P1000 Spark Plug, NGK Alternatives

[WRFP399]

Went to load up for a ride tomorrow. Pioneer ran rough, bogged and had no power. Felt just like a fouled plug. Sure enough, one plug was bad. Confirmed it was the plug and not anything else. Zero spark. Tried cleaning it and still zero spark. Must have some kind of internal fault.

Went hunting for replacement plugs and all the power sports places are closed. None of the auto parts stores have them. Tried looking for another brand but found no cross referenced plugs.

I ordered 4 new plugs online. Lesson learned but anyone know of other brands or comparable plugs?

 

[SILVER_ALERT]

A defective NGK spark plug is pretty rare in my opinion, but I am am sure it can happen. I owned an Import auto parts store for about 10 years (specializing in Japanese Imports), sold thousands of NGK and never had a complaint. I also sold Nippon Denso plugs and had no problems with them either. At that time NGK was pretty much OEM in all Japanese imports except Toyota. We carried Denso for toyota owners who wanted OEM plugs. Personally I still use NGK.

Denso would be my 2nd choice.

I just did a quick check and it looks like Denso is in more Japanese vehicles now. Either one is a good plug.

A quick search and I found this:

Denso vs NGK Plug: Which One Is Better?
It is hard to pull out a winner in the NGK vs Denso debate since both are iridium spark plugs and offer almost similar performance.
Denso plugs are installed on almost every automobile model manufactured in Japan. The iridium used in them has a superior hardness. The electrode’s diameter in these plugs shrinks more than an NGK. For this reason, Denso plugs won’t last longer than NGK units but they will be better at producing powerful sparks.


Conclusion
With the passage of time, spark plugs have been developed into a much more heavy duty component. Both Denso and NGK plugs work well with all types of vehicles – from light cars to heavy-duty pickup trucks. In this choice between Denso vs NGK, you will choose the first one if you care about the horsepower of your vehicle. It is only a fraction of a percent of the increase of power, though. But, NGK should be your choice if want a stable, long-lasting performance at a lower cost.

 

[WRFP399]

So here is what I was able to sort.

One of the plug is shorted internally as confirmed through the use of an ohm meter. Must have cracked on it's final hot to cold cycle after the last ride.

I was unable to find any cross reference plugs so I started searching plugs by thread pitch and reach.

Once I had it narrowed down to plugs of M10x1.0 with a reach of 26.5mm I needed to sort the right seat.

Once looking at the right gasketed plug I needed the right heat range. This lead me to the NGK 4908 plug which was in stock at my local AutoZone.

This is a laser iridium plug with the same internal resistor as the OEM plug (about 4k ohms). It is NOT a fine wire plug and had the wrong terminal.

I don't really care about it being fine wire as it is just a stop gap measure...but the terminal was a problem. To fix that I just bought two cheap plugs with the threaded adapter.

I am up and running again.

Just an FYI for others.

 

[hondabob]

I put new plugs in my Pioneer 1000 when I sold it at 19,000 miles. The original plugs were still ok. I'm doing a valve adjustment on my 2019 Talon at 33,000 miles and will check the plugs and probably replace them. Cars go 100,000 miles with these high end iridium plugs.

 

[WRFP399]

For sure the plugs can last a long time. The one plug that didn't fail looked great and functioned great. Unfortunately the other plug failed not due to fouling but due to an internal short between the electrode in the body.

It's definitely worth keeping a plug or two on hand in my opinion. Especially if you're not in an area where you can get plugs quickly.

 

[Remington]

For sure the plugs can last a long time. The one plug that didn't fail looked great and functioned great. Unfortunately the other plug failed not due to fouling but due to an internal short between the electrode in the body.

It's definitely worth keeping a plug or two on hand in my opinion. Especially if you're not in an area where you can get plugs quickly.

Wait….your missing a few things here. Your first 3 ever posts, You Never said what machine you have (we think a P1 cuz u put this in the P1 shop talk) what year, what Milage and No pics of the machine just plugs. #POIDH

 

[HondaTech]

I've known certain models that refuse to run properly or at all with plugs besides NGK.

Older Rubicons used to come with factory optional Denso plugs and would not run properly out of the crate. Swapping to the NGK made it run properly.

 

[Remington]

I've known certain models that refuse to run properly or at all with plugs besides NGK.

Older Rubicons used to come with factory optional Denso plugs and would not run properly out of the crate. Swapping to the NGK made it run properly.

I agree with your statement. Many of our snowmobiles will only run right on NGK’s even though our spare Poo Poo XLT triples say to use champions they run like crap with them.

 

[Jerryg]

In 30 years of selling NGK spark plugs, mostly for PE, I can only remember one failure.

That being said, switching over to Iridium plugs couldn't hurt.

 

[Remington]

In 30 years of selling NGK spark plugs, mostly for PE, I can only remember one failure.

That being said, switching over to Iridium plugs couldn't hurt.

We use the iridium ngk’s in our sleds now. Have had great results

 

[Jerryg]

We use the iridium ngk’s in our sleds now. Have had great results

There were a handful of people on the Yamaha Wolverine forum reporting issues with the standard NGK plugs. They said their issues went away after switching to the NGK Iridium. So many there are suggesting a pre-emptive swap out. Not sure what the actual issue is but my machine has the stock plugs and no problems so far.

 

[HondaTech]

There were a handful of people on the Yamaha Wolverine forum reporting issues with the standard NGK plugs. They said their issues went away after switching to the NGK Iridium. So many there are suggesting a pre-emptive swap out. Not sure what the actual issue is but my machine has the stock plugs and no problems so far.

Stock P1K plugs are Iridium

 

[WRFP399]

So as a stop gap measure they worked just fine today for the ride. Lots of dust, heavy ruts, a bit of deep mud, assisted with being an anchor point for one stuck Talon to winch off of and multiple deep water crossings with 5 passengers.

If pics somehow help with credibility here are a few of rig.

 

[P1K5Dave]

Nice work and useful info for anyone needing a replacement plug in a pinch. I'll add it to my notes.

I was trying to figure out why did you needed to buy a few more plugs to get the threaded adapter...but it must be that the oem plugs have a permanent tip?

 

[WRFP399]

Nice work and useful info for anyone needing a replacement plug in a pinch. I'll add it to my notes.

I was trying to figure out why did you needed to buy a few more plugs to get the threaded adapter...but it must be that the oem plugs have a permanent tip?

Correct. Maybe with more homework I can find a plug with the right terminal end but this worked for what I needed.

 

[WRFP399]

Just an update. I have a pack of 4 correct plugs, 2 for spare, but the ones I installed are still going strong so I haven't bothered to remove them.