[slidingdelta]

My father's Accord has just over 100k. Thinking of new plugs but the iridiums seem costly. Should platinum be okay, no performance issues or anything? If not platinum, copper?

The other thing was possibly replacing the water pump as a preventative maintenance. Has anyone heard of water pumps going on these cars or are they generally fine for a long time?

 

[SD70MAC]

I would stay with Iridium, I've read on the Ridgeline owners club about the Ridgeline as well as CRV not liking platinum plugs and some guys even getting check engine lights. I think AutoLite makes Iridium plugs if you want to "cheap out" but my Hondas will stay with NGK or Denso Iridiums.

 

[IrishCream06]

Yeah almost all Japanese cars come with NGK's anymore. Now I was under the assumption that 7th accords already had Platinum spark plugs from the factory? Iridium should still perform better, but if I'm correct and they do already have platinums, you might as well stick with stock. No need to waste money on something that isn't really going to give you a noticeable difference.

 

[Accordriver]

DON'T DO IT.

I thought the exact same thing and tried putting in platinum-- no good. The car had an obvious lack in power and poor MPG after about a week. Put some new iridium plugs in and the car behaved like new.

 

[Accordriver]

Yeah almost all Japanese cars come with NGK's anymore. Now I was under the assumption that 7th accords already had Platinum spark plugs from the factory? Iridium should still perform better, but if I'm correct and they do already have platinums, you might as well stick with stock. No need to waste money on something that isn't really going to give you a noticeable difference.

Stock plug is Iridium.

 

[03LXV6]

May be costly but you only need to change them every 105K miles so the cost is offset by the interval. The dealer charges around $17 per. They can be had at the auto parts store for $10.

 

[SD70MAC]

May be costly but you only need to change them every 105K miles so the cost is offset by the interval. The dealer charges around $17 per. They can be had at the auto parts store for $10.

Exactly.
RockAuto has several Iridiums to choose from,
AutoLite 4.93
Bosch 5.68
Champion 6.20
Denso 7.64
NGK 9.77
Denso LongLife 10.82

It's really not that expensive to do the job right, you only have a 4 cylinder. 40 bucks every 100k isn't expensive for plugs. Your ignition is designed for Iridium plugs might as well pony up the extra cash and make it run like its supposed to.

 

[utwarreng]

Exactly.
RockAuto has several Iridiums to choose from,
AutoLite 4.93
Bosch 5.68
Champion 6.20
Denso 7.64
NGK 9.77
Denso LongLife 10.82

It's really not that expensive to do the job right, you only have a 4 cylinder. 40 bucks every 100k isn't expensive for plugs. Your ignition is designed for Iridium plugs might as well pony up the extra cash and make it run like its supposed to.

If you are planning on doing the work yourself for the plugs, you can save a lot of money. It's a really easy job to do, even with limited know-how. All you need is a 3/8" socket with an extension, 10mm (I believe) socket, and the basic spark plug socket. You should be able to do this in about 20 minutes, and save a lot of money over going to a mechanic. That would more than pay for the cost of going to the recommended iridium over platinum.

 

[RTexasF]

If he buys the platinums he will end up spending more money. They won't perform correctly and he will end up buying iridium plugs anyway. Tell Dad to buy the correct plugs in the first place.

 

[AMAN1]

I had a **** **** ***** **** of a **** **** **** stupid **** **** mechanic put in platinums in my car without telling me. It's very noticeable, and you don't really save money anyways since Iridiums will last you much longer, like those that have said above. I haven't heard of any other plugs from factory that can last over 100k.

 

[diverdwn]

Good to know

I was unaware of the iridium plugs and am glad I checked this thread. I am just flipping 100k and will be in the market for plugs and wires myself.

A water pump is a mechanical device and ALL mechanical devices fail eventually. If you replace it before it fails you are much better off. I will be changing out my 1. Water pump, 2. Timing belt, and 3. serpentine belt in the next few weeks. If you replace one of these you may as well do all three. If the timing belt goes you are looking at some serious cash to get you back rolling. I priced each of these out at my local auto parts store and the total is about $110. I'll get my brother to help with the work itself.

A well maintained Honda is a Happy Honda!!

 

[03LXV6]

I was unaware of the iridium plugs and am glad I checked this thread. I am just flipping 100k and will be in the market for plugs and wires myself.

A water pump is a mechanical device and ALL mechanical devices fail eventually. If you replace it before it fails you are much better off. I will be changing out my 1. Water pump, 2. Timing belt, and 3. serpentine belt in the next few weeks. If you replace one of these you may as well do all three. If the timing belt goes you are looking at some serious cash to get you back rolling. I priced each of these out at my local auto parts store and the total is about $110. I'll get my brother to help with the work itself.

A well maintained Honda is a Happy Honda!!

Do you have v6 or I4. Only V6's have timing belt. And you don't have spark plug wires.

 

[diverdwn]

V6 .. I updated my signature to reflect that. Thanks for the heads up on the spark plugs. Funny enough, i never even noticed that!

 

[rszappa1]

You got over 100k out of the plugs.... to me it is a no brainer..... install the same plugs you took out....

 

[Accordriver]

I was unaware of the iridium plugs and am glad I checked this thread. I am just flipping 100k and will be in the market for plugs and wires myself.

A water pump is a mechanical device and ALL mechanical devices fail eventually. If you replace it before it fails you are much better off. I will be changing out my 1. Water pump, 2. Timing belt, and 3. serpentine belt in the next few weeks. If you replace one of these you may as well do all three. If the timing belt goes you are looking at some serious cash to get you back rolling. I priced each of these out at my local auto parts store and the total is about $110. I'll get my brother to help with the work itself.

A well maintained Honda is a Happy Honda!!

Don't use aftermarket parts, go with the OEM ones.

 

[BLCKFLSH]

If you have a 4 cylinder, I would not worry about changing the water pump. It could last the life of the car, and if it does go out, it's not a big deal to change it. If it's a V6 changing the water pump is a major job, so while the timing belt is done, the water pump is usually done at the same time. Not a job you want to do twice on the V6 engine.

 

[The Pope]

If you have a 4 cylinder, I would not worry about changing the water pump. It could last the life of the car, and if it does go out, it's not a big deal to change it. If it's a V6 changing the water pump is a major job, so while the timing belt is done, the water pump is usually done at the same time. Not a job you want to do twice on the V6 engine.

+1

And just as a side note for any that might not already know: If you change out your sparkplugs yourself, do it on a cold engine. There is a Much Greater chance of messing up the threads in the aluminum head when it's hot.

 

[slidingdelta]

Thanks for the heads up, it looks like I I'll be going for the iridium. Thanks for the links, they are cheaper than I thought they would be. For some reason I was thinking $15 per or something like that.