spark plugs

Over the months I have read the form and commented on it I have seen mentioned several times about spark plugs.
I recall several comments re Champion plugs; A.C. plugs ETC;
MY QUESTION is as follows??? WHAT & WHY is there such a difference in makes of plugs??
Would not NKG or BOCH plugs be as good or work as well as Champion or AC? Most Gas equipped "" Vehicles, thinking of older farm equipment"" in Europe would probably use BOCH plugs would they not?
AS I REASSEMBLE my tractor with a 123 engine I am attempting to decipher this question /// not trying to open a hornets nest;:: JUST find good clear reasons to do certain things like choose plugs, points, oils and other essentials.
Hopefully the enlightened mechanics and encyclopedic minds will be able to share with me to be a qualified guide for me.
Thank you.
Wm.E.J.
 
I have Champions in my C with no ponlems but my M fouls a Champion in about 10 hours. I've had the same set of Autolites in it for 2 years now, with no problems. Kent
 
It is mostly about getting the proper heat range, design and material in the spark plug. Not the brand. Some guys compare a D-16 champion to a Auto Lite that has an extended tip which is apples to oranges. You really have to examine the plug and then rely on mfg's recommendations. Most parts stores are not reliable when it comes to comparing plugs. You will probably even see the D-16 champion as a recommended spark plug for a Farmall 706 in the auto parts store when in reality IH quit recommending that plug in the late 60's.
 
The big thing any more is the fact Champs and now auto lite are made in the land of almost right so yes NGK is getting to be the best pick for many
 
Don't want to argue, but Champs are for the most part made in Mexico. Some, but not all Auotlites are made in China. NGK is, for the most part made in Japan. SO is it OK NOT to use a plug made China or Mexico, but it is OK to use a plug made in Japan? Regardless, Ive never had anything but bad luck with Champs, usually fouling within a few hours. Ive had minimal problems with Autolites, in fact all 6 of my tractors have have Autolites that are at least 8 years old in the newest set, some are pushing 12 - 13 years. Granted these tractors don't get used every day, and a couple have only been started once a year in the last 3 or 4 years. The oldest set I put in one of my Ms in 96 or 97, and this tractor sees and has seen on average 20 hours a year. The last set of Champs I bought, not by choice, were put in one of my other Ms. I drove it out of the barn and rode around about an hour, loaded it on the trailer, went to the show, and as I was backing off the trailer it started skipping. Buddy of mine had an old AC plug he pulled out of a C laying in the back of his truck. It had been there at least 2 months. (I know this as I was with him when he put it back there with the others and some other junk.) For the heck of it, I stuck it in there and it ran perfectly the whole weekend. This is just my experience, and Im sure others will disagree or not believe it.
 
Sparkplugs are like cars or tractors, everyone has their favorite brand.

And whether one brand is REALLY that good (or bad) is a matter of personal opinion.

In my 57 years on this earth I have dealt with a LOT of engines, old and new, and a LOT of sparkplugs, and have not noticed all the drama that some folks have with their sparkplugs.
 
Williams,

Short story, back in 1987 my brother changed his plugs, from a stock Chevrolet s10 4 cylinder to Champions.

His truck did not run afterwards.

We then switched back to the original AC delco and it ran fine.


No more Champions for me.

D.
 
I put a new set of Autolite 386's in my Super C when I did a restoration on it back in early 2010. It has been used every year to rake hay with a side delivery rake for square balers for probably 20 to 40 hours a year. It is also used around the farm for various other light duty uses. I probably put 60 - 80 hours a year on the tractor and those same plugs are still working fine. Tractor is an easy starter even in cold weather and is the go-to gas tractor on this farm for small tractor tasks, Hal.
 
Use your own judgement, flip a coin or whatever, lots of Champion haters around. I have 2 Farmalls and 5 garden tractors with Champion plugs, don't see a problem.
 
Here's some information I pulled together some time ago, if this copies correctly;

2014 Autolite Spark Plug catalog
Heat Range Chart page 4-5

18MM thread size
1/2” reach
7/8” hex
HOT rating
 388 Standard resistor plug
 3116 ‘Power-Tip’ Non-Resistor plug
 386 Standard resistor plug
• [gap]
• [gap]
 373 Standard Non-Resistor plug
COLD rating

Each step up equals a 70º – 120º increase in spark plug tip temperature.
Self-cleaning zone is 500°C to 850°C tip temperature.
IF TOO HOT = Possible severe engine damage, pre-ignition, detonation with
racing / high performance engines. .
IF TOO COLD = Possible fouling, possible mis-firing, but no engine damage.


Cross-Reference Chart from Autolite.com
Champion …. Autolite
D10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .373
D14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .386
D14N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .373
D15Y . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3116
D16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .386
D16J . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .386
D18Y . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3116
D21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .386
D23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .388
D6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .373
D77V . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .373
D9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .373
 
Thank you one and all . For those who are new or looking for plugs hopefully this information will stay in the archives for a long time to come. It has been an enlightenment to me also I will keep a hard copy of it in my files for reference.
Thank you again for your insights.
Wm.
 
