I have a 2004 Durango Hemi that idles/runs rough when there is a lot of moisture in the air. Example: when I take it through a high pressure auto car wash and today it is cold and very rainy out and it is idling rough. I called the Dodge dealer and they told me I should of been doing tuneups and sparkplug changes every 30K miles. I thought the sparkplugs in the newer vehicles would be good to 100K, am I wrong in my thinking? Thanks for any help!!!!

 

Changing the plugs every 30,000 miles is correct,
FF

 

Yup, despite the fact that the Hemis use platinum plugs, they are only good for about 30k or so. To my knowledge, no factory engines today are designed to go 100k without at least a plug change. I also hope you are changing oil more often than that...

If you change the plugs and it doesn't help, you may want to take a look at the TPS sensor. How many miles on the vehicle?

 

jasonw, IIRC only some of the Fords are recommending that at this time. It was a selling point in the 2000s but in reality I think it was a ruse to reduce peoples thoughts related to maintenance costs.

IndyD

 

I don't know how they can say 100K? Thats a lot of miles for anything.

 

Interesting that Ford actually attempted that.

Somewhat surprised that Chevrolet hasn't tried that, since their newer vehicles never make it to 100k anyway...

 

That hurts jasonw........I just bought my wife a Suburban last week,
FF

 

The 5.7L Hemi does not use platinum plugs. The OEM plug is a Champion RE14MCC4 Copper plug.

Some folks have installed plats and been satisfied. Others were not and went back to the OEM plug.

FYI, in normal passenger car service, the Ford platinum plugs will do 100k no problem. If you are doing police or taxi service, they derate the spec to 60k.

Quite a few GM cars have had platinum plugs since the early 90's also. The Caprice, Lumina, Grand Prix, Roadmaster, and Corsica are just a few that come to mind.

The real issue was leaving the factory plug in for so many years, and sometimes they did not want to come out when the owner got around to changing them.

Don

 

My mother's 2005 Chrysler 300C with the Hemi uses platinum plugs, recommended by the dealership (they also claim the manual says to use them).

Maybe they are pulling my parents' leg. I will have to investigate next time I visit the old place...

 

all 5.7 Hemi uses Copper plugs. They said do it every 30k, but you should be able to go 45k without a problem.

Platinum plugs "could" last 100K, but that's usually when then Check engine light comes on for Mis-firing....

They really aren't bad car, i think they are pretty awsm. The only problem is people fails to maintain them. It is a Big truck, there are more stuff to break. I've seen too many ppl come in with multiple problem collected over the years, and they rather trade it in than fix it. I mean, when you need Brake, Tires (Not cheap), Scheduled Maintainence package, and something break at the same time, it is hard to swallow the bill at once.


it's cost of Ownership is A LOT more expensive than a Honda Civic, I've seen a lot of ppl fails to understand it.