a tale of how a few bad Champion Double.Platinum spark plugs almost caused some serious sh*t ...
05-10-2004, 06:01 PM
#1
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 732
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
a tale of how a few bad Champion Double.Platinum spark plugs almost caused some serious sh*t ...
Some pre-story info :
Oblivious to the fact that the original NGKs in our 1.8Ts were also double platinum, I ordered some Champion plugs from a local automotive store when 25,000km came around. Had no issues & stuck with them until 45,000km, when time came to order some once again. No issues.
Both 25k & 45k replacement plugs were nowhere to be found in stock and were ORDERED & recieved the next day. When i went in @ 75K for some, to my incredible surprise they had some in stock.
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/54726/champ.platin_box.jpg">
Roughly 1,100km ago I went in for a 75,000km service -> audi did their checks and kindly replaced rear rotors/pads, the 0w-40 was replaced with red 15w-50 mobil.one for summertime & I also gave them 4 new Champion plugs. Ever since the service, TT felt like a million $$ ... 'better.than.ever' throttle response, even smoother drivability (if even possible) & just overall cash.
About 500km after the service, the engine would randomly get those 'coilpack' stutters - I've personally dealt with a blown plug & few bad coilpacks so i can distinguish between the two; this sounded identical to a bad coilpack. As soon as i felt the first few, i dropped by Audi for a Vag-Com check ... revealed no codes except for my aftermrkt cat.converter. It was agreed upon that i would drop-by later on in the week to see if a coilpack code had showed-up, the stuttering continued and progressively got worse. Having seen the check engine light flash twice the day before, i dropped by the dealer once again .... no coilpack codes ... but detected misfires in all 4 cylinders.
By process of elimination, the mechanic and I figured it had to be something with the spark plugs themselves; by now i've had all 4 coilpacks replaced at different times, extending our suspicions about the plugs. Being close I bounced home to grab my old plugs & while taking out those which had been put in @ 75K the mechanic showed me this :
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/54726/champ.platin_1.jpg">
Not only was the top electrode extension messed up, the porcelain piece BROKE off ....
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/54726/champ.platin_2.jpg">
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/54726/champ.platin_3.jpg">
This is the second visibly-damaged plug the mechanic pulled out, looks like it has cracked down the side - the 'spark' firing out the side.
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/54726/champ.platin_4.jpg">
Understandably, I was absolutely shocked and just stood there silent for a minute or two trying to grasp the idea of what i was looking at. Mechanic informed me that worst-case scenarios could be : 1. porcelain broke off, bounced around f*king-up my valves extensively 2. porcelain broke off, magically missed the valves & could be in the K04 3. porcelain broke off, magically missed everything & just ripped through my cat.converter
Having a fibre-optic machine available, we decided to take a look into cylinder #2 ... get this: when the porcelain broke off i must have been giving it some nice throttle because it broke apart into many many pieces which are literally fused on top of my piston head. I have personally looked into cylinder #2 and seen these porcelain pieces, the biggest of which can fit into this "O". Mechanic checked all 5 valves and they seem to be untouched, he was stunned at the outcome - never has he seen anything of the sort happenning to a plug, nor have I.
I was suggested to drive like i'm breaking it in, baby it for 1,000km to let the porcelain pieces burn off before another Fibre-optic look-see is performed. We threw in new original NGKs & i have driven around 350km since - warming it up for an extended time.period, mostly cruising on highway or otherwise taking it very easy.
That's my story, i'm baffled. I reaaaaaaaaally hope nothing happens to my beloved 1.8T (not for Champion's sake, but for mine) because I've 'raised' it just right over the last two years. BUT interesting enough a mechanic-friend of mine has recently seen ANOTHER similar porcelain blow.out in the same, Champion Double.Platinums. Also luckily without any damage to the block.
Champion are getting a little phone call come tommorow, I am not hoping for anything in particular except to make them aware of my issue & not to be surprised if i come back 'if' something goes. My personal reason for this plug mishap is this : both the 25K & 45K services were preformed with plugs i had ORDERED due to unavailability. When i went in to grab them for 75K, they had them in stock which means they could have been dropped countless times due to the 1.8T plugs being so rare & not in any demand.
Leason learned - stick with the original NGKs, unless you order some Denso Iridiums. If anyone has any insight on this, please feel free to let me know - cheers, Max
Oblivious to the fact that the original NGKs in our 1.8Ts were also double platinum, I ordered some Champion plugs from a local automotive store when 25,000km came around. Had no issues & stuck with them until 45,000km, when time came to order some once again. No issues.
