I just received my champion plugs from Summit@$4.95 ea,quality is good but BEWARE the gap was off on all of them and on two the gap was completly closed like it was dropped on the ground,they are made in mexico,i'll install them this weekend.

 

mine were all gapped wrong too, they get out of spec easy by bouncing around

 

I installed the Champions about a month ago and developed a
cold start miss that went away after a couple minutes, seemed to
be getting worse so I pulled plugs to check, one of the plugs had
a broken ceramic up inside plug that allowed ceramic to slip
down and cover center electrode, I made sure I didn't touch
ceramic when setting gap. I was an electrician at original Champion
factory in Toledo,OH till they moved out in early '90s. Knowing how
plugs are mass produced, with the long ceramic on these plugs this
could be a potential problem if these aren't hand assembled in Mexico.
I read on f150 site of truck guys having same problem.

 

did any one notice a increase in mpg's after changing your plugs? How many mile did you have when you changed them?

 

Maybe I'll just change Autolites every 30K and leave it at that.

 

I have changed motorcrafts today at 22k miles for Champions. Had a problem with one spark plug which was going out very hard so I was soaking that long and moving up and down. Finally I got all 8 in one piece they all were pretty much covered with deposits. I have checked the gap on motorcrafts it is 0,050 so I re-gap Champions on the same. Also center the top part to be exactly in the middle of electrode as some was not.
Had no time to drive but engine go smoothly on idle when cold and when warm. Looks and sounds very nice will let you know my notes from driving – need one week to check them in all road situations.

 

Just recieved new Champion Plugs from Rock Auto for less than 10.00 plus there is a rebate of 2.00. I checked all the plugs and they all looked good. The gaps were right on specs.

I have a little over 5K on my Stang and I pulled the stock plugs a few weeks ago and applied anti-seize compound. All plugs came out fine with just traces of carbon on them.

I complained to Ford about the situation with the plugs and they sent me a followup form to fill out. Big mistake. I really let them have it about this situation and the way they are not standing behind this problem. I have owned over 15 Fords over the years and it wasn't because Ford ignored their customers. They are acting like GM used to.

Anyway the Champions go in tomorrow. I do not want the chance of a plug coming apart in the future.

 

Does the nickel anti-seize alleviate carbon build up?

 

I believe the carbon will still be present but the compund will keep the plugs from freezing up. I plan to apply it to the Champions.

 

When I install the Champions I will put the nickel compund on them.

I have a 2004 F150 that has 160K on the original plugs. I am scared to touch them. It continues to run fine and I use a good fuel system cleaner when I change the oil.

This is a compny truck and we have a Ford Account Manager that e mails use with various updates and service procedures. When I asked him about the plug problem he freaked out and I got evasive answers.

He did tell me that it was imperative to use the Motorcraft Carb cleaner when breaking the plugs loose and nothing else. It seems Ford has tested many cleaners and this works the best on breaking up the carbon.

 

Champions are in and I can tell no difference in them and the Motorcraft that were removed. I placed nickel anti sieze on these about 1K ago and most of it was gone when I pulled the plugs. Unless some residual remains I don't know if this is doing anything. I still plan to pull the Champions once a year, clean, and reinstall.

 

What gap did you make on Champions? Do you have a tune?

 

I put some champs in yesterday and so far i have noticed a tiny miss that was there forever at idle cold is gone, no noticable difference in performance otherwize. I am happy just to be free of the consequence of having the 2 piece plugs in there. I had a set of HT0s that i was running a ZEX kit with and after about 7 months they developed a high rpm miss...no visual problems with them but i am sending them to autolite for a warranty claim...just in case i have to put another set in with my V2 that is coming today!!! Vortech says that the stock range plugs (gapped at .033) are reccomended so thats what i will start with...always had heard that FI gets a colder plug due to spark blow out...we'll see.

 

The colder range is to help prevent detonation and the spark blow out is due to the gap being to large ...

 

Gap is set at .45 which is the suggested by the mfg. I am running Rousch Cold Air with Predator 93 Octane tune. Took car out today and went through the gears. When I shifted from 1st to 2nd the tcs kicked in and shut the engine down for a breif moment. Power seems as strong or stronger with the Champs and I do not have to worry about breakage.

 

The MFG suggest the range of 0,040 up to 0,050. Champions just to be safe in range suggest then middle value of 0,045. The guys from my tune said that better gap champions exactly like the original one in a car. My motorcrafts are exactly 0,050. Couple of people mentioned about some problems with champions on cold engine and they were gaped 0,045 and that could be a problem of two small gap specially when the car is run on performance tune.

 

Brisk suggests a gap of.40-.42 on their plugs for the 3V. Their design is similar to the Champions. The MC plugs are a different design. Some of the F150's were gapping their plugs + .50 and were having problems. I will pull some plugs after 1k and see how they look. Right now they are running great at the .45 gap.

 

I installed Champions last night on my '05 vert. The stock plugs all came out very easily, with the exception of the second plug from the front on the passenger side. It took a little extra to get the plug to break free. I followed the TSB to the letter. The motorcraft carb cleaner liquifies the carbon buildup on the plugs.

My car only has 6,500 miles, yet it still had some carbon buildup on the plugs.

I notice no difference yet with the Champion plugs. Hopefully, they will perform well. I did go ahead and put the nickel anti-sieze on the barrel of the plugs, although I don't know if it will be needed since they are one piece.

 

It appears that it may be driven mostly for short distances if it's an '05 and has only 6500 miles. If that's the case, then it's possible that most of the time the engine is running rich and at high idle, and it's not running for at least 20 minutes at normal operating temperature. And that will cause the plugs(as well as the combustion chamber) to quickly become carbon fouled.

 

I would assume you are correct on the car being driven short distances. The previous owner is from a small town, and it's pretty obvious from the mileage that he didn't take a lot of road trips.

And I drove the car about twenty miles last night, and now that I have I'm convinced that the Champions perform a little better than the original plugs. Very smooth, seems the throttle response is better.