So, when did they re-invent the spark-plug?

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RLTrader
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So, when did they re-invent the spark-plug?

Post by RLTrader » January 17, 2020, 6:08 pm

Had the Serpentine Belt changed, figured might be a good idea to also replace the spark plugs at the same time.

Now use to do all this myself, even replaced a straight 6 with a v6 in an old jeep pickup.

Strangely the plugs removed looked nothing like I use to deal with. ? So the question - for have not done plugs in maybe 20 or 30 years or much of anything else. God am I old. :lol:



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Re: So, when did they re-invent the spark-plug?

Post by marcus1 » January 17, 2020, 9:59 pm

No not old...Just everthing is so new..!!!!
I just serviced my 4 year old Hyundai Tuson SUV myself.
Only took 2 hours to do but hours on Google to find out how and time on Lazada
buying the right parts.
All good fun in the end but even a common service of a new car now is hard work.
Give me back the old points and plugs..!!!
YKICAMOOCOW

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Re: So, when did they re-invent the spark-plug?

Post by RLTrader » January 18, 2020, 1:43 pm

2 best things to go away, points and carburetors.

TJ
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Re: So, when did they re-invent the spark-plug?

Post by TJ » January 18, 2020, 2:13 pm

Count me in as another devotee of pre-80s car design. I'd replace points and condenser annually. The water pump and various filters were easy to access and replace. Pulling out the generator and replacing the carbon brushes was an hours work. The one-piece exhaust pipe and muffler on my MG midget cost me less that $20 and was another easy repair. Replaced my own pads and brake shoes of course. Parts that would regularly fail or wear out were simple and easy to repair yourself. State regulations changed all that IMO.

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Re: So, when did they re-invent the spark-plug?

Post by bluejets » January 19, 2020, 3:33 pm

TJ wrote:
January 18, 2020, 2:13 pm
Count me in as another devotee of pre-80s car design. I'd replace points and condenser annually. The water pump and various filters were easy to access and replace. Pulling out the generator and replacing the carbon brushes was an hours work. The one-piece exhaust pipe and muffler on my MG midget cost me less that $20 and was another easy repair. Replaced my own pads and brake shoes of course. Parts that would regularly fail or wear out were simple and easy to repair yourself.
Same as with my 1978 Celica. 500,000klm and still looking good.
Often get an admirer come to take a closer look.
Currently due for a new clutch/p,plate etc.
Last time engine out and back in in less than a day.
Most of these new machines would take that long to disconnect all the sensors.
Then when one gets them back together again, find it won't go because some code or other required as the power's been off.
No thanks.....talk about excess plastic from plastic bags, obviously the greenies and their mates haven't thought about all the new cars out there.
Not only that but my mate's 2 year old BMW downloads all the contacts from any mobile phone that gets within cooee.
As far as the sparkplugs go, he didn't get that far. Lifted the bonnet, saw a big plastic cover with sensor plugs/leads and decided not to go any further.
Oh...and no dipstick either.

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parrot
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Re: So, when did they re-invent the spark-plug?

Post by parrot » January 19, 2020, 4:07 pm

Our son-in-law was old school (age 37). He rebuilt a 1973 Firebird from a rust heap and sold it for $60,000. No matter he put in 80k in parts/engine and probably thousands of hours in labor.
Having grown up with cars that bombed out after a few 10k miles, needing regular tuneups, brake changes, and new mufflers, along with cracking dashes and suspensions that gave out. The four Toyota trucks we've bought here since 1996 have been getting better all the time. With the exception of a few tire and battery changes, there's been little to do, other than periodic maintenance/oil/filter. No electrical problems, no mufflers rusting out, no suspensions giving out, dashes all as good as new, and tires that I change only because of old age, not because of bare treads.
My 2018 REVO is cranking out 38mpg on a regular basis. Yes, I drive like an old fart.......but try getting anything close to that in a car that uses old tech.

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tamada
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Re: So, when did they re-invent the spark-plug?

