Technical SPARK PLUGS - REVISITED

Back in June I ask when was the last time you changed spark plugs, along those lines but buying spark plugs, when did purchasing a set of spark plugs get so complicated?

Years ago you went to the local auto parts store and bought your favorite brand of plugs, there were just a few brands that I knew of for your car or truck, the parts counter guy went to the back and got what you wanted, handed them to you and you paid him, it was so easy.

Last night my daughter ask me what plugs to get for her older off topic Pontiac, she said the guy there treated her like she was a idiot, the girl is pretty savvy and changes her on oil & tires,and has done minor tune up's.

After she told me what happen I looked Oriley's up the internet site late last night and Holy E Cow! now I feel like the idiot.

Oriley's listed 1863 different spark plugs, I realize all these didn't pertain to one make and model she needed but he ask her what material she wanted.

I'm helping Brenda at the shop this morning but I plan on making a trip to the auto parts store and hope I find the self appointed rocket scientist that lost his job with the aerospace industry and is begrudgingly working a part time job at Oriley's.is working today.

They have computers and can look up what the car is and sell her a set of plugs that meet with the factory standards. HRP

 

Find a new parts guy Danny, I ask for plugs for my stuff, they tell me the brands they have available, I tell them the brand I want and away I go. Still as simple as ever.

 

I get the cheapest version of the OEM plug. If it's a Chevy, that means AC plugs, none of the fancy platinum, iridium, power tip, crap. Unless that's what came in it new, which is the case with the more modern cars.

The other trick if you're going to one of the big box places like O reilly's is to look it up ahead of time on the computer, and just hand them a part number....

 

Let him know how you feel, Danny........Tell him that crummy little counter isn't gonna keep you from getting to him!

 

NAPA is getting like that I went in to buy some Battery Ends & Spark Plugs
and the Kid at the Counter asked What Car is it.
I told him I want Marine Battery Cable ends & NGK Plugs
for a Chevy engine 327, & he asked me the Year of the Car &
I told him 63.
They are getting to be like the other Stores in the area.!

Just my 3.5 cents

Live Learn & Die a fool

 

Kid asked me once if my 62 Impala was rear wheel drive. They just have to fill in the blanks on the screen and need to know nothing about automobiles.
And don't do what I did and ask if they stock a dwell meter. "What's that?"
I too will generally go in with their part number so I don't have to go through the question list. Or I order what I need online. Especially things like spark plugs. To them anything before 1990 is an antique; or in many cases a "classic". Heard a group of counter people laughing at a guy after he walked out the door bewildered because they did not have a coil for a 71 pickup. To that old guy it wasn't old, but to them it was history on wheels. But when you consider that coil was made 50 years ago I guess it is understandable.

 

Sir, what year and make of car? What engine? Automatic or standard? Does it have hub caps or aluminum wheels?
Is the turn indicator lever on the left or right side? And what color is the car?
Sorry sir, it's not listed in our system.

 

Hey Danny,

Sound to me like the guy was just “ flexing his muscles “ on who he perceived to be “ just a dumb girl”
Some folks can be down right petty when put in a minor role of power.

anyways , if her car is less the 20 years old all the info should of come up on his computer.
Possibly 1-3 engine choices for her to pic from
And possibly a couple different plugs ( iridium , platinum, tip etc.)
Realistically if she knows what engine she has any one of the plug options would of worked.

I ran into this a couple months ago with a inground sprinkler company , I had one question about pipe size and buddy went off on a rant that if I didn’t know what I needed he would not sell to me.

told him that’s fine I’ll go spent my 2 grand I had budgeted for sprinklers on comic books snd bubble gum along with some other choice words.
About 10 minutes later the owner called me to apologize and get my business.

again told him to kick sand , I do my best when I’m talking to customers to help them and if they don’t know what I’m talking about show them and explaine in different terms what I’m saying .
No one could run before they could walk.

 

As far as the Platinum etc. vs old type spark plugs goes, it doesn't seem to be too critical.
I was giving the late model (20 year old) car an inspection the other day and found three platinum and one copper spark plug in it.

Even the car's computer couldn't tell that one was different. I just checked the gap and put them back in. Maybe I'll pick up another platinum plug for next time.

 

If you want to have some Fun with a Parts House like Napa
When I had my Lincoln Mark 3 mine was a early one so I had the
Hydraulic Windshield wiper's Motor.!
Call them up for a Rebuild kit for it. I had alot of Fun with that.

Just My 3.5 cents

Live Learn & Die a Fool

 

I never go to the parts store without a part number, saves a ton of hassle from the snotty young kids..

 

I agree with squirrel, just buy the factory replacement brand, heat range and you will have no problems. If you have a spark plug problem, it's not the spark plug as a rule.

 

New parts house in town (owned by a car guy ) stopped in for the first time last week.
Looked very well stocked and @ the counter were 5 guys all in their 40/50's wearing hot rod shirts/
I think hmmmmmmmmm maybe a real parts house ? Ask 1 of them to get me a horn relay.
He says -- for what?
I tell him a GM car
10 minutes later he gets off the puter and goes 10 ft away from where his fat a** was sittin and grabs 1
Now how many horn relay are there for a gm car. Only 1 that I know of.
Just my 2 cents

 

I have read some of these post say just buy what ever replacement plug and you should be good to go - I do not believe this to be true. Old friend who at the time owned a parts store went to change the plugs in his wifes Toyota Supra. He looked up what it required and it was some Nipendenso plug at 8 bucks a pop. He said to hell with that and bought an AC cross over plug for 89 cents each. Went home , gapped the new plugs and installed them, Tried to start the car and it was a no go. After screwing around for an hour he put the old plugs back in and the car fired right up!!!
It seems new cars are very touchy about the proper plug.

