NGK Ruthenium vs AC Delco Iridium spark plugs for 5.3?

[Delta Tango]

For various reasons in the last few years (since 2015 in my World) road testing is taken with a grain of salt at some repair businesses:

 

-"our technicians are so good we don't need to road test their projects."

 

-"we stand behind our work and if there's a problem arise, the customer can always bring the unit back". (*)Time and time again!

 

-"that was a 20 minute repair on the cooling system. It will be fine, no need to bring it up to temperature."

 

-"we've got projects backed right up. There's no time for a road test."

 

-"are you kidding, that's an extra half an hour! It's not worth it."

 

-"that's the third time a customer has come in and complained about cigarette odors and his radio is on the wrong channel."

 

-"the foreman is the only one allowed to road test and he's away today."

 

I'LL FIX IT MYSELF, AND DRIVE IT MYSELF!

[MaverickZ71]

On 8/23/2023 at 5:45 PM, Delta Tango said:

For various reasons in the last few years (since 2015 in my World) road testing is taken with a grain of salt at some repair businesses:

 

-"our technicians are so good we don't need to road test their projects."

 

-"we stand behind our work and if there's a problem arise, the customer can always bring the unit back". (*)Time and time again!

 

-"that was a 20 minute repair on the cooling system. It will be fine, no need to bring it up to temperature."

 

-"we've got projects backed right up. There's no time for a road test."

 

-"are you kidding, that's an extra half an hour! It's not worth it."

 

-"that's the third time a customer has come in and complained about cigarette odors and his radio is on the wrong channel."

 

-"the foreman is the only one allowed to road test and he's away today."

 

I'LL FIX IT MYSELF, AND DRIVE IT MYSELF!

[maddrsparks73]

On 1/8/2022 at 9:55 PM, M1ck3y said:

Anyone tried pulstar plugs? They are proven to increase power a little bit high rpm; but I haven't heard great things about durability. 

Don't know if anyone has replied to your question, I haven't read all the comments below this point yet.

 

I purchased the Pulstars for my 2015 5.3 and installed them in Oct '25. I DO NOT recommend. As soon as I started the truck, it nearly died from misfires, and I immediately shut it down. 

 

I disconnected all my wires (brand new AC DELCO) from both ends to make sure I didn't misalign and not get a good connection. After reconnecting all my wires and before starting up the truck, I plugged in my KINGBOLEN EDIAG Bluetooth scan tool to get a live data feed so I could see which cylinders I needed to focus on. 

 

Started the ECM MODULE>MISFIRES>CYLs 1-8 live data feed, started up the truck, and immediately had 3 misfires - 1, 6, 8. Let it run for a few minutes, as there was nothing "knocking", and had a continuous misfire on 1, 3, 8, and 6, 7 were intermittent. 

 

By the time I shut off the truck, I had like 36 DTC's ranging from all 8 Cyl misfires, 3 Cyl Knock cutoffs, Cam Pos Snsr, Crank Pos Snsr, Stabilization, Traction Ctrl, ABS, HMI INTERFACE, Radio, and on and on. 

 

I yanked those plugs out, went to O'Reilly's Auto Parts and bought NGK Iridiums for $4/sparkplug cheaper, installed, and the truck cranked right up without a hiccup. 

Sent the Pulstars back and got a full refund. 

 

The full refund was the BEST part about those plugs.

[Grumpy Bear]

Put NGK Ruthenium plugs in Pepper about 10K ago. Non-event event. Now in 3 of the 5 on the lot. Dizzy is eating oil to the tune of a quart in 1500 miles and has for years. Not a misfire one. 

 

 

Edited February 20 by Grumpy Bear

[TheRiver]

My 3rd set of OEM plugs keep my '16 going.............even in these temps.............