Pre-ignition and spark plugs

[Woods247]

I started questioning the short, one step colder NGK plugs that have been recommended over the years. I’ve been running them and have never been as satisfied as I was with the OEM Motorcraft plugs. I did a little digging and found this old thread: https://www.fiestastforum.com/threads/fiesta-st-spark-plug-tech.1744/

Ignore the last few pages of that thread. The first many are a great read and worthy of your time.

This too but it’s kinda “Mazda problems. Ford is better...”: http://stratifiedauto.com/blog/spark-plug-tech/

They lead me to believe that, with the exception of extraordinary levels of boost, we don’t really need colder plugs. I Googled “pre-ignition Fiesta ST” and god didn’t answer me clearly. Has anyone found evidence or experienced engine failure due to pre-ignition caused by “stock heat” plugs in our cars? I’m specifically referring to the 1.6l Ecoboost. Nothing else is in question. Please share a link or data if you have it.

I have three custom tunes (Strat, Tune+ and JST) and they all recommended colder plugs. However, Mountune does not. It’s my understanding Mountune works closer with FoMoCo than the others. Please correct me if I’m wrong. It won’t be the first time, nor the last. Is it really a huge risk running stock plugs in a modded 1.6l Ecoboost engine or is this just precautionary due to a tuners previous experience with other platforms? I want normal startup and better mpg again damnit. But I don’t want to die at 135mph either. Please have a quick read of those threads and discuss.

 

[flat_lander]

I'm interested in the discussion. I just swapped to 1 step colder based on recommendation from Stratified and Dizzy at 40k. I figure it wouldn't hurt to pull them and see what they look like anyway. But I've run Stratified for over a year on stock plugs with no problems whatsoever.

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[Sam4]

As I've said in another post - the OEM Motorcraft ARE NGK's, check the nut and you'll see the NGK part #, and "made in Japan". I also tried the 1 step colder, with a tune, and didn't like the way the car was running. I swapped 'em back out for OE heat range - it worked out well.

 

[Woods247]

As I've said in another post - the OEM Motorcraft ARE NGK's, check the nut and you'll see the NGK part #, and "made in Japan". I also tried the 1 step colder, with a tune, and didn't like the way the car was running. I swapped 'em back out for OE heat range - it worked out well.

Is this discussion in your other post? Link?

 

[Ford ST]

As I've said in another post - the OEM Motorcraft ARE NGK's, check the nut and you'll see the NGK part #, and "made in Japan". I also tried the 1 step colder, with a tune, and didn't like the way the car was running. I swapped 'em back out for OE heat range - it worked out well.

Yep they are NGK's.

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[Bretley]

I've always been reccomend to use the stock plugs by Randy at Mountune, and I'm running MRX turbo with full bolt-ons for years with 0 issues. I would stick with oem unless your tuner asks to change them out.

 

[gtx3076]

I switched to step colders too because of dizzys recommendation, but I've been skeptical because my last platform it wasn't necessary on E30. But I also didn't want to assume that prior knowledge could be safely carried over.

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