I called NGK again n the materials used are pretty close actually, they are both still an Iridiumplug, i must have misunderstood the first guy i talked too, we talked for about 45 mins and i could be thinking of the plugs we matched up for my DSM . The LFR7AIX plug protrudes 3.5, i dunno if its MM into the cylinder while R7438-9 is only .5 and keeps it outa the heat and uses a low angle ground electrode and a stainless gasket as opposed to the crush style. after talking to these guys they really going into detail on boost levels of your car, volume of fuel, ignition and everything.

I know guys freak at paying 50 bucks a plug but if your spending 40-50 bucks every 2500-3000 miles these plugs would pay for themselves in the long run.

It would be interesting to call them. Do you have their tech line number?

Thank you for sharing.

877-473-6767

From what the ngk tech told to me yesterday for every 10psi you go over stock you drop your heat range 1 deg.

Just wanted to say for someone i don't even know i sure do appreciate the leg work in regards to contacting the NGK rep.

Those race plugs may be a bit too much for how often i do change plugs so i will probably go with the Denso IKH24's as rec'd by Craig @ Sparktech.

Now to find a block to get the build started.

I will tear down the old shortblock and likely re-use the Manley rods but pick up some Wiseco HD's w/ a 10:1 CR.

Still not sure if i'd like to machine the block for o-rings again or not as it is a bit of a PITA when the head comes off but i hope to not have to do that often

To the OP:

I was wondering if you could answer a few questions for me...

How did your car sound when running at idle with this damage?

Did you notice any excessive smoke from you exhaust and any particular color if so?

Did your coolant level also become effected because of this?

thanks!

pat i change my BPR8ES plugs no lie every track day every dyno tune session, every oil change. i honestly do not think i put more then 100 miles on a set of plugs. this happened to me with a 8ES. but my reason was different then your's. my car was tuned on 100oct ''sunoco'' and the station i get that at was sold out. so when i went to ohio i ordered 15 gallons of 100oct from a local shop in my town but it was oxygenated 100oct. i did not know that.

i would like to try a better plug but how do we really test spark plugs for overall reliability and performance.

Gladly!

The crazy thing is that the car idle normally and we could only notice something was up when cranking it.....sounded like it was low on comp and it sure was

Aside from that even when on the dyno going through the 1-3 gears easily it sounded fine but once the turbo started to spool it would misfire badly

No smoke and coolant level and appearance was 100% normal.

I hear ya Dan plugs are one of the things that are changed fairly frequently but i can't properly answer your question in regards to knowing how to test the plugs for best overall longevity.

Best thing is to do what the other member did for me and speak to the manufacturers as to what they rec'd along with those that have similar set-ups running similar power levels.

Experience and knowledge is key in my book..........i'm constantly acquiring both........some times the hard way

Your very welcome Pat your situation as well as Joey and others really made me want to investigate the situation more n who else better to call then the company. We spend so much money on these cars n make the power levels we do it crazy how sometimes we can over look something as simple as a spark plug. im building my car on a budget n have now racked up about 30k in parts i would be sick to my stomach if i lost a motor for the same reason you did.

Now the Tech told me Granted i gave him the modle number you posted n he said that was far too hot of a plug for your setup (i dont know your car but for your HP numbers and the times you run im guessing your in the 37-40psi range you really need to use a plug that doesnt protrude into the cylinder as far n the one i suggest altho pricey would def fix your prob as it only protrudes out .5 (im guessing mm) as opposed to 3.5 like the plug you were useing

Another thing i asked the rep was is this plug good for different boost levels or is it only suitable for high boost and alot of power incase we didnt want to run out cars cranked up all the time.. H informed me that you could safly turn boost down to about 27psi for dailly driving use and not have to worry about fuel fouling the plug but they definatly like being run hard. im going to try the plugs they recommended for me when i get my car finished n since Aaron n the boys at English will be tuning the car it will be interresting to see if there is anything noticable from them.

Joey you interested in selling a set so i can try them out when the motor goes back together since you have the 8 head now?

Crazy story!

The day before we were at the hospital as my wife was having what they called "false labor".....re-hydrated her and said the contarctions should stop and that we could go about our normal routine.

So the next day was a planned race day and i drove 2.5hrs to the track....raced all day....drove 2.5hrs back home to find my wife laboring even worse

To make an even longer story short we were at the hospital and my son was born hours later with me completely EXHAUSTED but EXTREMELY HAPPY

Pat, those Denso plugs is what I've always ran. The ikh27 is a 9 heatrange as well.

Non of that has to do with heat range on plugs. I have ran every heat range from 7 to a 10 on our motors.

That is to lean to much timing for what ever fuel you a running. The only time I have ever melted a plug is when one of my 1200s was only 1000cc.

had the same thing happen to my car except the ceramic part broke off and gnard stuff up

Are you saying that you run the ikh24's or 27's Jeremy not quite sure by the way you phrased your post lol?

Thanks Lucas i appreciate the input!

We looked over the motor, logs, and other plugs repeatedly and couldn't find any other signs of detonation or anything else amiss and like i posted previously the injectors had just return from FIC for cleaning.......afr's looked to be where we normally have the car tuned but obviously something wasn't right

We run straight E85 from the pump as i don't have access to anything greater.

That was 12.1 afr (12-12.3 during the misfire @ 8000rpm in 4th gear with 9* timing) and at 8900 it's 12.07afr 11* timing)

The puzzling thing is that compared to some of the previous logs even from yrs past that something seems to be causing an erratic hiccuping in rpm pick-up, timing, and inj duty cycle according to Sean my tuner

Thing is the car has changed set-ups and was on a different AEM V1 than in 2009.....it was on the stock ecu last year........

He says in the logs it almost looks like some sort of electrical noise or interference.

The other thing that is different now is the seq. ignition system which i'm wondering if there was any where in the system that i could have installed incorrectly to cause and inadvertent timing event in the #4 cyl

If you look closely the ceramic is missing as well as the strap

What did you chalk your issue up to?

Its possible your ethanol content changed unless you check it every time you fuel up. E85 is crazy because it won't knock but that doesn't mean bad stuff is going on.

And how old is your o2 sensor because if its off enough at your power level heat could cause issues real quick.

Anyway I hope you don't have anymore problems in the future, really high HP stuff really does require extreme vigilance.