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Dan M
Dodge Dakota
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9/07/2006
08:11:16
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 Subject: Just ordered my halo plugs
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I finally got around to ordering the halo's for my 02 QC 4x4 4.7. I will post a follow up once I have received them, installed them and ran a tank of gas.
I'm near 60k miles and it's time to do a tuneup.
http://www.haloplug.com/
- Dan M
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.boB
Dodge Dakota
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9/07/2006
15:08:13
| RE: Just ordered my halo plugs
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At 60K, you're probably a little overdue for a tune up (if it's the first one). A general tune up will probably make an improvement in performance and operation - small but some. If you also add the new plugs, it will be difficult to tell if they are responsible for any improvement; or if they are robbing some performance.
Like any good scientific experiment, you need to change as few variables as possible.
Give the truck a good tune up, new air filter, cfresh oil, clean the throttle body, etc. Replace the plugs with Autolites. Drive it around for a while and see if there's a change. Then install the new halo plugs, and drive it some more. Then you can definatly evaluate the plug change alone.
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Obio3
Dodge Dakota
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9/07/2006
15:34:26
| RE: Just ordered my halo plugs
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Dan. You have to run new regular plugs as well to get a factual idea if your gaining anything . Wih a lot of miles as your saying, no mater what you put in it' would make improvements.
So many problems .... So little time
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Dan M
Dodge Dakota
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9/07/2006
23:01:37
| RE: Just ordered my halo plugs
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The vehicle has been consistant with milage since I bought it in January. I've driven it almost 12k miles and get 15.2-16.5 mpg depending of if I drive it more of my wife. The big factor in determining if i gained anything would be to report back in another 15k miles.
I'm not planning on doing any modifications or replacements until after a month of driving with the halos. This will give me time to do a burn in on the plugs. Also, by the time the burn in is done, i'll be time to do another oil change and replace the air filter. Which both will be replaced with the same as I'm using now (m1 5w30 oil, pureone oil and air filters). Then after another month, it'll be time to swap out my exhaust for a flowmaster. Then I'll do a tranny and diff change. Then, I may swap out the throttle body and maybe do an air intake system.
The best milage I get is right after an oil change and/or new air filter.
I'll be happy if I consitantly get 16.5 as the low end of the spectrum.
It won't take long at all, I have a 46 mile commute to work and do alot of fishing on weekends. I'm going on a camping/fishing trip to the great smokey mountains at the end of the month. That'll be about 500 miles for the weekend. I hope i receive the plugs and can get them installed before i leave.
- Dan M
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Dan M
Dodge Dakota
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9/11/2006
15:58:18
| RE: Just ordered my halo plugs
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I ordered them on last thursday and they came in the mail today. I know what I'm doing this week!!
- Dan M
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RaZoR1
Dodge Dakota
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9/12/2006
17:52:46
| RE: Just ordered my halo plugs
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So what's with these Halo plugs. Never heard of them.
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choochoo
Dodge Dakota
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9/15/2006
21:48:55
| RE: Just ordered my halo plugs
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Never heard of halo plugs either. Do they have a glowing band around their heads? Do they help the truck fly through the air?
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Dan M
Dodge Dakota
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9/21/2006
22:48:52
| RE: Just ordered my halo plugs
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I've been super swamped with things and finally got around to installing the plugs tonight. Took about an hour, not too bad. I had to remove the air box so i can remove the air box mount so i can move some hoses out of the way to access 2 plugs.
I stopped by and fueled up. I'll post results after this first tank of gas.
old plugs (champion) were definately wearing out. alot of corrosion on them. It was time to change them.
I'm heading up to helen ga this weekend to volunteer for outdoor adventure day teaching/helping kids about fishing. With this trip, I'll easily drive 200 miles this weekend and give those plugs agood workout.
This saturday is the 35th anniversay of national hunting and fishing day (http://www.nhfday.org/).
All of you outdoor types, check out the website and take part in sharing the joy and beautify that is fishing and hunting.
- Dan M
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OBIO3
Dodge Dakota
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9/22/2006
00:08:39
| RE: Just ordered my halo plugs
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With all due respect Dan, Your testis not a fare test. Your bound to run better and even get a little more milage. I'm going with the comparison your going to be judging by. Worn out plugs with lots of corrosion. Nothing you tell anybody will have an honest value. If it pleases you I guess it's ok but if I was doing it I would want to compare with a new set of regular plugs. At the price of those halos. I would want to know there actually better. Just my opinion.
So many problems .... So little time
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Paul
Dodge Dakota
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9/22/2006
00:11:20
| RE: Just ordered my halo plugs
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http://tinyurl.com/pzyjo
at $9/piece they better be good.