Post by tamada » January 19, 2020, 8:32 pm

bluejets wrote:
January 19, 2020, 3:33 pm
TJ wrote:
January 18, 2020, 2:13 pm
Count me in as another devotee of pre-80s car design. I'd replace points and condenser annually. The water pump and various filters were easy to access and replace. Pulling out the generator and replacing the carbon brushes was an hours work. The one-piece exhaust pipe and muffler on my MG midget cost me less that $20 and was another easy repair. Replaced my own pads and brake shoes of course. Parts that would regularly fail or wear out were simple and easy to repair yourself.
Same as with my 1978 Celica. 500,000klm and still looking good.
Often get an admirer come to take a closer look.
Currently due for a new clutch/p,plate etc.
Last time engine out and back in in less than a day.
Most of these new machines would take that long to disconnect all the sensors.
Then when one gets them back together again, find it won't go because some code or other required as the power's been off.
No thanks.....talk about excess plastic from plastic bags, obviously the greenies and their mates haven't thought about all the new cars out there.
Not only that but my mate's 2 year old BMW downloads all the contacts from any mobile phone that gets within cooee.
As far as the sparkplugs go, he didn't get that far. Lifted the bonnet, saw a big plastic cover with sensor plugs/leads and decided not to go any further.
Oh...and no dipstick either.
I don't think they've done away with the dipstick entirely, a lot of them have simply been relocated behind the drivers wheel.

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Re: So, when did they re-invent the spark-plug?

Post by saint » January 20, 2020, 7:52 am

parrot wrote:
January 19, 2020, 4:07 pm
Our son-in-law was old school (age 37). He rebuilt a 1973 Firebird from a rust heap and sold it for $60,000. No matter he put in 80k in parts/engine and probably thousands of hours in labor.
Having grown up with cars that bombed out after a few 10k miles, needing regular tuneups, brake changes, and new mufflers, along with cracking dashes and suspensions that gave out. The four Toyota trucks we've bought here since 1996 have been getting better all the time. With the exception of a few tire and battery changes, there's been little to do, other than periodic maintenance/oil/filter. No electrical problems, no mufflers rusting out, no suspensions giving out, dashes all as good as new, and tires that I change only because of old age, not because of bare treads.
My 2018 REVO is cranking out 38mpg on a regular basis. Yes, I drive like an old fart.......but try getting anything close to that in a car that uses old tech.
Hit the nail on the head !!!!
Lets all remember the good old days shall we .
Lucky to get 25 MPG out of a 1600 .
Burnt oil at about a pint per 500 miles .
The Cortinas that would not start in the mornings unless you unloaded a can of wd40 on them .
Plugs that lasted about 25,000 miles if lucky .
Countless breakdowns .

New cars are very reliable these days , polute the atmosphere less ,use less fuel , are 10 times safer to drive , all because they use sensors and computers .

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Re: So, when did they re-invent the spark-plug?

Post by Khun Paul » January 20, 2020, 10:07 am

I agree modern cars are far more reliable and more efficient, but I do miss the days tuning up my straight six Triumph Vitesse, putting in overdrive and reconfiguring the rear axle to take the extra torque. MPG 30 to the English gallon if I was lucky but hells bells went like S*** off a shovel and justly proud of my achievements . Getting down and dirty covered in grease doing maintainance , but it was worth it .
Nowadays you just have to trust the mechanic operating the computer checking up on your vehicle and hoping he fixed the problem . It is the trust issue I have here, having found problems that should have been fixed but were ignored as they think we older generations know NOTHING , no longer mechanics but FITTERS , change old for new and hope

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jackspratt
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Re: So, when did they re-invent the spark-plug?

Post by jackspratt » January 20, 2020, 10:21 am

3mmhcz.jpg

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sometimewoodworker
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Re: So, when did they re-invent the spark-plug?

Post by sometimewoodworker » January 20, 2020, 11:46 am

Khun Paul wrote:
January 20, 2020, 10:07 am
I agree modern cars are far more reliable and more efficient, but I do miss the days tuning up my straight six Triumph Vitesse, putting in overdrive and reconfiguring the rear axle to take the extra torque. MPG 30 to the English gallon if I was lucky but hells bells went like S*** off a shovel and justly proud of my achievements . Getting down and dirty covered in grease doing maintainance , but it was worth it .
I clearly remember after having rebuilt the engine and tuned the isolatic suspension doing a run from the 59 club in Hackney after saying bye to Father Bill going to Aust services for a cup of coffee because Membury had got a little boring and taking 57 minutes for the trip, fuel consumption was about 56mpg but I had to change my rear tyre about every 9 months.
Jerome and Nui's new househttp://bit.ly/NJnewHouse

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Re: So, when did they re-invent the spark-plug?

