Spark Plug Question

[JohnS]

You can also find NOS NGK's on ebay too:

 

BP6ES:  

4 (FOUR) NGK BP6ES SPARK PLUGS = $15.96 = $3.99 EACH = FREE SHIPPING

WWW.EBAY.COM

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4 (FOUR) NGK BP6ES SPARK PLUGS. note: THESE SPARK PLUGS HAVE A THREADED TOP.

 

and...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/144607511634?epid=230335221&hash=item21ab478452:g:3RoAAOSwbPhircnM

Edited June 24, 2022 by JohnS

[BLUNT]

Heres a little video explaining the 3 types of tips NGK has

 

 

[AlfaBMWGuy]

7 hours ago, JohnS said:

You can also find NOS NGK's on ebay too:

 

BP6ES:  

4 (FOUR) NGK BP6ES SPARK PLUGS = $15.96 = $3.99 EACH = FREE SHIPPING

WWW.EBAY.COM

---

4 (FOUR) NGK BP6ES SPARK PLUGS. note: THESE SPARK PLUGS HAVE A THREADED TOP.

 

and...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/144607511634?epid=230335221&hash=item21ab478452:g:3RoAAOSwbPhircnM

 

Thanks for those eBay links John!  I just bought a set. Hopefully they do turn out to be BP6ES and not the only one NGK sells now, BPR6ES.  A couple months ago I bought BPR5ES for my '74 tii that runs a blue coil and the 123 bluetooth electronic ignition since I needed new plugs and the non-resistor NGKs were nowhere to be found.  Since going to those, although it may be a coincidence, cold starts on my tii have been a bear with lots of cranking before it eventually acts at all like it is going to fire.  If going to BP6ES doesn't completely fix my problem, I'm hoping it makes it a little better.  Even starts after leaving it 3 or 4 hours during the day can take a lot of cranking now.

 

-Gary

[JohnS]

With a little bit of searching you can probably also find the hotter NGK BP5ES's on ebay too.  My 73tii likes the BP5ES, my 74tii the BP6ES.  Go figure...

 

[AlfaBMWGuy]

3 minutes ago, JohnS said:

With a little bit of searching you can probably also find the hotter NGK BP5ES's on ebay too.  My 73tii likes the BP5ES, my 74tii the BP6ES.  Go figure...

 

 

I figured if I'm going to try to address my cold start cranking issue, I should go both with what some consider the more proper temp rating for most 2002s, 6 instead of 5, and then the non-resistor version so BP6ES is exactly what I was thinking.  I assume these will come gapped at 0.032" like my BPR5ES ones were.  Would you stick with that (knowing I'm trying to reduce cranking more than maximize WOT high rpm performance) or should I go up to 0.035" or even bring them down a bit to something like 0.030" or 0.028"?  Probably I should have played with the gap on my current BPR5ES plugs first or swap back to the Russian-made Bosch plugs I pulled out, but for under $25 shipped, I just decided to grab these since it seems that those who did hoard the remaining non-resistor NGK plugs while they were still available aren't offering their collections up on the parts for sale board ?

 

Thanks,

Gary

['76mintgrün'02]

How much resistance is built into your 123 rotor?  The stock 2002 rotors all had 5K resistors built in.  The Resistor plugs are 5K also, so if you put a non resistor rotor in your 123, that will offset the resistor plugs.  (jimk said it doesn't matter which end of the run the resistance is on).

 

I'd run the stock plug gap, if it is a stock coil.  .024"-.028" is stock and you're supposed to set them to the tighter spec., knowing the gap will grow with use.  If 123 ignitions offers a more potent coil, then I could see using a larger gap.

Tom

[JohnS]

Gary,

  You're asking the wrong guy with all of those specifics about the gaps and what not.  I've always just installed the NGK plugs out of the box without gapping them.  I mean, I checked them, but they seemed close enough out of the box.  Funny you should say Russian made Bosch plugs.  I remember getting a batch of Bosch W8DC's that were made in India that were just terrible.  You could see the crude quality in the metal casting on the plug.  They might have been knock offs, I don't know.  In regards to hard starting, have you checked out your cold start relay to make sure it's working properly?  Jason P on here sells a really awesome rebuilt circuit board for those relays which work really good.  Good Luck,

John

 

PS, also in regards to resistance.  I use the stock type wires (from Kingsbourne Wires) that have the bakelite ends which have some resistance spec. too.  I don't know the number off hand.  So many details with these funny little cars eh?

 

 

 

Edited June 24, 2022 by JohnS

['76mintgrün'02]

The NGK plugs I recently took out of the box were gapped at .035".  Gap those plugs, John!!  (It's fun and it will run better).

 

Tom

[AlfaBMWGuy]

My mechanic has said the cold start injector itself is functioning fine, but it's possible the thermo switch is at issue.  Is that related to what Jason P sells?

 

As far as the coil, I'm running a Bosch blue coil with my 123.  It's actually something I got from Paul Winterton just a couple months before he passed so I'm hoping to keep it along with the small number of other bits I got from him.  Maybe 0.028" then for my plug gap?  It seems in general people run wider gaps on tii's (which mine is) than carb'd 2002s.

[AlfaBMWGuy]

8 minutes ago, '76mintgrün'02 said:

The NGK plugs I recently took out of the box were gapped at .035".  Gap those plugs, John!!  (It's fun and it will run better).

 

Tom

 

My recent BPR5ES set did come out of the box at 0.032" as they were listed so apparently there is some variance.

 

I have no idea on the the resistance of the 123 rotor.

Edited June 24, 2022 by AlfaBMWGuy

['76mintgrün'02]

I believe you, but just asked Google about the gap on the BPR5ES (which is what I bought) and found this.  ( checking to see if I was sloppy measuring).

 

What is the spark plug gap on NGK BPR5ES?

0.035"

NGK BPR5ES (RN11YC4) Spark Plug (Each) Stens 130-930

Brand	Stens
Height Standard	JIS Height
Tip	Projected Tip
Gap	0.035" (0.9mm)
Heat Range	5

 

 

I recently found my plug gaps at .030" and set the gap back to .025".  It ran better.  Then I bought new plugs and gapped them to .024".   Those were R plugs, so I put a 1K rotor in to offset the resistance.  (mostly).  I have plugs on my brain.

 

I used a tiny hammer to close up the gap and accidentally closed the first one completely.  Then I went back to using the weight of the plug to close the gap, by lightly tossing it at the bench top from an inch up.  That is very predictable/controllable, compared to hammers.  I have the tapered ramp style gappers and the wire style, which seem a little more accurate.  For the last set, I used a .024" feeler gauge.

Tom

[JohnS]

26 minutes ago, '76mintgrün'02 said:

The NGK plugs I recently took out of the box were gapped at .035".  Gap those plugs, John!!  (It's fun and it will run better).

 

Tom

I'm going to do an oil change, valve adjustment, fuel and air filter change tomorrow on the Thrasher.  Will check the plugs and gap them.  I'm glad I'm a hoarder.  I've got so many NOS plugs to choose from, I don't know what to do.  Old German made W8DC's, W7DC's, NGK BP6ES, BP5ES or Beru's... I'll probably just re-gap the BP6ES's that are already in there.  They always look good whenever I check them.  ? Thanks,

John

 

Edited June 24, 2022 by JohnS