Hello all. Awhile back I took a good look at the spark plug poll on the DIY. I thought that I would give the Autolites a chance. At first they seemed ok (as compared to champions that have 30k on them) but after 5k miles my engine was vibrating so hard it was unbearable. Of course it was very noticeable at 45 but I was feeling it at all speeds. The acceleration was very sluggish and it seemed like my transmission might be going out as well. Since I have about 60k left on my warranty for my trans I thought let me rule out the engine first so I don't look like an idiot to my trans shop folks. Also, my mileage had dropped from 12.5 average to 9 and worse. So I did my normal maintenance cycle but with a twist! After changing the front and rear diff fluid (which didn't need changing after all), the engine oil, a new spectra air filter, seafoam in the engine (and then drained after running it 10 min), seafoam in gas, and seafoam in brake booster hose to intake; I decided to put in my NGK VPowers that have been sitting in my tool box for several months. This is the exact same maintenance that I did 5k ago when I put in the Autolites. I wanted an accurate test. All I can say is WOW! There was an immediate improvement in performance, no sluggishness whatsoever. The ping is gone! This is the first time since 30k miles that my truck doesn't ping. As a matter of fact when I went on the test drive I looked down at my speedo and saw that I was going 80 and went whoa I better slow down. After 5k miles I will report back on here and let ya'll know if there is still the awesomeness that there is now.

Just a side note here:

My intention here is not to offend the guys that like Autolites, only to state the fact that they did not work for me and the experience I had with them. That way anyone that has a similar issue can try this. With that being said make sure that your plenum is ok and all the other know "issues" such as cracked heads, cracked headers, etc. aren't the culprit first.

 

Musta got a bad batch.
Kinda funky though how trucks with the exact same engines can like different plugs. I've got 3923's in mine and have for 2k mi now and it still drives fine with no issues.

 

What part number are the NGKs? My truck also hates autolites but loves Champion truckplugs which are now discontinued (stupid) so im shopping around for a good replacement.

 

Thinking about the bad batch I had that happen with some Champions once. My buddy at the dealership called me and offered some champs at $1 a piece. I took him up on it even though I had just put in a new ones from Auto zone. The ones from auto zone crapped out at about the same mileage and I then put in the ones from the dealership and ran on those for 45k. Only changed the out because of mileage on the plugs and the work I did like the plenum and such. They were running great. Those were my first Autolites and they seemed very bosch like to me. In that they have a screw head on the top instead of being solid and the top does not tighten down onto the plug. I even tightened the tops really good before installing them and they all came out loose. I'll take pictures of them. Surprisingly enough number 8 was the best looking out of the bunch. All the others looked like $*it compared to it.

 

ZFR6F-11

The homepage is here:

http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/

 

They are 1.99 a pop and that is a great price for what I am feeling in performance.

 

Must be something new, since the Autolites I bought from wally world are solid. I've been by since and haven't seen what you're referring to. Weird.

 

I have had a set of Autolite AP5224 platinum plugs in for a little over 22k miles and it still runs like a dream.

 

i have run NGK v power plugs in my trucks and i have not had a problem with them yet and i have put over 6,000km on my 93 and over 13,000km on my 81. my 81 even idled noticeably lower with NGK's.

 

I tried v power and iriduim ix and my truck does a lot better with the autolights . Seems more responsive imo