Post by bluejets » January 25, 2020, 6:38 am

My Dad(91 years young) is one of the old original motor mechanics and he marvels at the longevity of the modern engine.

Problem is they are seemingly so overdone with sensors, probes, engine management systems, brake control systems etc.
When there is a problem, it has to be found and confirmed with diagnostic software which can cost quite an amount for what it really is, thanks to the designers and suppliers. It's a bit like printers. Buy the printer but any part costs more than the original purchase.

Managed to open up an ignition control on a 90's Kawasaki 750 motorcycle which was defective. The "black box" cost at the time was more than $170.00. As it was discrete components, found the offending control device and replaced for $1.50.
Still going strong today.

End result with modern motor vehicles is they become "out of date" and "time to replace it" within 4 or 5 years.
So back to the dust to dust consideration which is mostly forgotten.
Mention a plastic bag and everyone is an expert.

As far as the spark plugs are concerned, sister had a Toyota Tarago where the plugs were changed every 25,000 klm.
Only then as the ceramic ran the risk of breaking away, the electrodes, with the cdi seemingly would last forever.

My query is, if modern vehicles are so terrific, why do they get replaced more and more on a regular basis?
Do they need a new set of tyres or the oil change done?

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Re: So, when did they re-invent the spark-plug?

Post by NongKhaiLee » January 25, 2020, 10:41 am

Been a while since I owned an auto repair garage (2006) but at that time we had standard steel core spark plugs, Copper core spark plugs and Platinum Core spark plugs available. I believe the lifetime of plugs on nearly all new vehicles (stateside anyway) is 100,000 miles. But that seems to be changing constantly

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Re: So, when did they re-invent the spark-plug?

Post by parrot » January 25, 2020, 1:07 pm

bluejets wrote:
January 25, 2020, 6:38 am
My query is, if modern vehicles are so terrific, why do they get replaced more and more on a regular basis?
Do they need a new set of tyres or the oil change done?
Average age in 2019 was 11.8 years, up 4% from 5 years previous.

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Re: So, when did they re-invent the spark-plug?

Post by bluejets » January 27, 2020, 6:58 am

parrot wrote:
January 25, 2020, 1:07 pm
bluejets wrote:
January 25, 2020, 6:38 am
My query is, if modern vehicles are so terrific, why do they get replaced more and more on a regular basis?
Do they need a new set of tyres or the oil change done?
Average age in 2019 was 11.8 years, up 4% from 5 years previous.
I would imagine that would depend on many factors and is a rather broad statement to say the least.
AS I look around, there are not too many 11.8 year old cars on the road.

Photo is an example of only one of many auctions held each week in Aus.,the same in many areas.

Not too many spark plugs changed there I'd imagine.
Attachments
AuctionsAus.jpg

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jackspratt
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Re: So, when did they re-invent the spark-plug?

Post by jackspratt » January 27, 2020, 8:20 am

bluejets wrote:
January 27, 2020, 6:58 am
Photo is an example of only one of many auctions held each week in Aus.,the same in many areas.
Photo is actually of one of many auction houses in Japan, where very strict licensing rules means most new cars are sold after they are 4-5 years old.

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=ht ... oj-cRiT--M

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Re: So, when did they re-invent the spark-plug?

Post by bluejets » January 31, 2020, 8:33 am

jackspratt wrote:
January 27, 2020, 8:20 am
bluejets wrote:
January 27, 2020, 6:58 am
Photo is an example of only one of many auctions held each week in Aus.,the same in many areas.
Photo is actually of one of many auction houses in Japan, where very strict licensing rules means most new cars are sold after they are 4-5 years old.

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=ht ... oj-cRiT--M
Yes, missed that.
Point being the car auctions in Aus are much the same.
2 centres I know of in Brisbane alone.
9 major centres Aus wide for just one dealer.
This is every week.

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