[Will M]

There's so much information here... I just ran across the description of the spark plugs for the Insight:

http://www.insightcentral.net/encyclope ... plugs.html

Wow.

Did all the home mechanics here know this? Anybody know which plugs fit their engines? Since many dealers don't know what to do with the body farings that arrive in the trunk, I wonder how many just use normal, unindexed spark plugs when they service Insights...

 

[Rick Reece]

Will,
I thought I had read everything on the Insight but missed that. Just shows what a great resource InsightCentral is for compiling all the Insight know-how. Now for a perhaps dump question as I don't carry my owners manual with me but why are their 4 different type of plugs for a 3 cylinder engine?

 

[Guest]

spark plug

4 different plugs for 3 cylinders based on measurement . How many different combinations of A B C D can occur in any given engine head?

03 slvr MT
brft drvr

 

[Ecfool]

And once again Honda's research comes into play. I wonder if they listened to their racing teams on this one, as any true racer knows you must index plugs to obtain optimum horsepower.

 

[Trans Am Don]

OK I'm blown away. With this level of engineering detail put into our cars anyone who still believes the old "100 MPG" carburator stories probably knows pro wrestling isn't fixed!

 

[Armin]

Re: spark plug

How many different combinations of A B C D can occur in any given engine head?

64!

Do I get a cookie?

 

[The Citrus Smoothie]

Sorry no cookie. Because there are only three cylinders on a Insight engine, so 27 variations (?). But if you want to be pedantic the question was 'ABCD in any given engine block', so you could argue that your calculations based on a typical four cylinders was right!

 

[flunkysama]

When I read that on Insight central I was both impressed and annoyed.

I was impressed to see an auto maker finally doing indexing. The Insight could be the first engine the comes from the factory wiith indexed spark plugs.

I was annoyed that honda took the most expensive route to do indexing. The common way of doing indexing is to use spacing washers. Honda could have easly stamped a number saying the thickness or number of washers to use. Or better yet they could have milled down the spark plug seats so that no washer or special plugs were needed. But no, they went the route of requiring you to buy expensive spark plugs from them.

 

[Armin]

I want my cookie!

Sorry no cookie. Because there are only three cylinders on a Insight engine, so 27 variations (?). But if you want to be pedantic the question was 'ABCD in any given engine block', so you could argue that your calculations based on a typical four cylinders was right!

Let me defend my answer:
for each cylinder, you have 4 possible choices. So the total is 4*4*4=64.

How'd you get 27?

PS: when are we going to see .sig's with "ADC-engine block" on them?

 

[ElectricTroy]

I was annoyed that honda took the most expensive route to do indexing. The common way of doing indexing is to use spacing washers. Honda could have easly stamped a number saying the thickness or number of washers to use. Or better yet they could have milled down the spark plug seats so that no washer or special plugs were needed.

I don't understand your point?



Does the Civic Hybrid use indexed plugs?

 

[gomarlins3]

Re: spark plug

4 different plugs for 3 cylinders based on measurement . How many different combinations of A B C D can occur in any given engine head?

Mathematically speaking I'm voting for 64

 

[joe4ska]

Where Can i buy these spark plugs and how often should i have them changed. I've got 30K now. Probably should take care of this soon eh.

 

[Rick]

To my knowledge the Insight does not require spark plugs until the first tune up at 105,000 miles. I think you should be good for the time being.

 

[Will M]

Milling each cylinder head to fix the indexing problem would be prohibitively expensive in a production car. Spacing washers makes sense and probably should have been used, so long as they don't compress over time or leak, though I see that from an engineering standpoint, custom built spark plugs would be more pleasing to the engineers. Rock solid, and not all THAT expensive, especially if they last 105,000 miles.

 

[flunkysama]

I was thinking about it and I bet the problem is that spark plug manufactor honda uses can not (or will not) make plugs with the ground electrode in consistant "phase" with the plug threads. So honda (or someone) tests each plug and then stamps the top depending on the "phase".

I also kinda worry about 105K miles rating. In lean burn mode combustions temps are much higher than at stoich. This means the plug must high be able to handle a wider temp range than a normal plug. Probably why expensive iridium plugs are speced.

I'd think it would be prudent to at least check the plugs at least every 35K miles for plug wear and engine health.

I just checked
http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com...+DX+A/C&catcgry4=KA5MT&catcgry5=IGNITION+COIL
The list price on a spark plug $18.47. I'm glad there are only 3.

 

[Curious Dave]

My engine uses all C's. When I rebuilt my engine, I noticed that the ground electrodes on the spark plugs all face parallel to the centerline of the engine when torqued to spec..

 

[zerix01]

I was wondering if by not using the correctly indexed plugs what happens? Can this hurt the engine or does it only effect efficiency? I knew about the indexing when I changed my plugs but only half the story, I was told it was ABC or D for the engine not per cylinder. So I pulled out the first plug and saw it was an A so I bought three A's. :? Any thoughts?

 

[b1shmu63]

Did you buy a loto ticket?

The chances are it won't affect your mileage much You got at least 1 out of 3 right. I can't imagine how it would damage the engine. In any case, wthout marking the plugs and using a torque wrench they are probably pointed in every direction anyway, just like they would be in a regular engine.

 

[zerix01]

Ah good, thank you. When I read about this on insightcentral.net I figured it was no big deal and I should fix it 'when I get to it'. But then I came across a mechanic's web site where he took detailed pictures of an insight he had taken apart to fix something in the engine. When he came to the plug indexing he said that not using the correct ones could be "catastrophic". I'm currently having engine issues with my car (I'll start another thread for that) and I just wanted to rule out that this could be the issue.

 

[b1shmu63]

That article sounds interesting. If you post a link to the website we can check it out and see if this is applicable to your case.