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Dan M
Dodge Dakota
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9/22/2006
04:27:58
| RE: Just ordered my halo plugs
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of course obio3. The real test is long term useage. That's the same with the halo's or any plug for that matter. I would expect a change using new plugs right after i changed them, but I don't expect any big jumps, maybe .5 mpg. If I get 2-3mpg better that's a good indication i'll see bigger gains over stock over the long term. I've never seen any more than a .5 mpg jump from changing plugs.
I'll keep posting updates over the next 30,000k miles
- Dan M
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N56629
Dodge Dakota
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9/22/2006
06:48:16
| RE: Just ordered my halo plugs
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Message:
Dan, you seemed to indicate that you bought the truck used with an unknown number of miles already on the plugs that you removed. If that is the case you can't possibly evaluate the plugs. You have predetermined what increase you would get if you had installed any other brand, namely .5 mpg. Going from worn out and failing plugs to any brand of new plugs could easily get the 2-3 mpg increase you are seeking. The mileage you said you were getting is well below that reported by many 4.7 owners. I get better than that with the older designed 5.2 engine.
If you really want to do a valid comparison spend a little extra time and very little extra money on some standard plugs. It will only cost you about 15 bucks to prove your point. Unless you are willing to do that no one is going to care if you even report a whopping increase of 5 mpg because the test will always be suspect.
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Dan M
Dodge Dakota
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9/22/2006
09:04:17
| RE: Just ordered my halo plugs
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There's no way i can do a remotely scientific test on these plugs...
let me explain what I'm trying to do here. I'm trying to get as many mpg out of my 4.7 as possible, I'm aiming for 20 mpg combined city/highway in my daily driving. Currently I've never gotten better than 17.5 but that was not during a usual week for me. My usuall week is 15-16.
first, you can't scientifically do a test with a single set of plugs from a vendor. In order to be scientific I'd have to test multiple sets of plugs from the vendor in identical vehicles with the same milage. We all know about wear and tear as milage increases
I'm saying that my truck is well within the standard milage for the 4.7's (14/18 epa) even with the old warn plugs. I had no drviablity issues, even considering as "bad" a shape the plugs were in. No pinging, no hesitation, no codes, etc.
I'm saying in all my years of doing tuneups, I've never seen greater than .5 mpg change just from installing new plugs/wires.
I'm saying if the halo's are going to provide the up to 15% improvements as avertised, i'll immediatelly see that on my first few fill ups as that's where I'll get the greater performance from them. Larry from J & J has already done some testing and uses(has used) these plugs and they do well in the magnum engines. In his opinon these are great plugs to use in our trucks.
I'm saying if the halo's live up to their advertisments, I'll see the consistant 2-3 mpg gains not only in the short term but also in the long term - 30k miles+ That's what I'm really concerned with.
My truck is all stock except the pure one air filter. The EPA estimates of 14/18 means some get better , some get worse. I'm aiming for ultimate goal of 20 mpg combined (I'm shooting for 16+ city and 24+ highway).
given the conditions i'm working with (1 truck, some unknown maintenance history). I'm doing the best test I can for my own personal application based on my experience with vehicles. If I let my wife drive the truck, she'd get 17-18 mpg combined because of the driving she does on a daily basis. because of the differnet driving styles and conditions of people, there's no way my results can be guaranteed to be dupicated by any on here.
If i see 2-3 mpg improvments over the long term then the plugs are well worth the price for me and should be enough for others to be willing to give them a try.
- Dan M
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OBIO3
Dodge Dakota
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9/22/2006
09:27:48
| RE: Just ordered my halo plugs
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For those that don't know , here is the reason plugs go south. This is caused by increased misfires. I say INCREASED because even new plugs have a small amount of misfires. We just can not hear them because this is most predominate at highway speed. The engine is firing to rapid to detect it by ear. Even when the engine is idling you will see it do a wiggle on occation. This is a misfire. The better shape your ignition system is in as a whole the less misfires but it is never perfect. Each time a plug fires, it tears off a bit of metal from both electodes. As the miles add up, the electrodes get rounded off on the edges. As this occures, misfires increase and milage/performance degrades. Spark prefers nice sharp edges to jump from. If we wre to be real serious about plug condition, we would change them every 10 to 15 thousand miles. As good of an idea that is, it isn't cost effective plug wise to do so this soon. But if your racing your truck, you should have a new set of plugs on hand and change them at the track. remove them befor driving home and you can use the same plugs to race a few times. This doesn't give you a while bunch of extra performance but races can/and are in a lot of cases very close and doing this will make a differance. maybe just enough to win.
So many problems .... So little time
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Dan M
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
9/22/2006
11:05:56
| RE: Just ordered my halo plugs
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Message:
good explanation obio3. The ignition system is amajor component that can cause poor gas milage and drivablity issues (lack of power). I had plenty of those on my old 95.
