~Protege Low Idle related to Plugs (NGK Vs. Bosch)
 

Looking more in depth into the plugs issue, I mentioned before about the bosch plugs having a slightly lower RPM idle then then the NGK standard replacements and the NGK Iridium.

Here is what I found.... but I can't explain, I was hoping to get some feedback from you guys...

but the NGK replacements seem to have a dead idle of 850-750 RPM. The Bosch plugs seem to have an idle of 700-600. And what I mean by a Dead idle, I am talking about after the warm up cycle of a cold start (and/or) having the car in drive or park. For example, stopping at a Red Light... the same result happens.

(with 2 identical proteges) We have swapped the Plugs from one car to the next with the same results in reverse... confirming the find with the bosch plugs

Also another benefit that we noticed by was that the bosch plugs seem to warm faster on a cold start.

We have made a note to confirm this on the engine piston temp 'C on the Diagnostic scan to see how fast the plugs reach their optinum oporating temp.


NGKhttp://kevante.redirectme.net/ngk.jpg


BOSCHhttp://kevante.redirectme.net/bosch.jpg

Any thoughts?

sorry for the clairity for the pics being bad but at the same time cellphone cams can be great and a pain at the same time...

but just to comment on the NGK, we couldn't get the NGK's to dip as low as the Bosch's in the test... we waited and waited, and yes waited. but still couldnt get it to dip any lower then what your seeing.

that is horribly low idle. I bet Bosch tries to kill you after publishing evidence of their plugs causing poor drivability!

i have the platinum +4 on mine, and i have that idle at around 400 rpm, its quite nice actually, because when you are at a stop, you can't hardly notice that the car is running.
just my two cents..,.,.

try doing that with an upgraded motor mount and see how you like it!

well actually no, thats the thing Roddimus its not harming drivability, I have noticed a smoother idle, which is strange, we did the test with an additional load with turning on the A/C which usually adds a little bit more vib to the engine and its still purring nice. when accellerating there is no problem either, never has it come close to stalling or even felt ruff accellerating.. not sure whats up :S strange

Is it just me or is it that the first major tic mark above the 0 RPM line is 500? Which would make the bottom picture (Bosch) show an idle of about 650 RPM? That closes the gap a great deal if you noticed that NGK plugs idle between 650-800. If you were to idle at around 300 RPM, the needle would dip below that first mark above zero, and I'd imagine your engine would stall. Am I off the mark here? (no pun intended! :))

my car on stock plugs idles around 650

My car, stock plugs, idles at exactly the same as the 1st pic, which is about 800rpm.
When the ac compressor is running, it'll jump up to @1000, then back down.
And, yeah, the first bold line is 500, so the 2nd pic shows 650rpm.

I had asked someone at Mazda for clairification cause i wasn't clear on it, and they said the values are not exactly accurate because the meter(scale) is somewhat compressed below 1000 RPM, so it is not clear to read....

but for this instance, the pictures will better describe what i am trying to say then, the values I am using, when we hook it up to the Autotap software it will give us a better measurement.

But ya, can anyone explain? what could be happening in this case? can plugs actually affect an idle in such a way (well unless it was hurting driviblity) but in this case it seems to be running well.

But its funny the bosch plugs seem to opporate at that mark and slightly lower. its cool to see but hmmm makes ya wonder... we need to get a tech from Mazda to answer this ehhee , maybe I will pay them a visit, but everytime i ask, I always get a run around about NGK this blah blah blah that... recommend this... blah blah blah :bsflag:

I will give Bosch a call tomorrow morning, they are actually not far from where I live in Brampton, just south

I'd be curious to see if any other brands vary. Bosch must have lower conductivity, or one or more of that set is leaking. I have had plugs with a bad one in the set. That's why I quit buying Champions years ago, because on Several occasions I bought a set (of 8) with a dead plug.

Well this just in, after making a few calls in to Bosch Canada and then on to a techincal center in the states, about the mazda idle question.

and they said, typically a low idle would be a negetive thing for average spark plugs, (Carbon Deposit/other Fouling and inadequate temp. for self cleaning) but because of the design of the Platinum 4 plugs the open gap in the centre will resist these negetive pitfalls. Due to the fact that spark will move sideways and jump to multi prongs and a efficient discharge and ignition will cause a a drastically lower misfire count. By design they are made to achieve a self cleaning temperature faster as well.

More over.. they told me they are interested in hearing more about what I am up to and offered to send me 1 free pair of each of the platinum line of plugs for my evaluation. They said that if after 80,000 km mark, if I have any problems with proformence getting worse and its by fault of the plugs, that they would give mea refund in full for the ones I bought :) I was damn :) out for my business hahaha blah blah blah, anyways I don't think I am going to review the other two plugs but I am glad I scored another pair of +4's


haahha :)

hahah ROCK ON :)