Just like a Ford Chevy Dodge thing, I really doubt one is better/worse than another. I would expect people do not pay enough attention to the heat range, regardless of the brand.
 
Don't know facts on this. Just that I find if I use a 3116 autolights in a tractor run 1 hour or less at a time they last a lot longer than a D21 champion. Doesn't add up if the crossover chart posted is correct the 3116 is colder than the 21.
No luck for me with a D15Y or 18Y also in ones run longer than a hour at a time.
 
Slater, certainly respect your findings and I am going to have to take a close look at those 3116 autolites to see how the compare to a D-21 champion.
 
Pete i find that the Autolites or the A/c C86's work vary well or even the Motor Craft ones. way back in drag racing days , that was when Autolite was part of Ford just by installing a set of Autolites in a MoPar it was good for a tenth or two off ET. over the Champ.s' Proved it time and time again . Now as to how they would do in other engines i only worked on Fords and MoPars so i can not really say there . and on a Farmall like i said i have had the best luck with the Autolites and A/C's .
 
I have run the same set of Champions in my H, M, for over 2 years. I have the same plugs in my 2 Case DC's for over a year and never had a problem with them . I run D21's in them for easier starting. If Im going to plow all day I will put a set of d14's in the M just because that's what Dad always did. Good Luck......Kenny :D
 
D14s are pretty cold for an IH engine but if they work for you without fouling go with them.

I've always used Champions in my IH tractors and don't recall ever having a problem unless the engine was pretty well worn out. On the other hand I worked with an old IH mechanic when I first started at a dealership that would complain a lot of finding tractors all the time that just wouldn't work with champions. He said the only plug that was worth installing were Prestolite plugs, number 1812 if I remember correctly. The parts department would stock them but he was the only one that ever used any of them.
 
Vet. Interesting. Also, I seem to remember that Autolite was Chrysler line of elec products before Ford got hold of them. On a little different story here, do you remember when Champion was doing all that advertising where they replaced the AC plugs in the Chevy's and gained so much performance. They were using the U style plug which is the aux gap plug. That plug died out pretty sudden if I remember right. IH put them in their pickups for a while . First one we sold, I could hear this spark jumping while I was servicing the engine. Took me quite a while but by pulling the boots off the spark plugs, I could see the spark jumping that aux gap inside of the porcelain. That solved that search but it was not too long and those plugs would increase that internal gap and then start misfiring or become impossible to start. After breaking a few plugs open you could see just how far that gap had increased. Had the same effect as pulling the wire and holding it a little ways from the plug to increase the intensity of the spark but too much is just too much gap.
 
(quoted from post at 02:44:49 01/22/15) Don't want to argue, but Champs are for the most part made in Mexico. Some, but not all Auotlites are made in China. NGK is, for the most part made in Japan. SO is it OK NOT to use a plug made China or Mexico, but it is OK to use a plug made in Japan? Regardless, Ive never had anything but bad luck with Champs, usually fouling within a few hours. Ive had minimal problems with Autolites, in fact all 6 of my tractors have have Autolites that are at least 8 years old in the newest set, some are pushing 12 - 13 years. Granted these tractors don't get used every day, and a couple have only been started once a year in the last 3 or 4 years. The oldest set I put in one of my Ms in 96 or 97, and this tractor sees and has seen on average 20 hours a year. The last set of Champs I bought, not by choice, were put in one of my other Ms. I drove it out of the barn and rode around about an hour, loaded it on the trailer, went to the show, and as I was backing off the trailer it started skipping. Buddy of mine had an old AC plug he pulled out of a C laying in the back of his truck. It had been there at least 2 months. (I know this as I was with him when he put it back there with the others and some other junk.) For the heck of it, I stuck it in there and it ran perfectly the whole weekend. This is just my experience, and Im sure others will disagree or not believe it.

NGK plugs are a product of Japan. The first time I ever came across them was in Japanese motorcycles. They are a good quality plug though. The tractors I have trouble with fouling I use NGK plugs. Anything else gets AC plugs. For some reason I have had trouble with Champion plugs. They were never a problem 30-40 years ago, but something has changed since then.
 
Ifure I agree it seems all are not the same. Old champions seemed better. Don't know and wonder if the champions from different outlets are all the same now or not. I just got tired of going through 2 sets of the champions because one plug would quit, then my second set would get used up one at a time to make what one set would last.
I also use some AC and would use NKG.
Glad for the ones that use the champions with no problems and if it works for them that's fine with me.
 
I knew a old farmer who farmed with two cylinder John Deere. Each tractor had three or four spark plugs and a plug wrench floating around in tool box. Whenever a plug would foul out he would replace it with one from the tool box. He kept these plugs in rotation for years. I guess the plugs just needed to rest for awhile.
 

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