 

and you'd be bitching and moaning if he gave you the wrong one, too, I bet. No satisfying some folks.

 

Ya know, you really can't be to hard on the "kids" (at 73, most people are kids to me) at the parts counter. I just went through this.
I asked for plugs for a 350 Chevy.
He asked what year the car was.
I said it was a "48.
He askes what model.
I say Stylemaster.
He said that the computer says its a six cylinder.
I say that its a transplant.
I ended up helping the kid find what I wanted.
Computers are so black or white

The moral of the story is that we (along with decades of experience in fabrication etc.) take a car that's decades old with a souped up whatever engine, mated up to a whatever trans, with a different crank, ported heads, three strombergs , and a 4 track tape player to a guy who is just trying to learn and/or just trying to make it through the day.
Remember, we all started someplace.

 

just find a old time spark plug blaster

 

yes...this is what we need, another thread turned into bashing auto parts counter guys

let's get this one to 6 pages too

 

No, let's not.

 

I look at it this way. The laptop I'm using at the moment was given to the local computer geek who 'souped' it up for me. If someone asked me what was in it I wouldn't have a clue but the bloke who 'souped' it up would. When I go to buy parts for an early car I tell them the year the donor parts came from which narrows down the search. My avatar has a Holden Grey motor in it, circa 1954. Most counter people don't know the engine so I either tell them the plug number or that they fit some Chev V8s. The less grief at the counter the easier my day is.

 

Things have definitely changed, modern OT can go a long time without requiring a spark plug change. Well over 100K miles, with no misfires or loss of economy or excessive emissions.

That's a good thing, because with modern OT cars, it's practically impossible to even get to some of the spark plugs. This is truly a case where "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." If you read a lot of the automotive forums it not unusual to read about guys who change spark plugs out "just because" at 20k miles just like grampaw did, and now they have a misfire or trouble code for all their efforts. Some of the engines are very picky about the spark plugs. Fine wire platinum and the rest of it, but even so it seems like maybe some of the aftermarket equivalents aren't the correct plug.

 

Look, I'm not gonna be nice here, my daughter is 45, works in a local parts store and every day some fucking smart ass comes in, (5 times a day), not the same smart asses, and treats her like shit, cause she doesn't have the required male parts. She grew up around cars, heavy equipment, knows more than these fools combined, but still gets the treatment, except when they've left with egg on their faces.
A lot of the stuff we look for just isn't available anymore, and it should be remembered that it ain't her fault. Be kind.

 

This is/was not my intent, however dealing with the public regardless if the customer is a seasoned mechanic, a young guy just starting out or a female like my daughter, the counterman is there to help the customer, not to frustrate and run them off.

I do most of my business with NAPA but Oriley's is where my daughter went so I made a point to see what the problem was, I went in and ask for the manager, a nice guy and I ask for plugs to fit the car in question, he tapped on the computer and went into the back and emerged with the correct plugs, he then ask anything else?

I told him what had happened yesterday and he ask me to have my daughter come by and see him personally and show him who gave her a hard time, he also said there is no excuse for any of his employees not being polite and professional. HRP

 

I remembered the crossover pipe for a Olds single exhaust system. I looked and found it on line somewhere and got the Walker number for it and saw it was available on ebay. I looked on the Walker site and noticed the parts listings didn't go far back enough year wise- oldest was about 1980. So I emailed Walker and asked does the pipe # bla bla, fit this Olds in this car? They were nice enough to respond back at least, but they said they couldn't tell me if it fit, If it was off the current charts then there was no way they would know. So a buddy of mine had some old Walker exhaust books with the diagrams I remembered, and sure enough the part # I had was correct for the Olds. I bought it and it worked fine. Anyway point being, most of these new auto part suppliers and retailers don't give a shit about the small guy working on a old car...

 

In todays world an auto parts counter person position is typically nothing more than a minimum wage stepping stone position, not unlike punching in an order at the local McDonalds..with the employee dreaming of the day, when they can get a "real job".
Remember the day when you'd drive your Hot Rod to the parts store, and half the counter people would step outside to check it out?..Fast forward to today and rarely even one comment.
Can't condemn them for lack of passion in an industry we love, they are doing a "job" nothing more, nothing less..at least they choose to work.
Like squirrel said do your own research prior to going to the parts store, and save yourself the grief, and stress.

 

There are almost as many choices for spark plugs as brake pads anymore. It’s not hard to understand how it can get bewildering, and I’m an ASE certified master technician in two different areas (automobile and heavy truck). The main reason the auto makers switched to the plugs with fancy metals is plug life, the same reason they went with electronic ignition.

My wife was the assistant manager and acting manager at the local O’Reilly store about 15 years ago. She got a reputation because she would get out the books when the computer showed nothing. Hot Rodders and Demo Derby guys asked for her by name. To this day when we are out and about in town, she is still known as “ The OReilly’s Girl”.

 

Good help is hard to find and there are a hell of a lot of jobs out there.

 

Man you change your avatar more often than the sun comes up. kinda hard to keep tabs on you.

 

for spark plugs i use nothing but NGKs

 

The days of going to a paper GM parts catalog for example and looking up Group 2.270 for listings on spark plugs is days of yore. The electronic parts catalogs require VIN or brand, model and year to access any information.

And to the "spark plugs for a 350 Chevy" in a 48 I would have asked "tapered seat or gasket spark plug?" and started with a heat range of 44 or 45. OF course 47 years in the business taught me a thing or two.

I run into a lot of that in Harley Davidson parts especially when someone brings in a Shovelhead or an EVO that has been modified, forget the electronic catalogs and go to the paper ones. Makes it easier to compare multiple years against one another.