Both 25k & 45k replacement plugs were nowhere to be found in stock and were ORDERED & recieved the next day. When i went in @ 75K for some, to my incredible surprise they had some in stock.
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/54726/champ.platin_box.jpg">
Roughly 1,100km ago I went in for a 75,000km service -> audi did their checks and kindly replaced rear rotors/pads, the 0w-40 was replaced with red 15w-50 mobil.one for summertime & I also gave them 4 new Champion plugs. Ever since the service, TT felt like a million $$ ... 'better.than.ever' throttle response, even smoother drivability (if even possible) & just overall cash.
About 500km after the service, the engine would randomly get those 'coilpack' stutters - I've personally dealt with a blown plug & few bad coilpacks so i can distinguish between the two; this sounded identical to a bad coilpack. As soon as i felt the first few, i dropped by Audi for a Vag-Com check ... revealed no codes except for my aftermrkt cat.converter. It was agreed upon that i would drop-by later on in the week to see if a coilpack code had showed-up, the stuttering continued and progressively got worse. Having seen the check engine light flash twice the day before, i dropped by the dealer once again .... no coilpack codes ... but detected misfires in all 4 cylinders.
By process of elimination, the mechanic and I figured it had to be something with the spark plugs themselves; by now i've had all 4 coilpacks replaced at different times, extending our suspicions about the plugs. Being close I bounced home to grab my old plugs & while taking out those which had been put in @ 75K the mechanic showed me this :
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/54726/champ.platin_1.jpg">
Not only was the top electrode extension messed up, the porcelain piece BROKE off ....
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/54726/champ.platin_2.jpg">
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/54726/champ.platin_3.jpg">
This is the second visibly-damaged plug the mechanic pulled out, looks like it has cracked down the side - the 'spark' firing out the side.
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/54726/champ.platin_4.jpg">
Understandably, I was absolutely shocked and just stood there silent for a minute or two trying to grasp the idea of what i was looking at. Mechanic informed me that worst-case scenarios could be : 1. porcelain broke off, bounced around f*king-up my valves extensively 2. porcelain broke off, magically missed the valves & could be in the K04 3. porcelain broke off, magically missed everything & just ripped through my cat.converter
Having a fibre-optic machine available, we decided to take a look into cylinder #2 ... get this: when the porcelain broke off i must have been giving it some nice throttle because it broke apart into many many pieces which are literally fused on top of my piston head. I have personally looked into cylinder #2 and seen these porcelain pieces, the biggest of which can fit into this "O". Mechanic checked all 5 valves and they seem to be untouched, he was stunned at the outcome - never has he seen anything of the sort happenning to a plug, nor have I.
I was suggested to drive like i'm breaking it in, baby it for 1,000km to let the porcelain pieces burn off before another Fibre-optic look-see is performed. We threw in new original NGKs & i have driven around 350km since - warming it up for an extended time.period, mostly cruising on highway or otherwise taking it very easy.
That's my story, i'm baffled. I reaaaaaaaaally hope nothing happens to my beloved 1.8T (not for Champion's sake, but for mine) because I've 'raised' it just right over the last two years. BUT interesting enough a mechanic-friend of mine has recently seen ANOTHER similar porcelain blow.out in the same, Champion Double.Platinums. Also luckily without any damage to the block.
Champion are getting a little phone call come tommorow, I am not hoping for anything in particular except to make them aware of my issue & not to be surprised if i come back 'if' something goes. My personal reason for this plug mishap is this : both the 25K & 45K services were preformed with plugs i had ORDERED due to unavailability. When i went in to grab them for 75K, they had them in stock which means they could have been dropped countless times due to the 1.8T plugs being so rare & not in any demand.
Leason learned - stick with the original NGKs, unless you order some Denso Iridiums. If anyone has any insight on this, please feel free to let me know - cheers, Max
05-10-2004, 06:26 PM
#4
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 732
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hehe thanks a lot homes, I can assure you it gets treated like royalty.
the biggest pleasure is taking someone for a ride who has never even been in a TT, who think that its just another car and expect something in their mind - but in reality don't have the slightest clue, until the hammer drops :P
tee hee
tee hee
05-10-2004, 07:19 PM
#6
AudiWorld Super User
you lucky..
I had similar problem but with Bosch platinium spark plugs, however I would recommend to do compression test on each cylinder just to be make sure, When I had mine spark plugs removed I phoned Bosch and they ask me to send those spark plugs to this day ever heard from them, and that was about 2.5 years ago...
