Spark Plugs Changed

[J Henderson]

As title, had my spark plugs changed when I got the car serviced during the week. I normally just go to the Lexus dealer, but I think I'm done with paying those kind of prices now that the car is nearly 10 years-old. Instead, I sourced all the parts myself (genuine Lexus) and got a recently-discovered local independent to do the work.

When I picked the car up, I chatted with the mechanic for a bit and it was obvious he was extremely knowledgeable about our cars and I asked him about the old plugs that came out. He was of the opinion that they were fine and would easily do 100K miles.

I don't know what a "good" plug is supposed to look like, but here's a pic of them after doing 64.5K. 

 

[steve2006]

iridium plugs seem to go on forever without noticeable wear, so long as they are genuine they will be fine, some counterfeit ones have managed to part company with the iridium tip which has caused obvious engine damage.

[Mr Vlad]

Now that's an eye opener. A short time ago I looked at plugs for my is250 and ones I saw and bear in mind these were known branded ones had 3 tips. Seeing that these have the norm of 1 tip makes me wonder about getting the 3 tip ones. 3 times the spark means a more efficient burn etc etc etc.

Pity the quality of the photo because to me they look burned out. Looking at the centre electrodes they look deformed.

[is200 Newbie]

11 minutes ago, Mr Vlad said:

Now that's an eye opener. A short time ago I looked at plugs for my is250 and ones I saw and bear in mind these were known branded ones had 3 tips. Seeing that these have the norm of 1 tip makes me wonder about getting the 3 tip ones. 3 times the spark means a more efficient burn etc etc etc.

Pity the quality of the photo because to me they look burned out. Looking at the centre electrodes they look deformed.

The second plug from the left seems to be the only one with an electrode remaining ...

[Texas]

To be honest, Unless for some reason they get flagged up in any sort of error code I don’t intend going about changing mine until the 100,000 mark! They were last changed at the 6 year/60,000 mile service by Lexus Edgware Rd when it had 21,000miles on it ( After 6 years!) and I only got 45,000 miles on it now, so gonna be a while Yet!

[Texas]

“3 times the spark means a more efficient burn”

But does it? Or is the energy that goes into making one spark gonna be shared between 3 arcs and make 3 sparks that in total equal to the one big one? ( because it’s the same amount of energy coming from the coil, I dunno, just putting it out there!

[rich1068]

33 minutes ago, is200 Newbie said:

The second plug from the left seems to be the only one with an electrode remaining ...

If you zoom in you can see the tip remaining on each.

31 minutes ago, Texas said:

To be honest, Unless for some reason they get flagged up in any sort of error code I don’t intend going about changing mine until the 100,000 mark! They were last changed at the 6 year/60,000 mile service by Lexus Edgware Rd when it had 21,000miles on it ( After 6 years!) and I only got 45,000 miles on it now, so gonna be a while Yet!

Had a conversation on here a while back either about my RX or IS. Can't remember. But both very low mileage but consensus was that you can happily just go on mileage and ignore age. Within reason of course. 

[Tyre Tread]

I ran mine to 89,574 miles before changing the plugs and they looked almost like new apart from the white deposit on them.