bB2NER

Please do Steven.

lancerjin

I got the Iridium plugs ($30 from checkers) in my car.

They came with .037 pre-gapped. I have to make it to .044 before put them in. Everything works just fine. I have to drive it around and test it out.

Thanks guys!

Tomas

Just pulled the original plugs from Vanilla (2005 xB AT, purchased JAN05, 21000 miles) and the plugs looked actually quite good, but ALL were uniformly gapped, from the factory, at .044 ...



That is really bizarre.

Anyway, I put in new plugs (BKR5EGP @ .040, $11.96/4) and saved the OEM plugs as emergency spares.

Reset ECU, so it will be a bit before it sets itself for the new plugs, but idle is a bit smoother, probably due to the crisper firing from the smaller, very sharp edged tip electrode.

We'll see how the numbers settle in after the ECU sorts itself.

{Damned tpyos!}

vintage42

What kind of plugs are they? With a gap that big, are they Iridiums? But Iridiums would be either NKG Iridium BKR5EIX or NKG Iridium BKR5EIX-11 which are pregapped to 44 thousandths.

bB2NER

Yeah, good question. What are they Tomas?

Tomas

They are the platinums from NGK with the same design as the iridiums, but about 1/4 the price.

SEE: https://www.scionlife.com/forums/vie...689115#3689115

Should be good for the next 50-60,000 miles...

frogbox

NGK says to gap BKR5EGP in Scion xb's to .032

Tomas , let us know what your Ign timing goes to with them gapped like that (.044)
I know you got the SG in Vanilla.

bB2NER

The .032 gap is BUNK. The other cars that use this motor are gapped to .044 (bB, Ist and Prius).

vintage42

http://tinyurl.com/ch4anc

spr0k3t

I had to switch out my plugs for my standard maintenance schedule... I went with the NGK BKR5EIX-11 with the .044 gap. I've been quite happy over the results.

Tomas

(Are we going to start this whole discussion all over again? This has been covered...)

jct

we all know ppl won't read the whole 6 pages worth of this thread

bB2NER

Unfortunately it sounds like vintage42 wants to.
Run .032 if ya want to but it's not the best thing to do.

frogbox

Toyota Engineers know what they want. The biggest difference between the bb and the xb is that people take better care of their cars in Japan maintenance wise , know fact to Toyota Engineers. That is why the gap is different for the bb. In the USA people have a tendency to go farther before doing a tune up or maintenence on their cars. With a smaller gap ( .032 vs. .044) you can go longer and keep emissions and reliabilty a bit longer . That is the biggest reason for the difference.

The Prius on the other hand doesn't see the motor run as often , remember it is a hybrid with the main focus on the electric motor, so the plugs don't see , in theroy , as many run hours per mile. Hence the larger gap.

People can run any gap they want , we are lucky enough to have a motor that will run equally as well with either gap. But, with the same timing? length of service time? MPG ? Still working on getting real world data to show either or none as the best.
Seat of the pants or dyno info will help.

Oh and bB2NER , don't call bunk unless you can prove it one way or another with other than your say so, the engineers sorta know what they need and want. This isn't meant as an attack on you , but you did call it. just Chill

bB2NER

I know, but am tired of people trying to tell others what to do. If the xB had points and a standard ignition I could see setting the plugs to .032 but it doesn't so why would you unless you wanted to go forever on stock plugs?
I called it that because my xB runs like junk with the small gap. Now that it's set right it runs top notch. Plus with Irridium plugs I know the gap will stay set for a long time.

jct

all the hybrids i've been seeing are being driven on the highways and not in stop and go driving so it kind of defeats the battery driven motors

frogbox

This is where they are at an advantage , they can cruise a long time , on the highway, without needing the gas power. When driven they use the electric first , the internal cumbustion engine come on when needed for extra power or to recharge the batteries. In theory. Some people think they can drive it like a gas powered car and see advantages.

Bb2Ner , your the one that sounds like your telling people what to do by saying that a .032 gap is bunk..

If you would like, if you happen to have an SG hooked up , send me , or post up what it says as to ING timing at idel and at cruise. And as many points as you wish. I am researching the differences of plug gap , and type to the timing. Any thing I find I will share, weither it proves or disproves my theory.

vintage42

I followed the whole discussion back when it developed a year ago in 2008, and copied and saved excerpts. The discussion was about how Iridium plugs could use the .044 gap, and so I bought a set of NKG Iridium BKR5EIX-11 (pregapped to .044) for my xB.

In 2006 Tomas posted that only the Denso Iridiums could use the .044 gap:
Tomas has now put the .044 gap on Platinum plugs, rather than Iridium plugs, which seems to contradict what was posted in 2006 and in 2008.

I don't mean to be a or start the discussion all over again. Someone could just confirm that the Platinum plugs should be gaped to .044 like the Iridium plugs, and we won't continue the discussion.

frogbox

The manufactures all call for a .032 gap for the plugs they recomend for the xb , people run the plugs for the Prius ( iridium ) cause it is the same motor. If I remember correctly.

The Denso plugs ( iridium) call for a .044 gap from manufacturer.

As far as I could find the denso are the only one recomending a .044 gap in our cars.

This was found only for what the spark plug manufacturing companys list as plugs FOR OUR CARS.

People can use what ever they want.

And Tomas isn't running with a .044 gap , I thought he said he gapped them at .040 , the stock plugs he took out were gapped at .044 or so after 27k miles , leading to the conclusion they came from the factory at about that after showing little wear.

Yeah, this is confusing isn't it ?

Tomas

I'm making the gap decision for myself and my car, not recommending gaps for anyone else. What I'm providing to others is the reasoning behind the different choices, and why the different choices might or might not work well.

Remember, too, that from the factory my xB appears to have had the .044 gap on stock plugs as used in the identical engine in the bB.

(And the information from the manufacturers STILL has the only plug spec'd for a .044 gap in the xB Classic to be the Denso iridium - both Toyota/Scion and NGK spec .032 across the board.)

I simply chose to go with a gap not recommended by any manufacturer for these plugs in this engine, knowing that it will work. Empirical testing will show if it works well or not in my vehicle.

(My personal vehicle also has the advantage of using a Tier 1 fuel and a GF-4 oil, both with large amounts of detergents as opposed to many US cars that use whatever is cheapest.)

Tom