E3 plugs and AC compressor questions

[Uber_Otter]

I have an 2006 scion XA. Are there any gains to using E3 or any other type of plugs? And do you know if my AC compresser is used when using defrost? I can't tell. I have about 50k miles use 5-30 Syntec and have Syntetc royal purple in the manual transaxle.

Thanks

[BLH]

My 2007 uses the AC Compressor when using the Defrost setting.
Yours maybe the same.

[CTScott]

I have an 2006 scion XA. Are there any gains to using E3 or any other type of plugs? And do you know if my AC compresser is used when using defrost? I can't tell. I have about 50k miles use 5-30 Syntec and have Syntetc royal purple in the manual transaxle.

Thanks

Yes, the compressor is automatically used when in defrost mode.

[sbergman27]

Are there any gains to using E3 or any other type of plugs?
Regarding plugs... if they are like the Yaris, then they are long life iridium tipped plugs which the maintenance schedule calls for replacing every 120,000 miles. (Not a typo.)

I would keep them. All that a spark plug can do is ignite the air/fuel mixture. And regular plugs do that *very* consistently. If they fail to do so even a small percentage of the time you will feel it as a pronounced "miss". (The seat of your pants is surprisingly sensitive to this.) Some manufacturers, and their marketing departments, get really gimmicky with certain of their product lines. But I really don't see how they could be any better than the plugs you have.

-Steve

Edit:

According to this application chart:

http://www.toyotaownersonline.com/pub-share/pdf/09-10_SparkPlugs0809.pdf

the 2006 Scion XA didn't come with the iridium plugs. So make sure to follow whatever your maintenance schedule says. When you do replace them, you might want to consider the iridiums, if available, for longer life. Though I would not expect any difference in fuel economy.

[Uber_Otter]

Wow, standard plugs with 50k miles running the cheapest gas I can find, i should see a improvment with almost anything at this point.
Thanks for the link Steve.

[Yaris Hilton]

If it's misfiring, the Check Engine Light will come on. You're OK.

[talnlnky]

i remember when my mazda started to misfire/not fire.... was running on 3 out of 4 plugs... oh man.. the car felt like it went from 120hp down to about 50hp. Was horrible, and my gas mileage tanked too.

[sbergman27]

If it's misfiring, the Check Engine Light will come on. You're OK.
And honestly, even plugs from the 60s were 100,000 mile plugs, requiring a little periodic cleaning and regapping, at most. I'm not sure that I've *ever* had a plug fail.

Heavy knocking *can* do physical, and very visible damage to them. But in that case, the plugs are likely the least of one's problems.

-Steve

[Black Yaris]

Über, I ran pulse plugs in my 06 xb with 45k miles, I noticed quite a difference. With my 2.0L Rav4 I just pulled the platinums out at 110k miles and replaced them with NGK iridiums.

with the pulse plugs it seemed like the car ran a little more rough, but there was a performance gain.
changing from platinums to iridiums smoothed out my idle in the Rav4, runs smoother and quieter

[docB]

i remember when my mazda started to misfire/not fire.... was running on 3 out of 4 plugs... oh man.. the car felt like it went from 120hp down to about 50hp. Was horrible, and my gas mileage tanked too.

I had a Subaru Justy with a three cylinder and CVT. When a plug fouled, you would have thought the cylinder head was going to come off.
That car got over 49 mpg on a trip once.
You drummed up some fond memmories, thank you,
doc

[Uber_Otter]

I ressurect this post!!!! :eek:

Update, I now have over 75k miles I went with NGK g powers last summer. Because my XA shipped with ghetto plugs that were never changed I felt a HUGE difference. Since then they feel a little flat. I will be going with some E3 plugs and will let you know how they do.

Here's pictures of the original plugs, don't run 10k plugs for 50k. Be glad the yaris's ship with platinum.

[Bluevitz-rs]

WOW those plugs were toast!

[Uber_Otter]

Update! I swapped the NGK V-powers out at 75k, they felt flat. I put in some E3 plugs and I like them. "Snappy plugs" is the best i can describe. Little more power, a lot more smooth through the power band and they hit well at higher RPMs. They have about 10K miles on them and they feel the same as when I put them in. Can't give any verification on milage since I made some tire changes. They are hot plugs so they work good in our engines, I wouldnt put them in anything boosted or just high compression.

[Uber_Otter]

Update, Scion XA is now at 100,000 miles. The E3 3.48s were in for 25k when the #2 cylinder started misfiring. Tested the coil and its fine, put in some cheap NGK V powers and its running great.

Here's the plugs. You can see #2 is darker from no fire. It seems to have a rust ring around the base of the ceramic. I will email E3 and see what they do. I liked the plugs, but we will see.

[sickpuppy1]

I would suspect something other than the plug if you have rust on it. Head gasket?

[Uber_Otter]

I would suspect something other than the plug if you have rust on it. Head gasket?

The guy at E3 said that the rust colored ring is normal. I shipped my 4 plugs to them and they said they will replace them. I will let you know what happens.

I saw no signs of coolant in the plug area. But I could have used more dielectric grease on it.

I reset the Check engine light by pulling the EFI fuse on the engine side fuse block.

[Uber_Otter]

Got a response from E3 today. The #2 spark plug did test bad for them as well. Apparently there was a hole in the ceramic allowing it to arc out. They are shipping 4 new plugs. So I will put them in when I get them in.

Good response from them so far.

[Hershey]

Maybe you should have them test the new ones before mailing them :wink: . Let us know how if any increase of gas mileage , pickup , etc.. Did consider these for a riding mower . Still might give them a shot if the price is right . Good luck

[Uber_Otter]

Got 4 new replacement plugs from E3 on friday, put them in sunday. I really like these plugs. Car feels better, starts easier, smoother acceleration, and more top end power. They feel the way they did when the last set was me was new.

I really don't care if something fails as long as the company responds well. I will have to check mileage when I stop romping around on the car. I usually get 30.5 in the city. In Dallas that means 50% time your going 10mph 50% your going 85mph. It should go up some.

I removed the secondary air filter from my stock air box, replaced the filter and removed the snorkel. It's flows a lot better now, more noise but no drone. That second filter looks like more of an acoustic dampener. Very restrictive. I also cleaned my Mass airflow sensor with MAF spray.

[daf62757]

I just replaced my four Bosch 4 tip plugs with the same thing. My mileage was dipping considerably and after a process of elimination, the plugs were the solution. Got them on Amazon and they had a $4 rebate per plug so I was able to effectively replace all 4 for under $9.

Plus the installation took under 10 minutes.

[Bluevitz-rs]

I just replaced my four Bosch 4 tip plugs with the same thing. My mileage was dipping considerably and after a process of elimination, the plugs were the solution. Got them on Amazon and they had a $4 rebate per plug so I was able to effectively replace all 4 for under $9.

Plus the installation took under 10 minutes.

How many miles/KM did you have on them? I'm running the same plugs and don't really like them. I have about 40-50K km on them now.

[daf62757]

How many miles/KM did you have on them? I'm running the same plugs and don't really like them. I have about 40-50K km on them now.

Pulled them at 63k miles. had them in for about 55k miles.

[Uber_Otter]

How many miles/KM did you have on them? I'm running the same plugs and don't really like them. I have about 40-50K km on them now.

I think the E3s are hotter plugs. relativly speaking our engines our low compression. If you can run low octane according to the manual, then its low compression and can run a hot plug. There is so much metal on top on these E3s they are all considered hot. Since the temps are hot but stable I think thats why you can get so many miles out of a non iridium plug. They stay high in the self clean range without melting.

I'm at 106k miles now, I like these plugs still.