platinum spark plugs in 99 Civic EX ???

I recently took my 99 Civic EX to the dealer for service due to a
misfiring problem. The computer was displaying codes 0301 thru 0304
indicating misfires on all cylinders, and the platinum plugs and rotor
are corroded.

The dealer is trying to tell me that the reason that the plugs and
rotor are corroded is that platinum plugs do not work well in Civic
engines.

Has anyone heard this before, or had any experience to corroborate
what the dealer is telling me, or is this some b.s. that the dealer is
trying to sell me?

The entire electrical system (cap, rotor, platinum plugs, premium
Belden wires) was replaced only 40000 miles ago.

comments and similar experiences would be appreciated.
please post and copy to bdoreste at bridog dot net

tks.

- brian

 

What type of platinum plugs?? NGK or Bosch or Autolite, etc.


-
--
Curtis Newton

http://surf.to/cnewton
<delete remove-me. to respond to email>
ICQ: 4899169

 

Not only have I never heard of spark plugs corroding in an engine with only
40,000 miles but I have seen platinum plugs at around 80k on up with no
"corrosion."

After using platinum plugs on an air-cooled 4 cylinder vw bug and a 5.0
liter v-8 Ford and my 1996 Accord EX Vtec I have had no problems whatsoever
so when people tell me they had problems with their platinums I listen but I
don't really buy into it.

I realize that the rotor distributes spark to the plugs via wires but I
don't see how corrosion can spread from the plugs through the wires and
affect the rotor. BS.

I don't know what your dealership was referring to. 40k miles is nothing
on newer cars.

CaptainKrunch

 

Possibly double BS. It's BS that you should not use Platinum plugs and
it sounds like you installed a BS ignition system too.

Why did you have to replace the ignition so soon and why was it not with
factory equipment? A corroded rotor just shouldn't happen in 40K miles.
Did you put some high power, non-resistive ignition gimmick in there?

 

The shop that did the work last time installed Bosch Platinum plugs,
Belden premium wires, and OEM cap and rotor. There was nothing
extraordinary about the parts that were replaced in the ignition
system, which I should mention lasted 90000 miles on the original
equipment.

any thoughts, other than to just let the dealer do the work and be
responsible for it?

- brian

 

The dealer is trying to tell me that the reason that the plugs and

I'll agree with that. Hang out at the Honda forums and most people
agree that the only plug to run in a Civic is an NGK copper plug

My mechanic told me that the Bosch Platinums weren't any better than
any others and the only plug to run was the OEM NGKs. Gee, maybe
that's why my mileage dropped off when I tried Bosch Platinums?

Platinum plugs, the way they are made, don't conduct any better, they
just erode more slowly. So, you have to replace them less often.
Platinum is a maintenance-convenience thing, not a high-performance
thing.

Splitfires were a big joke too.

In my '95 Civic I used only NGK copper plugs and replaced them every
25,000 miles. The Cap and rotor was done about every 40,000-50,000
miles with the wires only lasting a little longer than that.

--- Bror Jace

 

Toyota tech buddy of mine calls the Bosch Platinum (not the +4 plugs),
Botched platinums. When we talked, he has noticed issues with the
Bosch plugs, each time replacing with either ND or NGK fixed the
problem.

As an inexpensive fix, I would put in NGK plugs and see if things
clear up.

-
--
Curtis Newton

http://surf.to/cnewton
<delete remove-me. to respond to email>
ICQ: 4899169

 

don't know if Accord has same 4 cyl engine, but my Accord owners manual
recommends non-platinum for 4 cyl engine.
I recently took my 99 Civic EX to the dealer for service due to a
misfiring problem. The computer was displaying codes 0301 thru 0304
indicating misfires on all cylinders, and the platinum plugs and rotor
are corroded.

The dealer is trying to tell me that the reason that the plugs and
rotor are corroded is that platinum plugs do not work well in Civic
engines.

Has anyone heard this before, or had any experience to corroborate
what the dealer is telling me, or is this some b.s. that the dealer is
trying to sell me?

The entire electrical system (cap, rotor, platinum plugs, premium
Belden wires) was replaced only 40000 miles ago.

comments and similar experiences would be appreciated.
please post and copy to bdoreste at bridog dot net

tks.

- brian

 

Yes, I've heard of that before. I used to have a 2000 Civic which would be
the same generation as yours. I asked a couple different Honda dealers
about that in my area and they all told me that the civic engine doesn't
work well with platinum plugs. What they told me would happen is exactly
what you describe.

I recommend you save yourself some money and just use the normal NGK plugs.
It's what the car was designed to use and they're cheaper. Win-win if you
ask me.

 

I got 100,000km on my NGK Platinum without any problems.

Pars

 

Were any of those parts Honda branded? Excessive "burning" of the plugs
and rotor indicate that something is awry in the connection between the
coil and plug - possibly the impedance is wrong. Belden does not appear to
make spark plug wires - apparently Napa has somebody make up cables from
Belden raw cable stock. I'd start by replacing those cables, with Honda or
NGK parts, along with a new cap/rotor and plugs and hope the cables have
not damaged your coil.

I've used Bosch platinum plugs on a Honda and was not particularly
impressed - the engine always seemed to take an extra couple of "fires",
only a 1/2 second or so extra time really, to start from cold. I ran them
for a full maintenance cycle and just got the Honda recommended NGKs the
next time. The Boschs were certainly no better.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

I installed 2 set of your plugs at the same time, 1 in an 80 Accord, the
other in 91 Civic. After a few k miles, the Civic started to misfire. I
pulled the plugs on both cars. The ones on the Civic were bad. The center
platinum electrodes were well receded below the insulator. I put in new
set of regular NGK in the Civic. However, the ones in the Accord were
pristine. I put them back on.

Anyway, I don't use those plugs any more, ever again.

Why did you replace those parts so early? My 92 civic still has original
cap and wires. They still work fine, even though I'm driving hoodless in
the rain. I've parked outside hoodless since October.

 

If it makes you feel any better, I had the exact problem on my 98 Civic EX.
I was running platinum twin electrode plugs. I went back to factory, and
have stayed factory since then. I cannot confirm that Civics dont like
Platinum, but I can tell you that after about 5-10k miles on my Civic, my
platinums were corroded and my engine hesitated, and when I replaced those
(and the wires) with OEM stuff, it worked much much better. But while the
platinums were in, the engine did seem a bit peppier (could have been my
imagination, since the engine was peppy anyhow..)