Stock plugs and wires. When/If to replace
06-19-2019, 10:36 PM
#1
Stock plugs and wires. When/If to replace I have a 1998 Z28. 44K miles. 99% of the car is original. Performance wise I only have a lid and SSRA. Magnaflow catback on the way. I have ZERO issues with the way the car runs or performs. However, I was curious to see when I should change the plugs/wires out. I already know I'm going with one of the offerings from NGK and probably MSD wires. But here's my question, is it worth the trouble to do this right now? If not, when should I? It's a weekend/fun car. Not a DD.
06-20-2019, 12:50 AM
#3
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I went the full factory recommended 100k miles on my '02 Z28, it was about 10 years old at the time. This car was also stock, other than a air lid and muffler swap, and it was used as a daily driver. The plugs looked great and probably could have gone another 50k miles to be honest. The wires were fine too, until I tried to remove them (100k miles and 10 years of heat cycling caused them to stick pretty securely to the plugs - a couple didn't come off in one piece).
How the car has been driven and maintained will certainly play a role.
How the car has been driven and maintained will certainly play a role.
06-20-2019, 01:00 AM
#5
I went the full factory recommended 100k miles on my '02 Z28, it was about 10 years old at the time. This car was also stock, other than a air lid and muffler swap, and it was used as a daily driver. The plugs looked great and probably could have gone another 50k miles to be honest. The wires were fine too, until I tried to remove them (100k miles and 10 years of heat cycling caused them to stick pretty securely to the plugs - a couple didn't come off in one piece).
How the car has been driven and maintained will certainly play a role.
How the car has been driven and maintained will certainly play a role.
This is good to know. The car is showroom condition inside and out. Extremely well maintained. I've had it for about 10 years. You can see my other message above about the miles.
06-21-2019, 03:14 AM
#7
I just carry a spare set. They are not heavy, just keep out of sun. Plus a couple extra stock ones from other cars. If the engine ever skips a beat... start swapping them out one at a time in diagnosis.
I don't like changing them all on a whim because the 'problem' could be related to something else. It might cause you to waste perfectly good wires.
I like to see at least 50k from a set.
I don't like changing them all on a whim because the 'problem' could be related to something else. It might cause you to waste perfectly good wires.
I like to see at least 50k from a set.
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06-21-2019, 01:19 PM
#9
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My '98 Z28 is an 18k mile garage queen, I've owned it for 15 years and averaged 450 miles per year over that time. For many of those years I concurrently owned an '02 Z28 as a daily driver, selling it right around the 110k mile mark. Both vehicles saw a proper maintenance routine for their respective roles. During that period, the daily driven '02 car developed many more issues and failed parts than the garage queen '98 ever has. In my case, the general wear, constant heat cycling and various other rigors of daily usage definitely caused more issues than sitting did for the other car over the same period and beyond.
The cars that develop a bunch of issues from sitting are usually the product of neglect (old gas, old fluids, never properly warmed up when used, poor storage conditions, etc.)
FWIW, the wires on my '98 are also still original and doing just fine.
06-21-2019, 03:09 PM
#10
Changing the plugs can help but sometimes its unnecessary. My last camaro only had 38k miles on it when I had to change the plugs. The last time I ran it at the track, I lost .2 seconds and 2 miles per hour. I didn't think much of it until I brought the car to the dyno to have them tune out the 3rd TCC lock up. The tuner told me the car was breaking up around 5000rpm 's and likely needed plugs. He swapped them out and car was back to normal.
06-21-2019, 10:34 PM
#11
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It wouldn't hurt, but I don't think it would be necessary unless the car hasn't been taken care of/driven normally in those 44k miles. I changed the plugs/wires in my SS when it had about 27-29k miles 3 years ago and it didn't make any difference, OEM plugs and wires looked good when I replaced them also.