Spark Plugs (LOL)

It looks like they were running a little rich or something your whole electrode is missing or worn down completely flat they look like real densos. I mean generally they speak of these plugs being like 100,000 mi plugs so $25,000 mi off if you're running too rich or too lean and burn them up or what have you that doesn't seem horrifically bad.

 

Are you sure that the Denso plugs weren't counterfeit?

I've seen many pictures of counterfeit plugs on the internet that look like yours with burned off electrodes that were cheap replacements for precious metals like platinum, iridium, etc.



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First thought is that those Denso plugs are/were counterfeit. I have never seen any (good) spark plug wear the tip completely away like that.

Side note, it looks like those plugs had high voltage arcing down the sides of the porcelain insulators. If so, then the insides of the coils will have similar tracks. This can cause continued arcing and misfire which will burn tracks into the new plugs.

I would replace all the coils and the plugs at the same time, only with parts from a know good supplier.

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Yup....most likely was a 4 pack of Amazon or eBay sk16r11 plugs that cost about 15-20 bucks....
Straight from the China counterfeiting machine...

 

Of more concern with some of the counterfeits is having the electrode not so much wear away as fall off, and bounce around trashing the cylinder and piston.

 

so how can you tell that they are counterfeit?

 

You can look on Google and it'll show you the markings that you need to be looking for and if they are faked how they're different when they're faked and shows you how to tell different ways for different brands Asian versus what were American like champion versus nip and then so versus NGK and Bosch...

 

Just so I don't have to deal with counterfeit issues, I just buy my plugs from the dealer even though they cost me NZ$32 (plus 15% tax) each. In the US, the same plugs are, at the moment, on sale for US$9 at Olathe Toyota. I could also get NGK IFR5T11 for NZ$28 (+ tax) each from my local auto parts store if I wanted to save a couple of bucks.

But in any case, I would suggest only buying your plugs from a brick-and-mortar store and only buying the correct Denso or NGK plugs.

 

The pictures in the original post show a very bad failure condition. Something that should never happen to real plugs from any brand.

The best way to protect yourself is to buy them from a real store in person.

There are many reports of counterfeits on eBay and Amazon, but no reports of counterfeits making it to the parts counters of neighborhood parts stores.

 

I used to be able to call denso's North American office and get sample sent to me in short order those were the good old days. Other than that buying and brick and mortar stores doesn't really net you anything If you don't know what you're looking at they could be passed on to you through a brick and mortar store and it has happened and will continue to happen If you can't see the forest for the trees or you have no interest then you're probably going to get taken just like everything else in life thanks loans car loans all of it You don't know what you're getting into well you might get taken but that's the American way now for the most part everybody's getting taken in some form or another especially if you want something like a bank loan a new car a mortgage You're getting taken on one end of the scale some kind of way It just may not seem like it the moment you're signing the papers but these are things you learn over time as you keep having to do these things over and over again a few times.

 

Any brick-and-mortar auto parts store worth its salt will care about its reputation and therefore could not risk selling counterfeit parts. They have supply chains that are auditable and accountable. Could it happen on an occasion, maybe but I doubt it. Any store that got a reputation for continually selling fake goods would be out of business pretty quick. Certainly professionals would not use them.

 

I agree I'm just saying they slip through the cracks so we should know how to identify them but maybe not.

 

Best way to ID them is when a deal is too good to be true, but a lot of sellers caught on to that and actually charge the same price as the real ones or even slightly more. Some buyers believe a higher priced product must be real. Tricky stuff now-a-days, especially since the "visual quality" of the fakes is getting better and better.

I think most people will find out when the plugs only last 25-30k miles before they start misfiring from excess gap..

 

The weird green paint on the hex base. That and decades of experience with "known good" spark plugs.

A badly worn plug might have a little nub remaining above the porcelain and the ground electrode will be eroded away, but the center electrode doesn't "disappear" completely.

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