What should the spark plug gap be if you run the NGK Iridiums. They are .52 out of the box, which from reading about gaps online I got the impression that .52 is a happy medium. Anyone know for the exact setting or should i just leave them the same right out of the box?

 

do not, i repeat DO NOT gap an irridium plug

 

That is what i thought, thanks, good thing I just installed them as they were!!

 

just a general tip when gapping platinuim and such plugs do not touch the tip.

 

how come? i gapped mines to .040 and i havent notice any complications yey

 

because the electrodes on an irridium plug are way too thin to be messed with. even though you gapped yours, i'm willing to bet that at least a piece of one of your electrodes is no longer on the plug. these plugs are not meant to be gapped, they are meant to be taken out of the box and put in the car. they are created to run at certain gaps with certain heat ranges. i don't understand why it's so hard for people to understand this concept......

 

The concept is not hard to grasp, thanks for you help PSI Chick.

 

easy, Psi... this is the first time i've heard of this 'CONCEPT'. Aight

 

Just for clarification...

you can gap iridium and platinum plugs... if you bend only the ground electrode and do not touch the center electrode or the end of the ground. This is where your platinum and iridium sits. The rest is usually a nickel alloy. The gap doesn't effect the heat range as much as you'd think... it's the insulator nose length that varies the heat range. The gap effects the plugs ability to spark (the gap increases over time since you are literally burning the material off the plug). It's preferred to not touch the end of your plug... but it can be done... just not recommended...

at least NGK plugs... hence, I work for them...

 

Most good plug gap gauges have a U shaped part on it to properly set the gap by bending the ground by inserting it's base into the slot and lightly and slowly bending it. For the best and most accurate results always use a wire gap gauge and not the cheap $.99 ones you can get anywhere that has the outer edge that slowly ramps from the smallest to the largest size.