Let me clarify a little further when i say "bad" plugs.. the tips are well worn evenly, with expected corrosion and there are no signs of any mechanical/strctural problems with the plugs. There was some corrosion, which was at the ceramic to metal portion. As we all know, this can cause serious problems if the ceramic cracks.
The metal tips were not damaged, overly corroded, etc. All plugs were very similar indicating a properly functioning ignition system.
on another note, the design of the halo is to cut down on the misfires. This is one way they try to achieve added fuel efficiency and power.
- Dan M
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Jecht
Dodge Dakota
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9/22/2006
12:16:04
| RE: Just ordered my halo plugs
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good luck on trying to get 20MPG in mix driving. best I ever did was 17 at the most. all highway driving I can do at best 24MPG but average is 20 to 21. so dont think these plugs are going to give you that. I have heard those halo plugs are not all that great. but I wont blow $9 a pop to find out.
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N56629
Dodge Dakota
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9/22/2006
13:12:31
| RE: Just ordered my halo plugs
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"I'm saying if the halo's are going to provide the up to 15% improvements as avertised, i'll immediatelly see that on my first few fill ups as that's where I'll get the greater performance from them."
The problem is you will never know whether or not $2 plugs would have done the same thing. You might want to attribute all of the increase to the expensive plugs but everyone will still question whether or not cheaper plugs might not have accomplished the same thing. I guess you will never know.
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Dan M
Dodge Dakota
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9/22/2006
14:00:18
| RE: Just ordered my halo plugs
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My long term goal for the truck would be to get 20 mpg combined. My 20MPG goal will involve more than just spark plug changes. Am I dreaming? Maybe, but it will sure be fun trying to get there!
My next modification is a fiberglass shell (actually mpg is an after thought as I do alot of camping and fishing and realized i needed something covering the bed. I'm keeping my UWS toolbox so a shell it is!) I ordered the leer 100R a couple days ago, it'll be in in about 2 weeks.
With what all i've heard an personal experiences I've heard and read i'm pretty sure a $2 plug won't make that much of an improvement. Read obio3's thoughts and experiences on spark plugs as well as Larry's.
I could be wrong, but I think obio3 is more interested in the outcome of my halo's than i am :)
- Dan M
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JEcht
Dodge Dakota
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9/22/2006
15:11:56
| RE: Just ordered my halo plugs
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well if your adding a shell. thats going to drop you mileage as your adding weight to your truck. I think your dreaming in your quest. but I hope you make it. but 20 MPG in mix driving isnt going to happen.
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OBIO3
Dodge Dakota
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9/22/2006
15:38:46
| RE: Just ordered my halo plugs
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My biggest interest is passing on information I have learned over many years. The halo is a plug I have never tried but over the years as those EXPENSIVE plugs came to market I just had to try them. They sounded like they were the answer to everything. But none ever did nothing but cost me a ton of money . And I always compared them to new regular plugs and the answer was always the same. no differance. The only plug I ever found that really did make a little differance was/is the champion truck plugs. Best milage, best power, smothest idle and good life. Also priced reasonable. I run them gaped at 55 in my 99 4x4 CC and did this in all my rigs for years. GM at one time years ago desided opening up the gap had noticably good advantages but they got carried away. They set the plugs at 70 as I recall and the cars run fine but life at that gap was short. Gaps get wider as plugs wear. At 55 I can run a plug a normal life and it really does make a differance. The factory came to the conclusion they needed to gap plugs so they worked somewhat for everybody meaning the guy that drives fast and hard to the person that drives very slow. So if you drive really slow, the gap is narrow and if you drive reasonably fast to crazy, open them up. Can't do this with a halo and this really bothers me. I need to have control over how my engine is setup. Also in the halo adds, there showing a ring of fire (spark). in there discription of this plugs greatness. BS. It will fire one nice blue single line spark from electrode to electrode Just like all the other plugs do. It is the nature of electricity. Hook one up BEFORE instalation and turn the engine. Your going to be very disapointed because you have gone from a full circle fire ring to a SHADED NORMAL SINGLE LINE SPARK due to all that extra metal rapped around the center electrode. Mind you, I'm not telling nobody to do as I do. I am telling you what I have known for many years. If these plugs do anything other then what another new plug would have done, not counting price, I will be very very surprised provided there checked against a set of new regular plugs. DAN>>>>>>>> I truely hope you find what your looking for. Good luck.
So many problems .... So little time
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Dan M
Dodge Dakota
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9/22/2006
20:17:51
| RE: Just ordered my halo plugs
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Yes, I'm adding weight. As if the 150 lbs in the tool box helped lol.
I need the enclosed space for my camping/fishing trips. With the tool box, I can't get a tonneau. I was going to get an aluminum shell, but didn't care for the looks.
tomorrow's trip will be interesting. It'll be about 180 miles or so round trip driving 60 or less (speed limit is 55) for 98% of the trip.
Trips like this will be a nice test.
- Dan M
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