New user advice needed!

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Hi all! I recently joined as my son bought a 97 Prelude base model. Here are the basic details, and my questions will follow.

1997 Honda Prelude vtec
-17 inch black ADR wheels
-New Falken Ziex Tires
-Greddy SP2 full exhaust system
-AEM V2 Cold Air Intake system
-200,000 Miles (majority highway from driving to and from college)
-3rd owner (2nd bought it with 140,000 miles. 1st owner was a teacher in Troy, MO who lived in St. Louis and drove to and from with it)
-Tinted Windows
-5 spd manual transmission


I was advised in some of our first posts to use NGK Irridium plugs, but not which one. Today I tried looking at all posts discussing platinum vs irridium plugs and saw a WIDE range of opinions! His car is a daily driver with just the above intake and exhaust mods.

I have always used platinum plugs in my other cars for the long life. So I'd prefer to use something in his car that won't have me replacing his plugs again in 6 months...

Which plug offers the best combination of preformance and long life??

Also, (I hadn't looked yet) does he have any other "tune up" parts I need like a distributor cap & rotor, etc?

Thanks!

 

As a follow up, can anyone tell me the proper resistance in ohms so I can check his plug wires?

Thanks all!

 

platinum,u'll use it until u forgot to replace it.i got bad experience with denso iridium,2 out of 3 set i got get busted within 20000km...ceramic part came loosed and not to mention it cost triple the price from a set of platinum plug. i love ngk v-power platinum now

 

Thanks Razor! Anyone else have good things to say about the NGK V-power? Or what about the NGK G-Power platinum- ZFR5FGP? I saw some other threads that said they were a good choice

 

The Honda plugs you buy at the dealer are NGK platinum and is recommended by Honda for use in all VTEC engines, the Honda packaged ones of course come pre gapped for the vehicle.

 

Mini, ARE those the ZFR5FGP I asked about? I'm trying to NOT buy them at the dealer since my local dealers are asking nearly twice what I can buy them for elsewhere...

 

25k ohms max

 

Nope, just looked it up and even if you bought it anywhere else it's the same as the dealer. I just bought them at work (dealer) since as long as the engine is running like it should they'll last for 100k or so.

PFR7G-11 should be what most here would want since those are the ones they recommend for continuous high speed driving or hot climates.

 

Um, what advantage does this "laser" platinum give over the NGK platinum I asked about? (Besides the "advantage" of $13 each vs $3?)

NGK says:NGK G-Power offers the performance and durability of platinum at a competitive price. The center electrode is fine wire platinum for better starts, superior acceleration and better fuel economy.

http://ngk.com/results_fitment.asp?pid=PFR7G-11 doesn't even show the Prelude for this plug. They show Double Platinum PZFR6F-11, Iridium ZFR6FIX-11, or GP platinum ZFR6FGP for the Prelude. Until I googled the plug you mentioned I never knew there was an NGK fitment site!

I even tried looking at NGK's main site trying to see if THEY gave any comparison between the different plugs, but no luck...

Has anyone seen tests or some way to decide besides "my brother/mechanic /dentist says they're great...??

 

Strange that they say they don't fit a Prelude since that's what the service manual calls for for the H22a1. May be more expensive but I figure they spend all the money in R&D, Honda knows what plug is best.

PZFR6F-11 is the other plug Honda shows for normal driving for the H22a1.

 

Hmmm... Could the difference either be because we have a 1997, or have only a few mild mods? As a daily driver in the midwest, we don't need hot climate and or extended high speed driving plugs for commuting? All I know is what the NGK site showed when I put in a non type SH 97 Prelude. We are both talking about NGK plugs, right?

 

An H22 is an H22, and the NGK site shows the standard plugs for a Prelude VTEC 4g and 5g.

 

did i said v-power?sorry man....i actually mean G-power. my bad....

 

OK, Minilogoguy, you said Does that mean the NGK G-Power platinum- ZFR5FGP IS a good choice if I want a platinum plug? I don't have time to replace plugs every 20K...

Other related questions:Other than plugs, does my son's Prelude have any other "tune up" parts I need like a distributor cap & rotor, etc? (I hadn't had time to look yet...)

He also now has a CEL throwing P0420. As the car has 202K on it, it seems likely it is the cat. Since we don't know their age, we considered replacement of the upstream & downstream O2 sensors first. Make sense, or just bite the bullet abd buy a cat? Does anyone make an affordable high flow cat, or is backpressure less of an issue with these than a V-8? All I see so far is either a universal or a Walker 16128 to choose from, and his exhaust system is cat back.

Could these issues alone account for lower fuel mileage? He has a mostly highway commute, with the tach @ 3000/60MPH. With this he only gets about 23MPG. We had expected better for mostly highway...

Thanks all!

 

I hope everyone had a good holiday! I really hope now some kind soul can respond, as I want to finish up the basic maintenance issues like the mileage being low, the OBDS 4020 code and replace the plugs and whatever else he needs. Then we can look at making a few upgrades...

Thanks to everyone for being a good source of info!

Scubafan

 

Mileage isn't gonna be great, since it tachs to 3k at 60.

 

do not get heat range 5 plugs. the pzfr6f11 or other heat range 6 plug recommended is the correct plug for your car.

with the p0420 code i usually just buy a spark plug non fouler and place one or two of those between the downstream o2 sensor and the o2 bung as that will usually stop the code from coming back. most likely the downstream o2 is on its way out, unless someone has abused the catalytic converter (honda cats are among the best if you ask me).

 

I had thought 5th gear would be a bit of an overdrive... What do most of the Preludes run @ 60MPH?

 

I had figured on replacing the O2 sensors anyway with the catalytic converter. What I still needed to know is whether or not anyone makes an affordable high flow catalytic converter, (or if backpressure less of an issue with these than a V-8?) All I see so far is either a universal or a Walker 16128 to choose from, and his Greddy SP2 "full" exhaust system is cat back.

BTW, Other than plugs, does my son's Prelude have any other "tune up" parts I need like a distributor cap & rotor, etc?

 

magnaflow makes a good fairly cheap direct fit high flow cat, model 22644 I believe. should be about $100 or so. if you pop another p0420 code a few days after installation, just do the spark plug non-fouler mod to the secondary O2 sensor to space it out from the exhaust a bit.

here ya go:

http://www.amazon.com/Magnaflow-2264...ar=1&carId=001

 

I had the platinum plugs rated for 100k miles i don't remember what brand but they went bad in less than 40k. They gave me a very rough idle with a bad miss. It may have started with a bad rotor that fouled the plugs. My original plugs lasted 60k miles so i went back to oem plugs this go around. I also have zero upgrades on my engine.

 

The OEM NGK plugs are part# (PZFR6F-11) best price is at Advance Auto $9.99ea. They are special order though, and will be in the next day.