Greetings all,

I figured I'd join, Ive been lurking for a few days now.

'99 Durango, 5.9, 106K Miles.

Well, my mpg is 12-Hwy and 10-City so I've been wanting to try an bump it up a bit.

I have been lazy... real lazy with this vehicle. I have only fixed things that broke. Nothing else. I've had it for about 5 years and only put 30K miles on it, partly because it uses so much fuel and I have another car for trekking to work in.

Anyway, the plugs are REAL old. Not 100% sure that they are the actual originals, but... well, look at the pic.

The gaps are now at .60!!! Hilarious, I'm surprised it still ran. Gap is supposed to be .40. The plugs say MOPAR on them, so I presume they are original. Maybe not, though.

I also took off the throttle body to clean it and the AIC out. Well, two out of the three linkage bolts snapped and then my extractor snapped off trying to get it out. Now I have to get it over to a buddy's and have him get them out.

Anyway, here are the pics.

 

the factory plugs on my truck were worn to .070 when they were replaced the first time (it was my mothers truck at first and she didnt watch mileage), granted the 4.7 has coil on plug ignition(this was at 70k miles)

its a good thing you changed them, and you will likely see an improvement in MPGS once you get the IAC replaced properly

 

I'm gonna put an Accel coil on it like recommended in another thread. I am looking at the plug wires that Hydrashocker recommended, the MSD 32189. I found them on JEGS for $80 and at Team C for for $65, but there is a JEGS brand they sell for $35 555-40256. I don't really know what the difference is... if any.

Anybody have any thoughts. The price is nice, but I'll pay the higher if the quality is there.

Chris

 

I see that Hydrashocker has a Ram 2500 in his tag, but the post regarding the MSD's is about 1st Gen Durango. I notice that the MSD and the JEGS don't list as Durango Ccompatible.

???

 

hydrashocker no longer has his durango, he bought the ram for towing his camper which he used to tow w/ his durango.

the 5.2 and 5.9l dodge engines are the same across the entire truck lineup, they use the same wires in the ram as in the durango as in the durango as in the ram van as in the jeeps.

if i were you i would get the MSD wires, but im sure hydra will chime in with his opinion of the JEGS brand wires (i have a 4.7 so i dont have to worry about buying spark plug wires )

 

Thanks for your input, I really appreciate it.

I'm noticing also that the MSD and JEGS don't seem to come with a coil wire. The MSD coil wires that I see are only 18" and all say that they are for the Blaster, but I have the Accel.

I also see a Taylor and a JEGS brand coil wire kit, but no clue if they come with a crimp tool.

I remember WAAAAAY back in the day when I had a car that used spark plugs, the friggin coil wire came with it!

This is the most confusing part.

I suspect that if I have 8.5 wire, my coil wire should be at least 8.5 also.

I've got like 30 Firefox windows open right now.

 

Ha...dude...i got ya beat on the plugs. When I removed mine a month ago they were all sitting at around 0.080 gapping...worn, dirty but DRY!!!
Dist. cap looked like yours, spark-wires were mix-and-match.

It was nuts.

 

That's pretty nuts. I've never seen plugs even as bad as mine, much less, those. Granted, I'm no mechanic, nor do I work on cars a lot...but still.

 

The ceramic is missing from one spark plug. I had one look just like that. Sometimes I wonder what happened to it. If it broke inside the engine it would have torn that cylinder up. At least I think it would.

 

The MSD wires I posted come with a coil wire. The blaster coil I posted is an OEM replacement so they will bolt right in, but you will need the wiring harness, again follow what I posted.

Accel is owned by MSD now. Both are the same basic design, just slightly different internals. The Accel has a bad name for just going out with no notice, however the MSD version does not seam to have this issue. Regardless get what ever you want.

Listen, I have had the very best luck with MSD, and MSD stands by their products hands down. I used what I used because of experience, product value for value, and craftsmanship, and warranty. MSD makes a product that hands down is one of the best, if not the best in ignition components.

If you want JEGS then do it, if you want some other name then do it, but I'm sticking to what works and gets me down the road when everyone else is on the side with their hood up. If I can't get MSD Red 8.5mm wires then I would go to OEM or even Mopar Performance.

I don't think any part numbers other then the coil will match back to the manufacture, well maybe a few, I had to actually call MSD and talk to the tech. It took me some prying, but I finally put that system together. They haven't tested the product on those trucks and verified it, so they will not include the part numbers for those vehicles, however they have verified it on other vehicles with the same ignition systems, and I used that information to build that system for the JTEC PCM's. If you look under the Ram it might actually be there, and I know there was a second part number from MSD to the newer MSD wire part number, however I think it is simply a shorter wire as the wire boots and wires were the same. People have used the system even in the 2000-2003 Durango and had no issues, but you don't want to use ANY Blaster II coil configurations as it fries the PCM.