Spark Plugs 101: The Basics You Must Know

Photo by Yash Sheth from Pexels (Spark Plugs 101: The Basics You Must Know)

Spark plugs. Every car with a combustion engine has a few of them inside. You can find yours by looking under the hood and taking a closer look at your engine. They’re critical to your car’s smooth operation, and your engine can’t function without them.

But how much do you know about them? Do you understand the crucial role they play in allowing your vehicle to function?

Not to worry. In this article, we’re going to go straight to the point and tell you everything you need to know about spark plugs. You’ll discover what they are and how they function. But more important than that, you’ll learn how to recognise when your spark plugs are giving you problems and what you can do to solve them.

Let’s get started!

What Does A Spark Plug Do?

To understand the spark plug’s role, it’s essential first to understand the big picture of how your car engine functions. Most cars use a combustion engine which mixes and compresses fuel and air together. Once that mixture compresses, it ignites to cause an explosion which generates power.

For that explosion (or ‘combustion’) to happen, something needs to ignite that compressed fuel/air mixture. That’s where the spark plug comes in.

As the name suggests, a spark plug provides the spark necessary to ignite that mixture of fuel and air. Seeing how that process repeatedly happens in several combustion chambers simultaneously, your engine will also require several spark plugs that work continuously.

How Many Types Of Spark Plugs Are There?

You can find several different types of spark plugs in the Malaysian market, each with their pros and cons. Typically, spark plugs come in copper, iridium, or platinum types.

Copper Spark Plugs

Spark plugs made out of copper are probably the most common ones out there. Part of that is because they’re also the most affordable ones you can buy.

One benefit of this type of spark plugs is that they don’t heat up as much as other types. Still, copper isn’t as hard as other metals, which is why copper spark plugs wear out faster from the heat and pressure inside the engine’s cylinders.

Platinum Spark Plugs

Platinum is more rigid than copper, which makes platinum spark plugs last longer than copper ones. Unlike copper spark plugs, the platinum ones tend to heat up much more when they’re in use. That might sound bad at first, but that added heat has one benefit: it helps to burn off any deposits that build up on the plug over time, keeping it useful for much longer.

Iridium Spark Plugs

Another material you’ll find in some spark plugs is iridium. This material is many times harder than platinum and also a much higher melting point. Because of these traits, they tend to last significantly longer than platinum ones.

As a result of all those positive qualities, iridium spark plugs also come at a higher price.

What Are The Symptoms Of Bad Spark Plugs?

As a car owner and driver, you must know the signs of bad spark plugs. As your spark plugs begin to wear out over time, you’ll notice negative changes in its fuel efficiency and performance.

Reduced Gas Mileage

One of the most common signs of bad spark plugs is a reduced gas mileage. In simpler terms, your full tank of petrol won’t last as long as it usually does, even though your driving habits remain the same. Why does this happen? Well, it happens because your engine stops burning fuel efficiently.

Remember: a combustion engine works in a particular and well-timed sequence. Fuel mixes with air in the combustion chamber where it’s compressed. Then, the spark plug ignites the mixture to generate power, and the entire process repeats itself. Everything happens smoothly, like a perfectly choreographed dance.

When spark plugs stop working correctly, that ‘dance’ doesn’t happen so efficiently. Your engine ends up burning more fuel than necessary, resulting in a loss of fuel efficiency.

Trouble Accelerating

As your engine loses its ability to burn fuel correctly, you may experience trouble when trying to accelerate. For the same reasons as mentioned before, faulty spark plugs fail to generate sparks at the right time, which leads to your engine being sluggish.

Engine Misfires and Rough Idling

When the problem gets bad enough, you may start to notice your car experiencing more severe symptoms. These include things like engine misfires and rough idling.

The engine’s combustion process must happen smoothly, but a worn-out spark plug can throw it all into chaos. You may suddenly feel a loss of power, or an unexpected surge of power even when you don’t want it. That’s because your engine’s combustion chambers are not operating as smoothly as they should, thanks to worn out spark plugs.

That may even happen when you’re idling. Even when your gear is in neutral, and you’re not moving at all, you may notice that your car can’t sit steady at all. Again, that could be because the spark plugs wear out and can’t do their job correctly.

How Often Do You Need To Change Spark Plugs?

There is no hard and fast rule about when you should check or change your spark plugs. Spark plugs have different lifespans depending on their manufacturers and the materials that they use to produce them.

As mentioned earlier, platinum spark plugs last longer than copper ones, and iridium plugs last the longest among all three types. But their lifespan also depends on the quality of their manufacturing, as well, so be sure to choose from reputable brands and follow their recommendations for how often to change their spark plugs.

To start with, it may be a good idea to inspect your spark plugs every 10,000 kilometres or so to see if they’re still in good condition. That way, you can make an informed decision whether or not to have them changed.

Some people may wait for their spark plugs to wear out before replacing them, but that may not be the best approach. Instead, most people preemptively replace them whenever they take their car into a workshop for major servicing. By replacing them somewhat regularly, you can rest assured that your engine is getting the sparks it needs to function correctly.

To learn more about cars and their different parts, check out the website for TOC Automotive College website, the best automotive college in Malaysia.