Is motorcraft now autolite?

Not true.

A short history lesson -

Autolite was originally an independent company that made ignition system parts, including sparkplugs. In the late 50's / Early 60's Ford bought the company. The Feds decided this was not acceptable (even though GM owned Delco) and forced Ford to sell Autolite in the late

Autolite plugs are an alternative to Motorcraft plugs, but Motorcraft is still very much in the aftermarket spark plug business.

See

Ed

They're wrong. Just because they don't handle the product line doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

No. One Autolite spark plug part number probably covers 4 Motorcraft spark plug part numbers.

No.

Still around.

I know that Autolite AP 64 spark plugs work best for my 1978 Dodge van. About eight years ago I bought a new set of Splitfire spark plugs for my

That's not a fair comparison. Splitfire doesn't work right in anything & never did.

You can't even assume that today's Motorcraft plugs are "exactly the same as the Motorcraft plug installed at the factory in 1987." Why would you WANT to use an exact replacement, when materials and construction might potentially have improved a lot over 21 years?

Find a high-quality plug that >meets the specifications< for your application. Champion, NGK, AC, Autolite, and Motorcraft brand plugs will all generally fit the bill. Different people have different preferences, but I tend to use Champion, NGK, and AC plugs most of the time.

"Steve" wrote in message news:Ws6dnVW_MsNWJEfVnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@texas.net...

A few years back I was being nice to my Sister and changed the plugs in her 1997 Honda Civic when it had around 35k miles. I went to Pep Boys to get the plugs. The original plugs were non-platinum, 30K mile plugs. The sales guy at Pep Boys strongly recommended double platinum Autolite Plugs for the application. Based on his recommendation, I got a set. I installed them and the car seemed to run just fine. Next day, my Sister called and said the check engine light was on and the engine was running poorly. I went over and checked the error codes.The error code said "random misfire." So I pulled the plugs and took a look at them. They all looked fine. I reset the PCM and the car seemed to run fine. Next day, my Sister called again. The check engine light was back on, and the car was running poorly. It was late before I could get time to work on the car. All the local parts stores were closed, so I had to buy plugs at Wal*Mart. The only plugs they had for the Civic were AC Rapid Fire non-platinum plugs. I bought a set and installed them. After I reset the check engine light, the car again seemed to run fine. However, the next day the check engine light was back on. This time I actually read the specifications in the Honda's Owner's Guide. It listed two potential replacement plugs (one by NGK, one by Denso). It turned out that Pep Boys carried the NGK plugs and they were cheaper than the worthless Autolite plugs the guy had convinced me to buy in the first place. When he was listing the plugs for the Civic he hadn't even mentioned the NGKs as a possibility. I purchased the NGK plugs and installed them. She kept the car for another 95,000 miles. I never replaced the NGKs again and the check engine light never came on again either.

Moral of the story - buy the plugs recommended by the vehicle manufacturer and don't listen to the "experts" at Pep Boys.

Ed

So true. I use Autolite double platinums in my Escort and they work just fine. Champios double platinums are good too. Bosch won't work in my car (or so I am told).

Most foreign cars should take NGK, or Bosch plugs.

Autolite/Motocraft are for Fords Champion plugs are for Chrylsers ACDelco are for GM NGK/Bosch - are for Honda/Toyota/Lexus/Nissans etc.

On the web, Newest technology in spark plugs

There are a lot of super duper spark plugs out there. cuhulin

Old wives' tales. Champions are fine in anything. So are NGKs. Bosch sucks rocks, period. I wouldn't put them in the crappiest lawnmower engine Honda makes.

Steve wrote in news:v5CdnRRir8mUj0HVnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@texas.net:

Honda makes crappy lawn mower engines? How so?

I always prefer Briggs & Stratton engines on my lawn mowers. cuhulin

What's wrong with Bosch? They work just fine in my wife's '99 Camry

I'll probably try NGKs next time just to see what they're like

Michael

I've had bad experiences with NGKs in older BMW engines... never had a problem with them on any Japanese cars but on the 1980's BMW straight sixes the Bosch Silvers run much better. I won't use the platinum Bosches but the Silvers are great on those engines and are what the manufacturer recommends.

--scott

Could we assume that we should use the brand of plug closest to what came in the car when new?

Can we also assume that the american plugs were designed and tested in mostly american cars, german plugs designed and tested in german cars etc?

Use american plugs for american cars, Bosch for german cars, NKG for jap cars etc?

Has anyone seen any independent test results where the major brands of plugs were independently tested?

Since there seems to be so many varying opinions, maybe they all within

Why not just use what the OEM installed?

No. They all have access to test vehicles from around the world.

No. The OEM plug in some Saturns is NGK, the Delco replacement may well be the same plug since NGK makes spark plugs for AC Delco, but why risk a $1000+ catalytic converter experimenting?

You mean like a consumer reports type thing?

You don't need opinions. If the OEM plug functioned as it should, there is sufficient evidence to use it in service.

There's that irony thing again. :)

The fine-wire center electrode that erodes back below the surrounding ceramic.

Until they don't.... :-/

Not necessarily.

Does gasoline/air mixture give a damn who made the combustion chamber its being burned in? I don't think so.