Hi, I'm a new '00 Durango 4X4 4.7 owner and new to this forum. I bought my truck with 50,000 miles a few months ago and really like it. I noticed it idled a little rough when hot at about 500 rpm. I pulled one of the plugs and the gap was huge so I replaced them. I went to Kragen and they sold me Bosch platinum plugs.

The truck runs fine, maybe starts a little smoother, although it's still a bit rough at low idle. After reading a few posts on the internet, I found some saying that the 4.7 requires copper plugs, and that platinum may cause pre-ignition and mess up the PCM (pollution control monitor?).

Bottom line, does anyone know if I will mess up the truck? Should I throw out the new Bosch platinum plugs and put in the original Champion copper plugs?

Thanks

 

Whatever you do DONT put the old Champion plugs on. Pieces of Crap. Stick with Bosch. I can't say whether or not the copper vs. platinum plugs can attribute to low idle problems but I'd actually guess your low idle problems are attributed to your EGR valve possibly sticking. I haven't cleaned the valve on mine, but what basically happens is that it gets coked up and starts to stick. The sensor then measures this adjusted airflow and adjusts your idle making it run rough.

If you want good copper plugs I'd suggest: Bosch Super Plugs

I run these in all my VW's. Never stripped a plug and they will run hot and always fire no matter how dirtly they get. Then again you have Fuel Injection so you shouldn't have to worry about dirty plugs.

 

I totally disagree with you on the Champion plugs. I personally have seen the destruction that the PMC see's with aftermarket plugs. Remember that the PMC reads the plugs and everything after and before detonation. I have had Dodge vehicles not even start because of the plugs. (mainly Autolite) Dodge has put millions of dollars into building their engines with the help of Champion plugs for years. How can you say they are (Pieces of Crap)?

Never put a Platinum plug in a non Platinum plug motor as a rule of thumb. Also don't put a foreign plug in a USA motor. If you want a good hotter plug then I suggest Champion Truck Plugs. If you want stock performance then keep the standard plug in there.

I have run Champion plugs with the help of MSD and also Mallory Ignition systems and not had any trouble with them except premature wear out due to hotter forced voltage. I would put the stock plugs back in and gap them right or Champion Truck plugs at the same gap. The standard ignition system will run them just fine and should smooth out your ride.

 

Don't laugh too hard, but if you can get them in an AC Delco, they work great also.
But if you are not into taking chances, stick with the Champions.

I don't like em, but they simply work great in Chryslers.

 

Thanks guys for the responses. I think I'll put stock plugs in. Maybe I can get Kragen to give me back $20 for the Bosch platinum plugs they recommended.

 

I am currently using the new Champion Iridium plugs. They work just awesome. Was using the Truck Series Champion copper plugs previously. Both of these run wonderfully but I optted for the Iridium truck plugs for longer plug life. It's more costly but I am too lazy to change out the plugs too often.

 

I've done some reading on the Iridium plugs and most everyone I've read on says they last just as long as regular. Gas mileage increase’s in the city but went down on the highway. I think I'm staying with the Champion Truck Plugs for now.

 

There is in improvement in city MPG's, but not much, barely 1 mpg at best. But anything improvement is better than none at these gas prices. But I did not lose any on the highway, avg about the same. I bought and installed this just before my 370 mile one way trip to West Texas and the highway MPG's were the same, about 14 mpg, but my city mpg went from 11 mpg to 12 mpg. This is with A/C running, so I guess I would get even better mileage without A/C.

Durango starts much easier on cold starts and the cold idle is much smoother too. These are still Champion truck plugs, but the Iridium version instead of copper version. also, Throttle response is much better too. From my reading, the Irdium plug are much harder to fowl because of the center electrode being so small and pointy like a finely sharpened pencil and when it sparks, the arc is much hotter so there is less carbon buildup.
There was a posting concerning spark plugs on DCX vehicles, some vehicles are made for bosch platinum plugs, and some champion plugs, etc. Depends on how the engine was designed. I saw on that same post that bosch platinmum plugs did more harm on most DCX v8's but ran okay on the v6's, etc. Let me see if I can find it.

Found these message threads that you can cross reference;

https://dodgeforum.com/m_425905/tm.htm

This thread has alot of info on spark plugs and wires especially the post from HankL

https://dodgeforum.com/m_366844/tm.htm

I found out when you do a search in this message board, do the search from the root of the forum to find more results, if you stick with just one forum, you won't get much results. I found more results from the same forum vs just finding a few in the same forum.

 

Hello all... I have had my 2000 4.7L Durango for about 2 years now... Bought it with 77k on it. Now have 112k on it. Idle was a bit rough and so wasnt the start up. I replaced the ORIGINAL plugs about 9-10 mos and about 12,000 miles ago. There was almost nothing left of those, not much carbon, just everything was literally gone. Dodge told me that the 4.7l's came with platinum plugs(That they wanted a small fortune for to replace). I upgraded to the Bosche Platinum +4's. Huge improvement in responsiveness, and fuel efficiency. I dont think my computer is being screwed up at all. Never showed any codes or anything, and always runs good. But Lately I have been having an unsteady idle at low RPM's. Going to look into EGR and then check Strainer in the fuel Pump. Does anyone know if the strainer is either Removeable/cleanable/replaceable? No sense in replacing a good pump, just want to make its job a little easier. All I have been told is that is non-serviceable. I hope this post helps.. Id give the bosche platinums 2 thumbs up.
Jay

 

I have also heard that the filter is non-replaceable unless you replace the pump.

For the erradic idle, there are 2 common issues on these engines. First, remove and thoroughly clean the IAC. Second, check your TPS voltage and perform the TPS mod if needed to up the key-on voltage to close to 0.7 V. You can read about these at:

http://www.intense-dakota.com/tips_and_tricks.htm