I know Bosche or OEM Volvo are the recommended plugs, I was just wondering if anyone has had any experience with NGK Plugs. They are the plugs of choice among Syclone and Typhoon owners. We run 14.7psi stock, and many are pushing 16-21 with modified engines, using NGK's.

What's the consensus? Would I be "out on my own" running NGK plugs?

Thanks!

 

All I know is to stick w/ copper plugs. The platinum and all that have been known to make people's cars run worse and they just have problems.

 

Both of mine have platinums.
Stock Volvo plugs in a turbo are platinums.

Haven't tried the NGK in the Volvo.
I run them in everything else I have ever owned. I always used the NGK V-Power.

 

I bought some NGK iridium plugs when they went on sale. Mostly cuz I couldn't remember when the last time they had been changed (maybe never?) and because well they were on sale. I don't have a turbo engine, so my input may not be relevant. I've heard from other owners that they use copper because they do last a long time and they are probably cheaper. As cheap as plugs are, who cares how much they cost?

Iridiumsare supposed to resist detonation and some other crap if you believethe hype. I have about 5K miles on my plugs. I didn't notice any difference at first, and I still don't. Maybe thats a good thing when compared to the OEM ones...but you may find a real difference on a high pressure application.

 

Hi Tjay,

I personally would go with genuine Volvo plugs (be sure to get the right plugs, as turbo/non-turbo seem to use different plugs).

Platinum & iridium plugs are known as 60,000-mile/several-year service-free plugs, as opposed to copper, which requires cleaning at every 15,000 miles or so and do not have self-cleaning properties as platinum & coppers do. The average lifespan for copper plugs is 3 years/30,000 miles (may depend on specific car & application).

I am suspecting that the most problems people have with platinum/iridium plugs is incorrect handling & installation.In general, they are not supposed to be gapped, otherwise the electrodes would be damaged. Almost all Japanese cars lately come with OEM platinum (in Japanese market anyway).

Anyway, genuine Volvo would be the safest bet, as far as I'm concerned.


JPN

 

I had NGK Iridium IX´s on my 850 turbo and they worked ok. My car has other problems which affect power, but they are not related to the spark plugs. I now use Bosch Super Plus copper plugs, which are incredibly cheap and work just as fine.

 

Since plugs are change so infrequently I just use the OEM Volvo Turbo plugs. Just put a set in my V70 on Sunday along with new wires, cap and rotor. Have 125K on it and it looked like the original dist. cap. Ran fine before I did it, and still runs fine. Just did cause it hasn't been done in the three years I've owned the car.

 

Cool, thanks for the input.

I was merely asking, because like I said, NGK's are the plugs of choice for GM turbo guys. It's the only plug I run in my Typhoon.... well, not the only plug, but stock plugs are getting harder to find for the Typhoon application. I was thinking that because they work so well in the high pressure Typhoon application, they might work well in the Volvo. That, and the dealer is 30 minutes away. Driving 30 miles these days just for plugs makes them more expensive. [8D]NGK's are easily found local... but I guess so are Bosch plugs.

Just thinking out loud...er, typing out loud... er something.

 

Go to https://www.volvoparts.com/index.aspvery cheap for OEM tuneup and brake parts. It's a real Volvo dealer in the state of Washington. I call and talk to them every once in a while when I'm looking for something. I got the last set of plugs from fcpgroton though. Order on a Tuesday and have them by the weekend for sure.

 

FWIW,

Some cars (not sure if any Volvo's do this) use a processor controlled ignition system that effectively uses the spark plug to measure the conditions within the combustion chamber. This 'feedback ignition' was first introduced to the market by MSD (IIRC), and marketed on the aftermarket many years ago.

Many cars use a version of this now, for instance some GM products (Saturn's) use the plugs to calculate the proper dwell for the spark. Many, especially those who add turbos, have noticed problems when using platinum plugs. This makes sense since the changes in resistance / impedance that the ECU / ECM measures are very small, and changing the properties of the spark plugs seems to put the readings 'out of range' and cause problems for these cars.

I like platinum plugs for the longevity, but just put a set of Bosch Copper plugs in my 98 V70 Turbo last night. Probably would have been safe with platinum plugs, since tech runs them with not problems.

-

The plugs I removed were Volvo branded, and the electrodes were eroded nearly even with the insulator. The car ran fine like this. I wonder how long they had been in the car. I see Volvo recommends a 30k service interval. I believe the original owner (who had the car to 99k) had it serviced by Volvo.

It has 124k on it now, could these plugs been in there since 60k?

 

WRT the OP,

Years ago I pulled wrenches in a motorcycle shop. What was drummed into us then was the idea that you kept Japanese plugs in a Japanese ignition. We only ever used NGK or ND plugs in the bikes. Spark plugs are not quite as high tech as the advertising seems to imply.... but over the years I have noticed that some plugs don't work as well in some applications. I have never seen (or even heard of) anyone having problems result from the use of NGK plugs... other then platinum issues mentioned above.

Just another guy's 2 cents.....

 

I am using them in my 94 and have no issues at all, I use Champion niridiums in my BMW and would run nothing less in it although the die hard BMW guys say BMW OEM plugs only (bs). As a couple of the realists here have indicated if a plug is $5 each and lasts 3 years, I mean on the scope of things how expensive are they really. So give the NGk's a whirl, if you don't like em, go back the most it will set you back is a few deniros and a little time...after all these plugs aren't all that hard to get to...GL

 

I realize this is an old thread but I have had a somewhat bizarre experience when I put NGK's in my 2004 V70 2.5T AWD wagon (233,000 miles) on a Thursday. I had been running Bosch Platinums with no problems. I put in a set of the correct NGK iridium plugs and within 3 miles threw CEM codes P0600, P0863, P0571, P0504. Car went into limp mode, recovered after I turned the ignition off. Next time I started the car hard starting terminated start due to U0073 Bus failure. I could get the car to re-set by disconnecting the battery and could run short distances but the problem kept reoccurring. Called my 2 local Volvo specialists and we were all scratching our heads. We suspected CEM was failing (not good news for a car that old) and I arranged to bring the car in Mon. to get it on the scanner.

With the weekend to investigate, I checked the connections to the CEM, ECU and TCU and they all seemed fine. No evidence of water or any damage. I checked to see if I had pulled any connections removing the upper tube to the intercooler when changing the plug - no evidence of that. I was stumped. Just so happens I had forgot to put the trash out Friday and still had the old Bosch plugs. I dug the old plugs out of the garbage and decided I had nothing to lose putting them back in. I put the old plugs (45k miles on them) and all codes and problems have disappeared. No more codes, no hard starting, no limp mode. I have no idea how plugs could affect the CEM - it seems to me it isnt possible and this is just some strange alignment of unrelated events, Voodoo perhaps.

 

i use champion part#337 copper gaped .030 in my 2006 XC-70 thats what the manual reads have them in 18000 miles runs fine