E3 Spark Plugs.

[mrhonda1987]

So i was killing time today watching Powerblock on SpikeTV and one of the talking heads on there said that the EPA did studies and E3 spark Plugs with DiamondFire Technology creates less CO2 and NOx during combustion. Has anyone used these in their bikes? I think the NOx is the leading cause of the infamous 919 stink. Any input would be great. Thanks.

BTW, if anyone wants to look them up, the 919 plug is model E3.38.

[robtharalson]

NOx and CO2 are both odorless colorless gasses. Any "stink" is strictly HC.

The E3 plugs seem like a good idea at first glance, but some of their claims fly in the face of physics:

Reduced time delay in flame growth - shorter path to piston head

The flame front advances at a more or less fixed rate regardless of the nature of the ignition source. Once the fuel directly in contact with the spark starts to burn it excludes all oxygen in the vicinity, making whatever the spark does after that moot.

While they claim all sorts of advantages from their plugs they primarily focus on small engines such as leaf blowers and lawnmowers which are obviously not emission controlled and therefore pollute like crazy (The average leaf blower pumps out as much as 500 times as much pollution as a modern car. That's not in PPM of exhaust, that's total amounts!) A 10% reduction translates to 450% more pollution. Whoopee. A rake only makes the user emit a little more CO2 than when at rest and drinking a well deserved beer, which BTW also emits CO2.

Note that none of the links they provide take you to any information from the EPA. Interesting.

There is no way to substantially reduce any emissions or make more power with different spark plugs unless the plugs that are in it are very worn.

Rob

[Naked/SS]

I guess I'm a major contributor to polution in the skies over SC as I enjoy using my blower to clean out the garage. It takes about a quarter of the time as a broom would and my wife believes a cold Guiness Extra Stout is well deserved and fetches me one when she no longer hears that screaming little motor making noise.
Funny how all my little 2 smokes wear out before the plugs quit working. I never have bought plugs for the blower of the weedwackers. They always seem to seize or lose compression(the latest, my blower has lost it's crankcase compression, but not it's primary) after three or four years of use out here on the ranch. I always use name brand oil and mix it a little heavy, I'm starting to wonder if Stabil might be a cause for the short life spans of my engines in those types of tools?
Besides Greenhouse gasses make my crops grow tall and bushy!Umm Umm Umm!!

[Woody469]

So emissions aside, are they a better plug in theory or not Rob??? I mean we are still using basically the same damn spark plug we have had since the internal combustion engine was invented!

[cmurphy84]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[robtharalson]

Woody469:
So emissions aside, are they a better plug in theory or not Rob??? I mean we are still using basically the same damn spark plug we have had since the internal combustion engine was invented!

The original spark plugs, that is as soon as there was any sort of high tension ignition available, were made of porcelain instead of aluminum oxide / zirconia currently in use, and were very unreliable and short lived. Since the changeover to modern refractory materials this is no longer the case. Add precious metal electrodes and they are practically eternal. Regardless, the spark gap has remained pretty much the same for good reason: all it has to do is ionize the air/fuel mix to the point of ignition. After that all the plug does is keep the fire where it belongs.

I'm reminded of flat track racing when Harley Davidson had two magnetos to choose from -- one with average output and the other with enough sheer zap to fracture atoms, but was difficult to time accurately. You guessed it -- the weaker ignition produced much better power. Performance depends on proper timing rather than any sort of "trick" components, and spark plugs are no exception.

One last point: the ground electrode's huge mass of metal is very prone to heating to incandescence, tremendously increasing the possibility of preignition and engine damage when WFO. They may work in your grandma's Buick, but in a high performance engine forget it!

Rob

[nd4spdbh]

ya id stick with the stock good ole plugs... MR Honda knows a thing or 2 and he wouldn't use sub par plugs in a motor of his.

[AllanB]

What about those fancy iridium plugs the sports bike chaps strain their trousers over - any good?

[mcromo44]

Originally Posted by AllanB

What about those fancy iridium plugs the sports bike chaps strain their trousers over - any good?

good in the sense that they last longer, which really means they lose less metal over time so only require "new condition" voltage to be able to ionize the combustion change gas and get the arc going that commences ignition

too bad some of the pups on this site never got to see badly eroded old school plugs of the 60s era that saw leaded fuels
rounded off centres and grounds thinned to less than half the original thickness and take way more voltage to fire

[AllanB]

Yeah and I remember pulling plugs and half the porcelain missing .......... raised the compression a bit by adding to the top of the piston I guess!

[sburton6]

I tried a set of these in my ford focus, worst plugs ever. I didnt notice any preformance change. And I have no emissions data on it to say whether or not anything changed there, but I do know that after 5,000 miles they started missfiring and I went back to the stock plugs. The only advantage to multi electrode plugs seems to be increased life, but that was not the case here.

[secondchance]

Originally Posted by Woody469

So emissions aside, are they a better plug in theory or not Rob??? I mean we are still using basically the same damn spark plug we have had since the internal combustion engine was invented!

you could say the same about the wheel and tire also

[Tsmith]

Hey guys for give me if this is a stupid question.
A couple of the posts mentioned the ignition.
Would changing the ignition system do any thing for the 919?
I have heard it makes a difference in the CBR's and VFR's.

[nd4spdbh]

Originally Posted by Tsmith

Hey guys for give me if this is a stupid question.
A couple of the posts mentioned the ignition.
Would changing the ignition system do any thing for the 919?
I have heard it makes a difference in the CBR's and VFR's.

maybe timing changes... but like stated once the fuel is set on fire, anything as far as spark is moot.


Now in an old system like my 1979 jeep cj5, an upgrade in the ignition system made a noticeable difference for a multitude of reasons. I switched over to a bigger diameter distributor which reduced / eliminated crossfire (where two plugs would fire at once) as well as switching form the old coil to a ford e coil, which not only produced a hotter spark, but more importantly could recharge MUCH quicker to keep producing a good spark at higher rpms as well as not be effected by heat.... the combo of the ford e coil and larger distributor made for a MUCH peppier jeep!