One step colder? Please explain to me (a noob)

BoomBoy · Mar 5, 2008

I have the FS stage 1 turbo kit arrived. I didn't order the spark plugs from their site. Randy called me and strongly recommended me to buy spark plugs gapped at .035 and one step colder.

One step colder? I'm going to buy spark plugs locally. It should be easy to find ones gapped at .035 but how do I know if they are "one step colder"?

bryst06 · Mar 5, 2008

One, you need to maunally gap the plugs to .035

Two, you have 2 options:

1. Motorcraft Agfs22c 1 step colder, can be found on Massivespeed system web page for 13 bucks
2. Autolite 103 Copper Spark Plugs 1 step colder can be found on FS website for 10.00

I perfer the Motorcraft

Welcome, also you might have a hard time finding them in local stores.

BUR_ZX3 · Mar 5, 2008

Anytime you run boost, or a high compression engine, you want to use colder spark plugs than stock. Basically you've got a piece of metal sitting in your cylinder that is searingly hot. The right amoutns of Heat + Fuel + Pressure = Combustion.

Now, if that plug is too hot, then it will preignite the fuel too early, and cause that ever so nasty situation called "Detonation" which can lead to your whole engine going KABOOM. And thats a bad thing.

$10-15 is a small price to pay for a lot of insurance.

greentengu · Mar 5, 2008

Now, my information comes from a book on engine building and maintenence from 1971, so I'm sure this is probably incorrect. According to this book, "one step colder" spark plugs take some of the heat inside the combustion chamber and, as I understand it with my very limited knowledge of heat transfer, radiate some of the heat up into the spark plug/cylinder head and away from the actual spark plug tip. Thus, the entire plug doesn't get red-hot and thus cause detonation (e.g. the plug itself is so hot it actually ignites the air/fuel mixture a microsecond before the plug actually sparks/fires, which means it's causing the little mini-grenade to go off before the piston actually arrives at its perfect spot), but instead some of that heat is radiated upwards and through the plug away from the actual combustion chamber.

The "steps" in this book were actually shown as funny line-drawings that showed little bits of "heat" being "radiated" one "step" up into the cylinder head, then "two steps" deeper away from the combustion chamber, etc. disappating the heat out and away from the spark plug tip lol.

Again, that is my interpretation of what I read; it is not a perfect nor a complete definition of what "one step colder" means.

I'm sure this isn't the way spark plugs act any more, though--I'd imagine they'd wreak havoc on aluminum cylinder heads, no? Good for ol' GM iron heads, but perhaps different on newer aluminum....yes? No?

--Scott

polarisman14 · Mar 5, 2008

And if price is your concern you can go through steve at tousley ford, I believe I paid $1.63 per plug or something like that for the motorcraft agfs22c's. Check out his ad in the New Products and Deals forum.

BUR_ZX3 · Mar 5, 2008

You're correct in that they work to transfer heat to the head, which, because coolant is flowing through, keeps it cooler.

Remember tho.... colder spark plugs will deteriorate faster.... so you're gonna replace them more often.

BoomBoy · Mar 5, 2008

Oh yeah? How many miles do they last? (on average)

polarisman14 · Mar 5, 2008

I replace mine at least once a year (15-20k miles)

boostedzx3 · Mar 6, 2008

bryst06 said:
One, you need to maunally gap the plugs to .035

Two, you have 2 options:

1. Motorcraft Agfs22c 1 step colder, can be found on Massivespeed system web page for 13 bucks
2. Autolite 103 Copper Spark Plugs 1 step colder can be found on FS website for 10.00

I perfer the Motorcraft

Welcome, also you might have a hard time finding them in local stores.

nah Advanced auto has them for under 10 bucks. You need to know the conversion code for the advanced auto system though and it's SP463. They come in the motorcraft box right from the dealership and have AZFS22C stamped right on the front too.

greentengu · Mar 12, 2008

Thanks for the confirmation, BUR.

--Scott

venomrogue · Mar 12, 2008

Orielly's has them too...1.80-2.25 is about average price each.

Just tell them you work at a local shop to get wholesale pricing :thumbup:

st07trent · Mar 14, 2008

Welcome to the club noob. I was wondering the same thing. Thanks guys for clearing this up for me as well.

cornercarverzx5 · Mar 19, 2008

just remember, like bryst06 said, gap them yourself, just because someone said they are or beacuse the box they came in has it printed doesn't mean that they are .035. the gap can close up if they are dropped or just handled improperly

alx · Mar 19, 2008

simply put... the electrode has a deeper 'well' around it (between the ceramic and the electrode) on colder plugs, so the plugs hold in less heat and are colder

Jet · Mar 23, 2008

I tried to get some of these today while I was out running around.
Dealership don't have them in stock, big surprise...

My question is, if I'm not running turbo/supercharger tuning chip etc...
Will I get any benefit from these?

I'd like some better burn = more milage, and maybe a bit of power. ANd yes I know it would maybe be like a hp.

FSWerksVP · Mar 23, 2008

^^^ Not worth it. I'd go with the stock heat range.

greentengu · Mar 28, 2008

Update not from original poster (OP): I just replaced by copper tip spark plugs (that I bought from Steve) after, gulp, fifteen thousand miles on them. Well, they weren't really that corroded or "worn". Just some very light grey haze on the outer portion and yellow discoloration on the inner diode portion; no crud, blackish areas, white chalklike buildup, etc.

Anyway, I gapped the new plugs to .048" this time 'round. Pow! It's like a new car. Yeah, should have changed thousands of miles ago (I just hit 135,555 miles...meaning 35,555 miles on my PWSC so far), but I held off all winter. For normal applications (stock) stick to recommended plugs/gaps; for boost, I recommend you work hard to find your optimal range, as I've done by .002+/-" increments--e.g. .035...037....040....all the way up to .052 where power fell off at top rpm, then back down to .048), until you hit the optimal opening for your application.

And change those copper tips more often that I've done! I just kept them in out of pure stubbornness/lazyness/lack of "gumption".

--Scott

One step colder? Please explain to me (a noob)

BoomBoy

bryst06

BUR_ZX3

greentengu

polarisman14

BUR_ZX3

BoomBoy

polarisman14

boostedzx3

greentengu

venomrogue

st07trent

cornercarverzx5

alx

Jet

FSWerksVP

greentengu

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