Rep Power: 252

The question pertains to my car(02 Ex). I recently replaced the spark plugs and now I get a static noise when I listen to the AM band on the radio. It's not a whine but it is in tune with the engine, ie if I accelerate it goes faster. This never happened with the old plugs.

 
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What plugs do you have?

 
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damn, u still listened to AM? lol...

anywho...never install BOSCH plugs....they don't suit our car..

 
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some plugs out there are non-resistor type plugs and can cause interference with many car systems including the ecu. wondering what you bought because most plugs have resistor to avoid this problem. im using ngk vpower copper and it says right on the box its resistor type. anyway you should only be using ngk in a honda. hopefully you are.

 
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Right now they are Champion(that's what I get for sending my mom out to get plugs). I'm planning on getting a set of NGKs to replace them though.

And yes, I listen to AM. Where else am I gonna get news?

 
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Up here in NY we got news on FM

 
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Anyways... I replaced my plugs with the NGKs that I took out after cleaning them with some brake fluid(as suggested by the tech at my local stealership). The car isn't hesitating as much(which is good) but my radio problem is still there. Could it be that I removed the part of my grounding kit for the head cover?

When I replaced the plugs I made sure to check the gaps and such so that's not an issue.

 
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If your speaking of the ground wire from the body to the thermostat housing then yes. That ground is there for a reason!!!! I wouldnt really worry about putting brake fluid all over my plugs either!!!

 
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um just buy new plugs man $8 for a set of 4.

you mean this ground?

 
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Newp. I had one from the battery to the cylinder head it self. Bolted to the post that holds the coil pack in place. I've still got the one in the picture.

 
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the resistors in the plugs might be damaged which could cause ignition noise.

 
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I don't get how they would have gotten damaged though. Alls I did was take them out, put them in the boxes from the new plugs, then take them out of said box and clean them. Then re-install them in car.

 
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Does anyone know what would be the BEST plugs for a Honda Civic? My specific model is an 02 Civic SIR ep3 or hatchback. right now it has NGK "ir" plugs in it...i dont know what the ir stands for as i didn't put them in there....someone told me NGK Laser Iridium were the best.

What do you recommend?

 
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its all preference. iridium is supposedly the top class, it has a smaller electrode and lasts a long time. platinum is basically the same, its built for long time use. i just use copper plugs cause theyre cheap and easy to change. on the k20a3 im pretty sure iridium comes stock, so might as well stick with it. theres ngk iridiumIX you can find on sparkplugs.com just search your car.

 
Rep Power: 252

I'm begining to think my static problem isn't because I wasn't using resistor based plugs. I checked on sparkplugs.com for the plugs I had(the Champion Double Platinums) and they claim to be resistor type plugs. The only other thing it could be is the gounding wire from the battery to the cylinder head.

I think. I'll replace it and see if it goes away.

 
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If there is a grounding wire somewhere, you need it.

 
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The only time i have ever had static come through the stereo in relation to the rpm's of the engine was when i either had a spark plug cable melting and grounding out against an exhaust manifold on my 83 Transam, and the other time was when i didn't push the plug wire onto one of theplugs on my 97 firebird. I would check the cables dude...i've been told that if you run the engine at night under darkness you can see if the wires are bad by looking for blue sparks... Hope this helps.


Thanks Gearbox. i'll check out sparkplugs.com

Anyone know what the spark plugs should look like after 50,000 km? mine look white and i've always thought that white means too hot for the plug...

any help is appreciated.

 
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well they should look tan. white means too lean/overheating

 
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DAMN!, as far as i know my car has never overheated and i watch the temp gauge pretty closely...how would i control the to lean mixture...I thought that was all computer controlled?

 
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im not sure, usually the ecu runs rich from factory. or maybe the plugs are just old. i try and change my copper plugs once a year. then again platinum tends to run hotter anyway for emissions so maybe thats why.

 
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Well, i've got 50,000 KM on the iridium NGK's...think it's time for some new plugs?

 
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i never had good luck with iridium, got messed up after 15k miles. very happy with the copper, you just change it more often. but its cheap $8 for 4 plugs.

 
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Whelp... Here's the thing. It wasn't on the car stock. I never knew if the AM was messed up before putting the gound to the head because I only recently figured out I needed to attach the remote turn on wire to the radio to get the power antenna booster to work. I'm going to replace that ground and see what happens. I'm also going to check the connections in back of the radio and see if anything is loose/grounding out.

 
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Hey gear,

Can you post the part# of the plugs you use? I don't mod, don't intend to, and money is tight, so at $8 for 4 plugs, I'm all for it. On sparkplugs.com, they have two.

ZFR6FGP at 2.82
ZFR6F-11 at 2.52

Both are relatively cheap, and if 30cents makes that much of a difference, I can drink a few less cans of coke.

 
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Does anyone know the difference between NGK spark plugs ZFR5J-11 and ZFR5F-11? What do the letters J and F stand for? Are there any difference between these two spark plugs? Can they substitute each other?

 
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This link should help:
http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/techinf...000&country=US

And about deciphering the NGK part number system:
http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/techinf...tnumberkey.pdf