Does Splitfire spark plugs increase horsepower?
jga...@uhunix4.hawaii.edu
I should start with the spark plugs. Any suggestions?
Patrick Burns
> I have an 88 Toyota Corolla and just want some more ponies. I thought
>I should start with the spark plugs. Any suggestions?
>
Champion/NGK/ND/Autolite/whatever. Splitfires are no better
than any of these. They just have better ad people. All those
"I put a set of Splitfires in my car and now it runs great."
bullshit ads are from people who's cars needed new plugs
anyway. ANY new plugs would have helped. Since they spent
eight bucks a plug, they noticed the difference better because
they were actually paying attention. Don't get sucked in.
Patrick Burns
Mr. Fun
>Right on, Patrick--- ANY car that pulls into MY shop with those junk ass
>plugs in it get REAL spark plugs first. If anyone who knows has ever seen
>the scope pattern from "Splitfires" they will have to agree-- it's ALL
>marketing and pricing-- perceived value in the trade.
Can you be more specific on what the scope pattern looks like and how it
compares, good or bad, to a set of new regular plugs?
Ed Svoboda
>Right on, Patrick--- ANY car that pulls into MY shop with those junk ass
>plugs in it get REAL spark plugs first. If anyone who knows has ever seen
>the scope pattern from "Splitfires" they will have to agree-- it's ALL
>marketing and pricing-- perceived value in the trade.
What exactly is the problem with Splitfires? Do they provide any
benefit over other plugs, as subtle as it may be? Is the problem a
poor price/performance ratio or just no extra performance period?
Thanks.
Chuck Smillie
>in the piston. I have had other people tell me they have experienced the same
>thing.
How did this happen ... sounds like the clearance between the piston and the
plug was too close:-) It sounds like you had a problem that was blamed on the
plugs, I can't see a plug changing the advance curve that much to cause a
failure like that. I assume a rebuild fixed it and also fixed the real problem.
Did Splitfire agree with the failure??? If so did they give you a new engine?
I have run them in our racing bikes, i was impressed by the apparent quality
.. but they did nothing to the power. Conclusion ... waste of money ... buy
cheep plugs and change them often - they works best.
A free "trick" which will work better than splitfire's is file the electrode
down to the mid point on the core (? what is the name? brain fart!). This will
expose the spark to the fuel/air mix for free! It does take a couple minutes
time per plug so I guess it's not free ... at least it workes better than the
splitfires.
The only plug failure i have ever had which caused major engine damage was with
Autolites. The insulator spun in the housing causing a major air leak. This was
on a 2 stroke Yamaha TZ250 FII road racer down the front straight at Willow
Springs, about 150 mph. Air leak + 2 stroke + 13,500rpm = hard seize! yes I had
the clutch in quick.
Anyway Autolite looked at it all and said I over torqued the plug ... I guess
18 lbs with a Craftsman torque wrench was wrong. BULLSH*T, AUTOLITE SUCKS
PERIOD!
Smillie
Unknown
>
> >One of the splitfire plugs I installed in a 1989 Jeep Wrangler burnt a hole
> >in the piston. I have had other people tell me they have experienced the same
> >thing.
> How did this happen ... sounds like the clearance between the piston and the
> plug was too close:-) It sounds like you had a problem that was blamed on the
> plugs, I can't see a plug changing the advance curve that much to cause a
> failure like that. I assume a rebuild fixed it and also fixed the real problem.
> Did Splitfire agree with the failure??? If so did they give you a new engine?
I put splitfires in my boat prior to my Jeep with no problem. When I went to purchase
them (at PEP Boys) a guy behind the counter told me to be careful because they would
burn a hole in my pison(s). I checked with a local boat dealership and they told me
they had repaired motors (mainly outboards I found out later) with holes burnt in the
pistons caused by splitfires being too hot. I had friends talk me into using them.
After having them in the boat for a few months, I put them in the Jeep. It had about
75K miles on it and ran great before and great after. I nopticed no difference in power,
mileage, or any thing. But, between 500 and 1000 miles later, it started missing badly
and running rough. I narrowed it down to one cylinder and removed the plug. One side
of the split on the tip was missing (looked like it was burnt off) and the rest of
plug looked like it was corroded and burnt (thick deposits burnt/melted on). With a
flashlight, you could see the hole in the piston. I called the local Jeep dealership
as I had a 7 year 100k mile warranty. Unfortunatly the person I talked to (who doesn't
work there anymore) told me incorrectly that If I installed Splitfire plugs and they
caused it, my warranty would not be good any more. I called splitfire and they told
me if the plug caused it, they would pay for the repair. It sure looked like the
splitfire caused the problem. The other 3 splitfires looked like they did when they
were installed. I sent 2 of the plugs to splitfire and they requested the piston.
I had a mechanic friend remove the piston and send it to splitfire(he said the hole
looked like something had broken off like a nut somewhere and punched a hole in it).
I sent the piston in and they sent a report back sayingf the plug was damaged and the
piston by preignition. They also gave me a list of things that could cause pre-ignition.
One of them was heat range too hot for application. Made sense to me. So they said
they and their plug was not at fault. Then I figured I was had for believing them on the
phone about fixing my engine. When I went bact to the Jeep dealership, they told me
that the guy shouldnt have told me what he did but being that someone else had taken
apart the engine, they could no longer honor my warranty. Well, to end this story, after
writing a few letters and making a few phone calls, the good people at Chrysler honored
my warranty and put in a new engine. I still belive that if I had not installed the
plugs, I would not have had this problem. I am still convinced that the plug was at
fault. I also removed them from my boat and installed Autolite Platinums and I see
no difference.
