I RECENTLY CHANGED THE PLUGS ON MY 01 430 AND REALIZED THAT FOR SOME REASON I HAD A HUGE POWER DECREASE. IT SEEMS THAT I HAVE A VERY NOTICIBALE POWER DECREASE AFTER 3500RPM. BASICALLLY THE MOTOR HESITATES TO ACCELERATE AND THE ACCELERATION IS NOT SMOOTH AT ALL LIKE BEFORE THE PROBLEM AROSE

i PUT IN SOME NGK IRIDIUM PLUGS WHICH HAVE AN IRIDIUM CENTER ELECTRODE BUT A PLATINUM SIDE ELECTRODE. i KNOW THAT THE MANUAL STATES THAT YOU SHOULD ONLY USE IRIDIUM PLUGS BUT THIS IS ALL THAT THEY HAD AT THE PARTS SHOP. COULD THIS BE THE PROBLEM

A BUDDY OF MINE ALSO TOLD ME THAT THE GAP ON THE PLUGS ALSO MAY BE OFF?

IS THERE A SPECIFIC AMOUNT THAT THEY HAVE TO BE TORQUED TOO?

IF ANY ONE COULD OFFER ME ANY SUGGESTIONS I WOULD APPRECIATE IT.

 

The iridium part is the center electrode. When given the name, copper, platinum, iridium, etc, they are referring to the center electrode.

It should be pre-gapped from the factory so you shouldn't even have to touch it.

Torque spec is 13.5-14ftlbs

 

thanks gsteg...

so if i am using the right plug and the gap is correct why am i having this huge powerloss?

could it be that the plugs arent torqued?

could the guy at the parts shop gave me the wrong plugs?

i am about to settle for some torque master plugs and see if that helps but horefully i wont have too.

http://www.l-tunedparts.com/product/?id=1779

does n e one else know why this may be happening

 

Maybe it's the coils? Check each individual harness for the coil pack to see if they're tightly connected.

 

thanks for the advice im going to check first thing in the morning n hopefull it'll be fixed...

that sounds like a good solution... hopefully it will fix fix da problem

 

im with you. I cant see any other scenario that would cause this other than maybe you broke a plug putting it in. i have done many of spark plug changes on many of cars and some of them i didnt gap and some of them i did and have never had a problem like your talking about. and have never torqued to specs. just tighten them snug. but that is just me.

 

unfortunately it was raining today so i didnt have a chance to check ...

is there any way i can check which cylinder is having the problem?

also it seems odd to me that there is no check engine light coming on? One time a notice did pop up on the NAV screen that said "service take to nearest dealer" but i wasnt sure if that wass for scheduled maintinence since the car was nearing 100k. it popped up during the test drive after the install. i have a scanner but the car doesnt seem to be throwing any codes.

 

i finally got the chance this morning and checked each individual sparkplug. i retightened all of them finding that 2 were a little loose. i also checked all the wires. it did help somewhat but the car still struggles to reach high RPM's. It seems that the car is either running lean or rich i cant tell. if im cruising at 50 or 60 and get on it i will hear a pop which im guessing is a cylendar backfiring. Basically i jst popped the cable off to reset the ECU hopefully that will solve my problem

if not im going to have to settle for going to a dealer to see what the problem is... hopefully i wont have too because they wanted to charge me over $400 to change just the plugs and no wires.

 

I reflashed the ECU and it was a world of a difference...

my gs is back to life

it still feels like it has a little lag around 3-4k rpm but i think the ecu is adjusting


THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP