Beware of Iridium Plugs : Kawasaki ZX Forums: Kawasaki Ninja Forum

quick_daddy · 09-29-2009, 01:01 PM

I think the picture will tell the story. This after about 600 miles and the bike would not pull out in 5th and 6th anymore after changing from the standard plug.

CR9EIX equivalent to CR9E my ass! I had the exact problem on a 500 2 years ago. It died on top of 5th and all of 6th. Put the standard plugs back in and back to the races.

Way to hot folks!

**Shifty1** · 09-29-2009, 01:15 PM

Whelp, I was thinking about upgrading in the spring...I think I'll stick with the regs.

185EZ · 09-29-2009, 01:23 PM

I don't know, looks like it's burning real clean. The way fuels are these days, there aren't as many deposits and if you're using 10% ethanol or oxygenated gas, it will burn lean and look like a new plug. With all the mods you've done, I would suspect you're running lean vs the plug being the wrong choice.

soc_monki · 09-29-2009, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 185EZ

I don't know, looks like it's burning real clean. The way fuels are these days, there aren't as many deposits and if you're using 10% ethanol or oxygenated gas, it will burn lean and look like a new plug. With all the mods you've done, I would suspect you're running lean vs the plug being the wrong choice.

but you have to look at it this way...the bike was setup and tuned with the standard plugs in it, making Iridium plugs not worth it because it throws off the tune. now if you tuned WITH Iridiums in it that might be different, but if the plug is the equivalent of the plugs the bike came with standard this should not happen. as it is, i wont touch iridium even if someone paid me. theres no benefit in my mind for it. copper and platinum have worked just fine for years, no use in going to a more expensive plug.

185EZ · 09-29-2009, 01:44 PM

I agree, standard plugs should be fine unless you're talking full race applications. Does the iridium have that much hotter of a spark or are the heat ranges not an exact crossover to an equivalent plug?

quick_daddy · 09-29-2009, 02:09 PM

All I can say is the plugs that came out before the Iridium were nice and tan/brown center and the ground sure was not bare metal like these. I've been at this for over 40 years and I know a hot plug when I see one. When the damn steel is almost blued from heat it's to damn hot!

I didn't post this to argue all night. Put the things in if you want to. When you loose the top of 5th gear and 6th quits all together you'll take the things out.

185EZ · 09-29-2009, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by quick_daddy

All I can say is the plugs that came out before the Iridium were nice and tan/brown center and the ground sure was not bare metal like these. I've been at this for over 40 years and I know a hot plug when I see one. When the damn steel is almost blued from heat it's to damn hot!

I didn't post this to argue all night. Put the things in if you want to. When you loose the top of 5th gear and 6th quits all together you'll take the things out.

Maybe if you were smart enough to take a clear pic we could see wtf you're talking about.
Who's argueing? We're just trying to make conversation and see what other opinions there are. If you don't like what we have to say, why fucking post shit if you don't like to hear what we have to say. Must be nice to be perfect. Take your attitude somewhere else.

KawaJAG · 09-29-2009, 03:56 PM

Been at this 40 years and think you can read a plug by looking at the tip like that? Hmm... I can't see any problems in the picture. The area of the porcelain that you're looking at doesn't tell me anything about what's happening under load. You need to look further up inside to get that story.

The ground electrode being clean is a good thing. You don't want deposits on it. The bluing you mention is not visible in the picture so I can't comment on that. But it SHOULD be visible on the ground electrode just above the weld where the bend is.

As far as losing power in 5th/6th... well... put it on a dyno to verify it. Otherwise I have a hard time believing that as the engine doesn't care what gear it's in... with the exception of 6th as I believe the ECU changes ignition timing in 6th gear on these bikes... but if you're claiming it happens in 5th also, well... yeah...

rrzxter · 09-29-2009, 04:18 PM

I wonder if the X-tre has anything to do with it. It's supposed to advance the timing and open the secondaries as if the bike is in 6th, in every gear. Would that burn the plugs prematurely? Hope not, I just got an X-tre.

quick_daddy · 09-29-2009, 04:36 PM

All was fine until the plug swap. It happened on another bike and it did it on this bike. 5th gear was always strong to 15K where I shift and it started loosing power at 14 like someone threw out a drag chute and I shifted to 6th and it stopped right there. I mean dead as a sack of hammers.

If it pulls on the Dyno Thursday then I'll check it out on the road asap but I'm sure it will be fixed especially if it pulls 171 again like June 30th.

KawaJAG · 09-29-2009, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 185EZ

I agree, standard plugs should be fine unless you're talking full race applications. Does the iridium have that much hotter of a spark or are the heat ranges not an exact crossover to an equivalent plug?

No, they don't. The difference is insignificant. The primary difference between iridium and any other plug is that iridium is a harder metal and therefore lasts longer.

Gringoloco13 · 09-29-2009, 05:08 PM

How did the porcelain look, was it cracked at all? Another thing is what did you have the plugs gapped to (stock plugs should be gapped to 0.028 ∼ 0.032 in.). So were they gapped to spec during the install, when you pulled them did you check the gap again?

quick_daddy · 09-30-2009, 12:57 PM

Took it out and power is restored and feft 500 Rpm on the table in 6th.
Had to slow down in area. 16000!

The end.

Nightmare · 09-30-2009, 06:05 PM

I am suprised to hear this. I have been running iridium plugs since 7500, and I now have 15000 miles. If I am correct I think these bikes come with iridium plugs factory. I know other bikes do. My buddies 08cbr600rr has them stock. My brothers 2007ultra250x jetski made by kawasaki has iridium plugs stock as well. I don't know, different people, different opions. Glad you fixed your problem, I know I will continue to run iridium plugs.

KawaJAG · 10-01-2009, 12:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nightmare

I am suprised to hear this. I have been running iridium plugs since 7500, and I now have 15000 miles. If I am correct I think these bikes come with iridium plugs factory. I know other bikes do. My buddies 08cbr600rr has them stock. My brothers 2007ultra250x jetski made by kawasaki has iridium plugs stock as well. I don't know, different people, different opions. Glad you fixed your problem, I know I will continue to run iridium plugs.

And you should be considering hundreds of thousands of bikes don't have a problem with iridium plugs... and considering from what's visible in the picture, one can only draw conclusions about how the bike runs at idle/just off idle... so the picture has nothing to do with what's happening in 5th or 6th gear.

citation10 · 10-01-2009, 10:33 AM

hmmmm , Im still on my stock ones but im only at 3200 miles .. I'm the type of guy who likes to change his plugs to some high $$ ones too , but maybe I will wait .

judas · 10-01-2009, 03:55 PM

lmao i just switched mine to iridiums last saturday. any suggestion on which air filter to use when i take them back out?

josh85621 · 10-01-2009, 04:56 PM

I still have the stock plugs in at 13k. pulling fine. I come from a car world though. So in that sense I'm not exactly on top of the motorcycle changes. But i will say: I did the iridium swap on a mitsubishi eclipse (I know not even close to the same performance) but i found them burning way too hot too. I would die out at about 5k. pulled the plugs after 100 miles and they were toast. Swapped back to the good ol'fashion champions. No problem. In my opinion if it ain't broke don't fix it. standard plugs may need to be replaced more often, but they sure as hell burn right.

KawaJAG · 10-01-2009, 07:45 PM

LOL... this is getting ridiculous. Hey... I'll do you all a favor and buy your iridium plugs for a buck a piece... you know, to do you a favor and take them off your hands so your engine doesn't blow up.

Seriously people... take a minute to actually learn about spark plugs before you buy into this BS that iridium plugs will hurt your engine. Iridium plugs will not hurt a damn thing if you buy the correct heat range. And by the way... the CR9E/CR9EIX is one of the COLDEST plugs NGK makes.

Kawi_T · 10-01-2009, 09:33 PM

OMG, did someone say "Champions" ??? I wouldn't even put them in my lawn mower.