 
#11 ·
The e3's will die in a bout 10k miles, due to 4 of the center electrodes burning off.

:grin2:
 
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#12 · (Edited)
Agreed the E3's are junk - see also "Pulse Star", Bosh Platinum +4", etc. See this thread from 2008. This is old news.

Here's a good summary of the ilk that I found:

Joseph_E_Meehan said:
You will not only save money using OEM plugs, but you will likely get better results.

Spark plugs have one function. Provide a spark to get the ignition of fuel started. Once started that is it.

These plugs are claiming that lighting a forest fire with a match will make a slower or less intense forest fire than using a blow torch. It's just not so.

https://community.cartalk.com/t/pulstar-spark-plugs/1736/4
 
#13 ·
E3's sound like this decade's "Split-Fire" plugs. I fell for those back in the 90's and tried a set in a turbo car. Hey, 5 horsepower after all! I was back to factory plugs within a year. But they got my money.

These fancy plugs are all gimmicks. They use aggressive advertising to sell the product, and they don't care if you realize they are crap, because other people are buying a set. It takes 4-5 years for the majority to realize they are just gimmicks and flush that turd product down the toilet.

The only product that has the "lifetime gimmick" stamp of disapproval is Bosch Platinum plugs. They never met a car they couldn't kill.

Al
 
#14 · (Edited)
How about not just repeating what you heard and sending it along when you have no 1st hand experience with the said product..
Stop bashing products your buddy's buddy said was crap..
I get flammed for talking about my bad tuning experience because he was your buddy but you guys can slam any company you want..
How about not posting any input on anything unless you personally used it or installed it..
Let's post facts, not opinions.
Not everybody can afford the oem at times of need, I've used LOTS of knock off sensors and eBay parts that you guys said would never work or cause issues and I have had very very little..and what issues with any products I've had I've posted, like my powerstop nightmare but somehow because you guys like them, rather than the parts being at fault (which they were and got refunded,Just like my tune) I was told that some how I did something wrong..
C'mon guys..
 
#17 · (Edited)
Clown nose lincoln....lol
I fricken love Xr-7

And O.P, how come you chose ngk over motorcraft? Are they a range colder plug or something ?
And yes guys I know dohc differs from sohc . But few of my buddies are in the sohc 4.6 and if I can help them,I do
 
#20 ·
to answer for you, on behalf of the O.P, Ngk tr55's are a stock replacement for agsf32 motorcraft plugs... same heat range. E3.53 .. same heat range. difference is price, with the e3's providing no real improvement in performance via speed nor mpg. NGK's are usually about a buck cheaper per plug than motorcraft but still fall into the OEM replacement category. however both have a drive life of around 30k miles. Still though, SAME HEAT RANGE.

considering a simple search through a popular parts retailer for this information was easy enough, your friends with either a sohc or dohc might want to reconsider your advice. Considering plug advice (even heat range) is one of the easiest to give.

I have no bone to pick with you. It seems you're picking fights on a forum for the sake of picking fights. And whats sad is you seem to have ready combatants. We're all in this game for the same reason. We all have old slow cars that all we want is to achieve more performance, a great look and keep these nearly extinct brands on the road so we along with others can appreciate their beauty.

Basically, all should ease up. To R429460 lesson learned my man. I worked 11 years in the auto parts business. I can't tell you how many times i was rehearsed to say "the E3's will knock your socks off" or "you should get the factory replacements" and I always asked the same questions 1. are you swapping them out? if so, it doesnt matter, pick the stock heat range ill show you your options and 2. will you come back to see me for your larger projects once you realize i saved you a ton and helped temper your expectations. :smile2:

There is too much hate these days. Let it go. Thats why we work on cars.
 
#18 · (Edited)
I don't have much to add as a lurker, and for the most part, I prefer to keep things that way even though I've been around TCCoA in all its iterations since 1999. Currently, I have far more thread subscriptions to my account than posts. For various reasons, I haven't wanted to participate much here since these current forums opened in 2002 even though I was one of the first to register. Mostly, it was because there were too many damn people over the years with a budget of $47.88. I've only recently tried to participate more because I know there is no way that some good info that gets posted on Facebook will be properly archived for posterity.

However, even as a relative outsider from the day-to-day activity of these forums, I know that every thread that involves 94badbird is a shitshow waiting to happen. As for not commenting on products that you haven't personally used, FOH. I don't need to install a 225/75/16 tire on these cars to know that idea makes no damn sense whatsoever. I don't need to install JBA headers or Moog strut rod to LCA bushings to know that those parts are all junk.

Last month, I installed those exact same Power Stop rear pads that 94badbird claims are noisy and defective for any number of "blind dart throw" reasons including the pad material being a carbon ceramic compound, and all I have to say is PEBCAK. Any single empirical data point is only as credible as its user, which is why I wasn't at all worried about getting those Power Stop pads. They work great, by the way, as if anyone really had to ask.
 
#19 ·
...Any single empirical data point is only as credible as its user, which is why I wasn't at all worried about getting those Power Stop pads. They work great, by the way, as if anyone really had to ask.
I'm using the same pads; they stop really well.

The powerstop PBR kit is a really nice upgrade; I even like the Bright Red Powdercoating, lol.


I appreciate your insight, Irv.

We've been here long enough, that here are threads here for almost anything you'd want to do to these cars, including an aborted 5.4l swap thread, and successful Coyote swaps.

I did the upgrade to a PI intake, PI engine, and am building a Teksid block and C heads, all based a mostly on info Posted here from members here like Nick, and nasvt, and Matt, and Don... The list is immense.

The big key is: do the homework, learn what works; multiple fails in all categories are archived here for eternity.


I'll never understand why some people work so hard on obvious fail, and constant trolling; is that a form of Munchhausen's, maybe?
 
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