While we tend to hold off any unnecessary auto repair and maintenance as much as we can, keeping your car’s spark plugs in optimum condition powers your vehicle to provide a smooth drive without ever affecting its performance.
Playing an essential role in maintaining your engine’s health and efficiency, let’s pop the hood and look at some of the bad spark plug symptoms.
How Long Do Spark Plugs Last?
Durable enough to outlast most parts of a car’s engine, most spark plugs have a running life of about 80,000 to 100,000 miles before any sort of replacement is required.
However, leaving a spark plug in the cylinder head for long periods allows carbon and corrosion to seep in and make it a little more difficult to replace.
Putting the threads in the aluminum cylinder head of your car’s engine at risk, experts suggest installing spark plugs equipped with nickel-plated threads to prevent erosion and rust from settling in and wrecking damage.
While most drivers use them for they are known to be less expensive, plain uncoated spark plugs do not offer much resistance from any form of corrosion when fitted in aluminum heads.
These spark plug failure symptoms would often cause the spark plug to stick, making it less effective and more costly to some extent.
How To Tell If A Spark Plug Is Bad?
As every car owner wishes for their vehicle to constantly perform at its most favorable level, good maintenance must be applied to each part of the automobile.
From its indispensable engine block to the humble spark plug, making certain that every part is running at its peak condition can make even the most aged car formidable as it makes its way down the road. Let’s take a look at the symptoms of a bad spark plug.
Hard Starting
While the battery is always the first to get the blame when the car refuses to start, a malfunctioning spark plug can also be the cause.
As the engine is forced to work a little harder to make up for overused damaged spark plugs, making sure that it still sets off right will get the engine running even if weather conditions are harsh.
Unusual Engine Misfires
Although various reasons arise on why your engine misfires, spark plug misfire symptoms are clear and one overworked spark plug is enough to make your car falter and pop.
Replacing worn spark plugs will not only prevent raw fuel from flowing into the exhaust and damaging the catalytic converter, but it also ensures that you have a much smoother drive.
Frequent Trips To The Pump
By pressing the engine to work harder, you’ll notice that you are shelling out gas at a rate that your pocket is having an extremely difficult time keeping up with.
Fresh spark plugs can help your engine burn fuel effectively, allowing you to drive with amazing efficiency and without excessive fuel consumption.
Abnormally Rough And Noisy Engine
Regardless if your car is packing a four, six, or even an eight-cylinder engine, a deficient spark plug is easily noticeable by its noise.
Whether you are hurtling down the highway or simply idling on the curb, the health of this small yet useful tool can raise or lower the level of noise of your vehicle.
Speeding Up Is A Struggle
Since a foul spark plug can no longer effectively promote the combustion chamber’s fuel-air mixture, accelerating properly will absolutely be a struggle.
This is a very clear sign of bad spark plugs, while such a lack of energy may not seem to mean much at first, it could unknowingly be harmful to your car’s overall health.
New Spark Plugs Benefits
Much like most parts of your vehicle’s engine, spark plugs that have gone through wear and tear affect its drive over time.
So, maybe you are asking yourself when to change spark plugs, and what are new spark plugs benefits? Designed to instantly restore your car’s power and performance, here are a few of the advantages of investing in replacement spark plugs.
Improves Cold Starts
A common problem, particularly during the colder months, dirty or worn spark plugs require a relatively higher voltage to generate enough electricity to get the engine going.
Regarded as one of the most convenient perks of keeping your spark plugs up to date, you can achieve automatic starts even during winter since the cold doesn’t bother new spark plugs anyway.
Flawless Engine
Uninterrupted combustion means that your engine is operating at its finest. Producing enough charge to ensure that your vehicle performs with great efficiency, replacing the spark plugs will get your car running the way it should without any difficulty.
Enhances Engine Performance And Efficiency
From a difficult or slow start to a rough run, a buck, and an unexpected halt, faulty spark plugs often lead to an unreliable engine.
By simply keeping a spark plug symptoms chart and adequately replacing the ones with defects, you can greatly improve your vehicle’s engine performance and have it running at its most excellent.
Better Acceleration
As your vehicle’s performance depends on the efficiency of its many different parts, keeping an eye out for signs of a bad spark plug wire can help improve the flow of electric currents through the entire system.
Not only will this get rid of any unwanted engine shakes, but it will also help improve your car’s acceleration, resulting in the finest driving experience.
Excellent Fuel Economy
While the cars of today are designed to consume less fuel, a worn-out spark plug can increase your vehicle’s capacity to use up gas by up to 30%.
Although there are a handful of steps that can help an automobile expend its fuel with better efficiency, a new spark plug can restore your ride’s fuel economy with ease.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How often should you change your spark plugs?
A: While spark plugs are often designed to promote durability, they can be compromised and need to be replaced about between every 80,000 and 100,000 miles or at least once a year.
Q: What does it mean when the check engine light flashes?
A: A car’s check engine light would only flash once a problem that requires immediate attention arises. It is best to simply pull over and seek the help of a towing service to prevent severe damage to the vehicle’s internal components.
Q: Can spark plugs cause car not to start?
A: Yes. Since your spark plugs provide the energy to power the fuel and air in your ignition chamber, a dirty spark plug or a simple malfunction of this part can hold up your car’s capacity to start.
Q: What causes spark plugs to go bad fast?
A: Excessive heat and pre-ignition can cause the spark plugs to overheat. Such conditions lead to this tool’s electrode to wear out at a quicker rate, requiring you a spark plugs replacement.
Q: Cost of spark plug replacement
A: In average, you will need to pay between $16 and $250 for a set of new spark plugs. This will depend on the number of cylinders and the quality of spark plugs.
