E3 Spark Plugs News

A wintertime dip in temperatures can put a damper on your vehicle’s engine performance, and your spark plugs may play a role. But that role may start with your battery. There are several tricks to pinpoint the cause of a sluggish cold-weather start.

The coming cold weather can affect your vehicle's engine and spark plug performance.

The first word of advice is this: Don’t let a sluggish start tempt you to run out and buy hotter car or truck spark plugs. The operating temperature of your vehicle doesn’t change with the climate temperature. So it doesn’t matter if you’re wearing a tank top or a duffle coat – stick with the manufacturer-recommended spark plug for your vehicle.

Cold temperatures render batteries less powerful. Cool weather causes an increase in electrical resistance in most electrical circuits, including your vehicle’s ignition. So if your vehicle was slow to start (or failed to start) it may be because the battery did not provide your spark plugs enough energy to bridge the gap and make a spark. To remedy this, check the gapping. Properly gapped spark plugs require less energy to create the spark that gets your engine running.

Also check to see if your spark plugs are fouled or worn. Many drivers put off checking their spark plugs until the absolutely have to, which typically happens at the first major cold snap of the winter season. Multiple failed cold start attempts can cause your engine to be flooded with gasoline. This “wet fouling” can soak the plugs and bleed off the ignition voltage before they’re able to form a spark. Spark plugs electrodes that are simply worn over time require higher voltage.

No matter the condition of your spark plugs, your car’s engine needs a little more TLC in the wintertime than it does during warmer weather. Mechanics recommend letting your car warm up for five minutes or so before taking it on the road, particularly at freeway speeds.

If it’s time to replace your spark plugs, check the E3 Spark Plugs website to make sure you’re getting the right plug for your car, truck, motorcycle, powersports vehicle or lawn and garden equipment, and to find an authorized E3 retailer near you.

Not all spark plugs are created equal. Some spark plugs are made to burn hotter than others. Making sure that you install the right spark plugs can make a critical difference in the way your engine performs.  Using spark plugs that burn too hot for your particular engine can result in pre-detonation and cause your engine to overheat. But if your spark plugs burn too cold, your engine may perform sluggishly and you can end up with carbon fouling requiring you to clean or replace your spark plugs.

Don't let this happen to your spark plugs! Make sure you get the right hot or cold spark plug for your engine based on its model and use.

Spark plugs work by forcing electricity to arc across a gap, much like a bolt of lightning arcs from a cloud to the ground. A high voltage – anywhere from 40,000 to 100,000 volts – is needed to create a strong enough spark to ignite the fuel/air mixture and start your engine. All spark plugs feature ceramic inserts designed to insulate the high voltage at the electrode tip, where it can jump the gap and be directed into the engine’s cylinder. The resulting heat also helps to burn excess fuel and carbon deposits from the plug’s electrode.

Hot spark plugs feature a ceramic insulator designed with a smaller contact area surrounding the metal electrode to reduce heat transfer and keep the spark plug tip insulated. Cold spark plugs have a larger contact area and transfer more heat away from the spark plug tip. Because ceramic is such a poor conductor of heat, these spark plugs run cooler. Manufacturers specify a spark plug’s heat range using numbers but always ask before you buy as differing brands may use larger or smaller numbers to indicate a specific temperature range.

For many years, auto makers and mechanics recommended hot spark plugs for vehicles that primarily were driven slowly and for short distances, and cold spark plugs for automobiles driven on long distances and sustaining high speed highway use. Today, car and truck fuel/air mixtures and cylinder temperatures are electronically maintained within a much narrower range than before, primarily in an effort to minimize emissions. So, the practice has become a bit obsolete except when it comes to high performance race car engines, boat motors and truck engines. Because these engines generate crazy high heat, they often require colder spark plugs to keep the fuel/air mixture from igniting before the spark fires.

The best way to make sure you are using the right spark plug for your vehicle’s engine, based upon its primary use, is to check your vehicle owner’s manual. You also can find the right E3 spark plug for your car, truck, boat, power sports or lawn & garden equipment engine by checking our online interactive catalog.