I've never really looked into "gold" spark plugs before. A few brands make them. My older mopar will not take platinum or iridium plugs of course, but gold is almost just as conductive as copper. Would gold have the same conductive properties of copper on older antiques, while bringing far better longevity? Or should I stick with time tested copper that has never failed me. Flawed logic?
Gold? Sounds like a scam. I bet you have more gold on your toothbrush than what they spray on the plugs. Silver is the best conductor anyway. They use platinum and other exotic stuff in modern engines because it is resistant to erosion. Just use a good copper core plug. Make sure the carb is adjusted correctly first and they are burning clean and then use a different heat range if necessary.
not a true gold - actually an alloy - white gold palladium - not something a "older MoPar" will benefit from
Back in the day, I had an ot vehicle that like to foul one of its two cylinders. The champion number was N3. While at the Nationals in Tulsa International Drag strip I stopped by the Sox and Martin Plymouth as they were changing plugs, they were just throwing them down in the dirt and they were N3 Gs. That was Champions “ gold “ plug. I asked if I could pick them up? They said sure, got 16 Gold plugs that day with 1/4 mile on them. Worked better than the N3s that the book called for. Still have a couple left in my tool box. Bones
Copper plugs alllll day, i even run them in my OT 80's porsche. The irridium/platinum stuff is not really my first choice in unless OE equipped or a ROYAL pain to change.
I don't even mess with plugs in late model stuff. They last a LONG time. If the mileage is good, no codes... ?? A. They are about impossible to get to, might break in half, and B. the likelihood of snapping off some AC fitting or other gee-gaw is high. Now what? And C. the auto discussion forums are full of "I changed the plugs and now it has a miss" threads. Fine wire platinums are great plugs but there isn't any benefit to them in old school engines, it seems to me. Plug changes used to be a relaxing Sunday affair with a couple beers. Now it's a goddamn nightmare.
Electrical Resistivity : Gold 0.00000220 ohm-cm Copper 0.00000170 ohm-cm Good luck measuring the difference.
Yes, copper is the better conductor. If you are dealing with old electronics, it might be a advantage, but not with today's aftermarket ignitions. Wires, distributors, coils and multi spark boxes are far better
Gold is used on connectors that are susceptible to corrosion "not" wear. Gold has much better anti-corrosive properties. Aircraft, spacecraft, connectors and many of the connectors on some of my motorcycles are gold plated. Spark plugs...na. Either NOT gold, or another expensive gimmick..! Mike
In a spark plug it isn't maximum conductivity you need, we even add thousands of ohms resistance to many spark plugs, caps and wires to reduce radio interference and other problems these days. What you want is a metal that can stand the heat and harsh environment. Iridium, platinum and probably a few others (palladium does ring a bell) have successfully been used as spark plug electrodes, surviving much longer than standard plugs before the sparks have eroded the electrodes away so the plug is worn out. Also, the electrodes can be narrower, and in simple terms that focuses the electric field more and reduces the voltage needed to make a spark slightly. So, basically... Those special metal spark plugs can last much longer than standard plugs IF you wear them out, but not if you kill them with incorrectly adjusted carburettors. Also, if you have a high compression/high rpm engine and an ignition system that just barely can handle the load at high rpm these plugs might help a little. On the other hand there are some other multi-electrode, ring electrode and other types of plugs with extra large amount of metal around the spark gap. Those might last longer despite being made of "simple" materials, but all that metal increases the demand on the ignition system. Marketing BS, don't fall for it and don't buy them.
get em! then you can brag to your buddies that you have gold spark plugs. That's the only advantage, most likely.
Post a pic of a plug or two, so we can see how it's running, how the current plugs are burning. I betcha a good tune-up and carb adjustment is what's needed, not exotic rare erf metals.
"Copper" plugs have some copper in the core, for heat transfer into the heads and water jacket, as has been mentioned. The electrode tips are actually steel welded to the copper to give them the durability needed. "Gold" plugs don't have gold in the core at all. They also have copper in the core. There are some plugs that have a bit of gold in an alloy with other metals, such as palladium, in a fine wire tip that is welded to the copper core. The nomenclature can be confusing from one brand to the next. I haven't studied on it yet, but I suspect that some plug makers may be calling their premium plugs "gold" to designate them as top of the line even though they contain no gold at all or maybe have a gold color appearance such as yellow zinc plating. The big name brand plug manufacturers will make all sorts of fad types of plugs just to maintain market share so the customers don't stray too far from the barn. The "name brand boy's" funky plugs are going to be harmless at least if not truly helpful. But with some of the off the wall brands, there ought to be a Stranger Danger warning 'cause they can hurt you. As always, I am subject to correction. I'm far from an expert.