> I have run them in our racing bikes, i was impressed by the apparent quality
> .. but they did nothing to the power. Conclusion ... waste of money ... buy
> cheep plugs and change them often - they works best.
>
> A free "trick" which will work better than splitfire's is file the electrode
> down to the mid point on the core (? what is the name? brain fart!). This will
> expose the spark to the fuel/air mix for free! It does take a couple minutes
> time per plug so I guess it's not free ... at least it workes better than the
> splitfires.
We used to do this in the 50's on our cars but I dont think we had a name for it.
Andrew P. Bajorinas
>scott...@aol.com (SCOTTGROEN) wrote:
>>Right on, Patrick--- ANY car that pulls into MY shop with those junk ass
>>plugs in it get REAL spark plugs first. If anyone who knows has ever seen
>>the scope pattern from "Splitfires" they will have to agree-- it's ALL
>>marketing and pricing-- perceived value in the trade.
>Can you be more specific on what the scope pattern looks like and how it
>compares, good or bad, to a set of new regular plugs?
Yes, I would also love to hear what you saw with the scope. I know
that no serious race teams (unless sponsored by splitfire) or
auto-makers use the plugs, but I would love to know why.
Andy Bajorinas
------------------------------------------------------------------
| Andrew P. Bajorinas | These opinions are my own and |
| Bajo...@Perkin-Elmer.com | not those of my employer. |
| Sr. Engineer |-------------------------------|
| Perkin-Elmer Corp, Norwalk, CT | A cat is not a wavefunction. |
|________________________________|_______________________________|
.
Kevin Tapperson
]scott...@aol.com (SCOTTGROEN) wrote:
]>Right on, Patrick--- ANY car that pulls into MY shop with those junk ass
]>plugs in it get REAL spark plugs first. If anyone who knows has ever seen
]>the scope pattern from "Splitfires" they will have to agree-- it's ALL
]>marketing and pricing-- perceived value in the trade.
]
]Can you be more specific on what the scope pattern looks like and how it
]compares, good or bad, to a set of new regular plugs?
I think what he is trying to say is that a splitfire scope pattern looks no
different from any regular plug.
In <48g1p4$3...@inet-nntp-gw-1.us.oracle.com>, (af...@us.oracle.com) writes:
]In article <48appe$1b...@stealth.mindspring.com>, Chuck Smillie <c...@jhk.com>
]writes:
]> >One of the splitfire plugs I installed in a 1989 Jeep Wrangler burnt a hole
]> >in the piston. I have had other people tell me they have experienced the
]> >same thing.
It's speculation, but...
The improved fuel economy is a result of getting rid of the old worn plugs and
putting a new clean set in. The better performance is due to the design of the
plug. They simply use a larger insulator than normal plugs, resulting in a
hotter heat range. Then make some fancy "forked tounge" electrode so that you
percieve a difference; their plugs even look like snakes. (snake oil, get it?)
The hotter heat range could be why people are having problems with burning holes
in their pistons.
Kevin Tapperson
kevi...@mail.utexas.edu
bod...@gmail.com
> gri...@primenet.com (Mr. Fun) wrote:
> ]scott...@aol.com (SCOTTGROEN) wrote:
> ]>Right on, Patrick--- ANY car that pulls into MY shop with those junk ass
> ]>plugs in it get REAL spark plugs first. If anyone who knows has ever seen
> ]>the scope pattern from "Splitfires" they will have to agree-- it's ALL
> ]>marketing and pricing-- perceived value in the trade.
> ]
> ]Can you be more specific on what the scope pattern looks like and how it
> ]compares, good or bad, to a set of new regular plugs?
>
>
> I think what he is trying to say is that a splitfire scope pattern looks no
> different from any regular plug.
>
>
> In <48g1p4$3...@inet-nntp-gw-1.us.oracle.com>, (af...@us.oracle.com) writes:
> ]> >One of the splitfire plugs I installed in a 1989 Jeep Wrangler burnt a hole
> ]> >in the piston. I have had other people tell me they have experienced the
> ]> >same thing.
>
>
> The improved fuel economy is a result of getting rid of the old worn plugs and
> putting a new clean set in. The better performance is due to the design of the
> plug. They simply use a larger insulator than normal plugs, resulting in a
> hotter heat range. Then make some fancy "forked tounge" electrode so that you
> percieve a difference; their plugs even look like snakes. (snake oil, get it?)
>
> The hotter heat range could be why people are having problems with burning holes
> in their pistons.
>
>
> Kevin Tapperson
> kevi...@mail.utexas.edu
]scott...@aol.com (SCOTTGROEN) wrote:
]>Right on, Patrick--- ANY car that pulls into MY shop with those junk ass
]>plugs in it get REAL spark plugs first. If anyone who knows has ever seen
]>the scope pattern from "Splitfires" they will have to agree-- it's ALL
]>marketing and pricing-- perceived value in the trade.
]
]Can you be more specific on what the scope pattern looks like and how it
]compares, good or bad, to a set of new regular plugs?
Andy K
> I have an 88 Toyota Corolla and just want some more ponies. I thought
> I should start with the spark plugs. Any suggestions?
Andy
AMuzi
--
Andrew Muzi
<www.yellowjersey.org/>
Open every day since 1 April, 1971
JR
dogn...@gmail.com
> I have an 88 Toyota Corolla and just want some more ponies. I thought
> I should start with the spark plugs. Any suggestions?
Kevin Bottorff
news:1b04209e-bdde-4710...@googlegroups.com:
other stuff is pretty much crap. KB