So I finally changed my spark plugs today as part of catching up on all the maintenance I've been neglecting in recent years, and forgot that about 10 or 11 years ago I had put E3 spark plugs in. They performed alright. Nothing special, but no problems either. Pulled them out and DAMN! They definitely are showing their age. The black on the corners of the electrode is just where I touched the cylinder head and picked up some gunk while removing this one (#6). Thought some of you would be interested in seeing this. They're made of the same stuff the cheap plugs are made of; just a fancy electrode design. Frankly I'm surprised they lasted as long as they did. I replaced them with a set of NGK Iridium IX plugs, gapped at 0.038" and indexed so the open side of the electrode is facing the exhaust valves. Engine idles MUCH smoother now, which I attribute to the combination of new plugs with an appropriate gap for my ignition setup and being actually indexed. Haven't driven it yet but curious to see if the wear on these E3s was so far that new plugs will make a noticeable difference in performance.
