Spark plugs

nice_lady, Apr 19, 8:52am
Required iridium for Elantra 2012 & 2013.
I'm aware that these are pretty costly here. Advice on Cheaper suppliers would be good.
curlcrown, Apr 19, 8:59am
Do they have to be iridium?
nice_lady, Apr 19, 9:50am
Well they're the factory standard and they're more expensive but they do last a LONG time. I prefer quality.
budgel, Apr 19, 10:01am
Rockauto , should be here in less than a week.
Iridium from $NZ4.30 -$NZ 12.05 each depending on brand.
nice_lady, Apr 19, 10:06am
Ok. Thanks I'll consider that for sure.
nice_lady, Apr 19, 11:02am
Rockauto ship directly to NZ?
franc123, Apr 19, 12:20pm
Yes they do, and quickly. 4-7 days is the norm.
muppet_slayer, Apr 19, 12:26pm
I just got a set of iridiums for my 4 cyl car from Rockauto, took about 15 days and was delivered to the wrong address initially (I blame the NZ couriers not American). I rang the fedex courier co. and was sorted out quickly. Had a tracking no. as well so I could follow it. Ended up about $18 each inc freight.
desmodave, Apr 19, 12:28pm
Yes . You will no doubt get a free fridge magnet , with a picture of some type of classic car . Add other car consumables to your list to make it even more worthwhile .
budgel, Apr 19, 12:43pm
Another advantage of RockAuto is that they collect GST there, so no customs hassles.
I'm a big fan of them.
muppet_slayer, Apr 19, 12:48pm
Just checked and it was NZD $72.26 inc freight, for 4 (3444) iridium Denso spark plugs.
nice_lady, Apr 19, 12:59pm
Thanks guys. They're not required for a few more Kms but anytime is a good time to buy as I'm sure they won't get cheaper and they won't expire prior to use either lol.

👍
muppet_slayer, Apr 19, 1:39pm
I was worried my spark plugs would be seized in the head because they had been in there for 70 000kms so I cracked them loose (they were quite tight even when loose) and applied some crc 5.56 down onto them and left them to soak a while. They all came out easy after that. I smeared some nickel anti sieze onto the threads and refitted. My old ones still have 30.000km to go so new one are sitting on the shelf.
marte, Apr 19, 2:07pm
Apparently not supposed to put antiseize on sparkplugs. They have a metal plated layer of Tin on the threads which acts as a anti-seize.
muppet_slayer, Apr 19, 2:33pm
I'd rather run that risk (whatever that is) than run the risk of ripping out the thread from a sparkplug being siezed in.

I have had to do a few helicoil jobs in alloy heads over the years where the sparkplug thread has torn the thread out of the head due to compression soot collecting up the sparkplug threads and seizing it in. No amount of lube helped, the thread still tore out.

"Through my research, I have found that using anti-seize properly is safe on spark plugs, and useful. "

https://agradetools.com/be-confident-with-anti-seize-how-to-use-the-right-anti-seize-like-a-boss/

To be fair there is arguments for and against it. I choose to use it carefully.
blogzy, Apr 19, 6:07pm
There is a seller on T/M who sells genuine irridium plugs at around $12 - $15 each also.
Just search lowest price irridium plugs to find him.
muppet_slayer, Apr 19, 8:07pm
The ones listed are certainly cheap though but feels like they are there just to get you in the door so to speak. Will be certainly worth it though if they fitted your engine.

Might be worth Nice lady asking if they have her plugs. Very hard to beat $12.50 ea
nice_lady, Apr 19, 8:41pm
Yeah but I'd want absolutely to be able to be sure they're genuine.

Bits of spatk plug falling off into the engine. NOooOoo. !
gammelvind, Apr 19, 9:20pm
I’ve bought them off AliExpress at considerable savings, delivery isn’t fast though.
muppet_slayer, Apr 19, 11:27pm
Yeh true. Never actually thought they may be counterfeit, Pretty much everything else of value is counterfeited why not spark plugs.

Reminds of a time in the workshop working next to my mate he just fitted some new spark plugs in a car. He fired the car up, sounded good, all of a sudden BANG! then a loud banging whooshing noise. He shut the car off opened the bonnet and there was one of HT leads dangling down.

One of the spark plugs did not have the ceramic center crimped in place and it blew out of the steel part. I'll never forget that. Gave me a hell of a fright I hit my head on the bonnet.
blogzy, Apr 20, 7:59am
One item i would definitely not buy from Ali.
gammelvind, Apr 20, 8:41am
I’ve bought a lot of genuine parts at good prices off AliExpress.
pauldw, Apr 20, 9:13am
Maybe some parts don't have as many people making fake copies as NGK plugs. There are many sites comparing fake vs genuine NGK. In the end you need a source that can track its supply back to the factory.
onl_148, Aug 19, 6:16pm
Being able to track them back to the factory is all fine and dandy until someone, who works in the NGK factory, unscrupulously sells the contents of the reject bins !