In the early 90's Champion came out with a high performance line of plugs that they called Champion Premium Gold. They had a fine wire centre electrode, a gold paladium tip, a inverted V tip ground electrode, copper core ground electrode, a small diameter insulator tip and a copper centre electrode and with a zirconia strengthened insulator. The also came out with a Heavy Duty Truck plug with many of the same features. This was just before all the iridium and platinum plugs designed for the OBD 2 vehicles. The High Performance plugs were a good idea but a little late to the party for the High Performance crowd. Edelbrock often recommended them for their aluminum head applications and I found they worked well. I have bought them for my Hemi in my Deuce, on e-bay and found that they work well with the correct heat range.
Copper is simply a better conductor. Now that I think about it, manufactures are probably not using solid gold in their spark plugs. Sticking with copper!
My Alfisto cousin used to swear by Lodge 5-electrode plugs. Lodge were standard spec on Alfa Romeo in those years. Lodge also had a "Gold" plug, but that was just the name for the more expensive one. I tried a set on a previous Golf Mk1, and they weren't bad, though to tell the truth I couldn't really tell any difference at all.
If you can tell the difference between spark plug A and spark plug B just by driving the car and sensing how it runs one of the plugs is defective. If you find a 1% difference when running it on a dyno that's alot, and even that isn't a sure thing as dynos aren't perfect - you could have a bigger difference between two pulls without changing anything at all.
G-son along long time ago a friend did a tuneup on his 1968 Dodge Charger, it just wouldn’t run right, I went over it everything he had done ,it was correct. But I new a guy who could make it run , he used to set up and curve my dual point distributors. Jack Norton , at this time his shop was behind the dmv on alondra in Bellflower. He told us to go get a burger. When we came back it ran sweet . All he did was change the brand of spark plugs. It’s been to long ago but I remember one brand was champion, not sure if they came out or went in. If I wasn’t there I wouldn’t believe this. But that dodge motor ran crappie with one brand , heat range, gap all the same . He was a natural tuner.
One thing I've found is spark plug cross reference charts aren't particularly accurate in terms of heat range. It is worth trying different brand plugs. Tuning is definitely a science, but there's some mystery involved too. If it runs better with NGK or Champs or Autolite, what the hell.
Here is a link that describes the reason that the platinum, iridium, or gold with pladium plugs can be a real advantage in our old high performance engines. If you don't want to read the complete article, just read the section titled Central Electrodes. This section discusses in detail how the design is superior, and why the newer thin electrode plugs can have a significant advantage. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spark_plug My story, Back in 1970, I had a Husky 400, 8 speed dirt bike, and I only had two speeds, full speed, and repair. The bike engine was really balky on trail rides, and the plug would often foul, which required that I keep several spares in my emergency kit. After doing some research, I ordered a couple platinum plugs, a main and a spare, and after replacing the old style plug with the thin electrode platinum plug, I never had a fouled plug again. I was sold on the plugs, and since that time, I have used this type of plug every time I install plugs in my vehicles. Wear is not an issue, they last longer than the standard plugs, and are worth every penny of the extra cost. I have used the NGK, Bosch, and Lodge, all with the same success. Bob
Maybe.. but, if the OEM plugs are fouling, then there is a problem with the ignition or air fuel ratio, no?
If you are referring to the 2 cycle dirt bike engine, it was an all out competition engine, and the mixture was correct. A plug that worked well with the engine when the MC was being driven at mid range rpms, would detonate when operated under high load. ( This was with premium gas and the best 2 cycle oil I could find) A cooler plug that would survive working at the high load, high rpm, would foul after running a few hours in a competition environment. (It is a monster piss off to have to stop and replace a plug when you are winning the race.) The platinum plug solved both problems, no change in mixture was required. Bob
Roger I can back you up on that! When I first entered the trade, I worked for the police dept, we had a fleet of new440 Magnums. Shortly they begin to come in with poor running problems. A quick check reviled nothing, plugs looked good. Replaced the plugs, as I already had them out, with new Champions. Car ran fine. After a few years I had a five gallon bucket full of what looked like “ good “ spark plugs. A few year before I kinda figured this out about Chrysler’s,as I had to tune my friends Plymouth about once a month for max operation. That tune up was just new plugs also. Those big block Chrysler’s like spark plugs!
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