Autolite spark plugs

[Goose]

This is a bit off topic, but has anyone had any negative experience with Autolite plugs.

I bought an '89 Chevy extended cab, long box, 4X4 pickup on an auction a month or so ago. When starting it cold in the morning, it would miss on one cylinder for a minute or so and then smooth out. Since that's the classic symtom of a spark plug going bad, I went to Walmart for a set of plugs. All they handle anymore is Autolite, so I put a set of Autolites in the pickup and it ran worse than before, missed and sputtered all the time.

The AC Delco's I'd taken out looked like new, so I put them back in and it runs fine again. I haven't let it cool down over night yet, but if it still acts like it did, the next thing to check is plug wires.

Anyway, Walmart used to handle AC Delco and Champion. I suspect what happened is Walmart demanded price concessions to a point where AC Delco and Champion bowed out and Autolite sacrificed quality to meet Walmart's price demands.

Has anyone else had similar experiences?

 

[Gary from Muleshoe]

I had the same thing happen in my 1999 Ford F150, V6 using Autolite plugs. It didn't miss but would really cut out when accelerating. Took to a mechanic and he said two of the plugs were bad. I also bought mine at Wally World. He advised me not to buy plugs at Wally World because he had trouble with them also. Buy the same plug at NAPA or other parts stores and they are OK. Maybe Wally World gets the seconds??

 

[IH2444]

What you have described is also the symptoms of weak HV causing weak spark.

 

[IH2444]

What you have described is also the symptoms of weak HV causing weak spark.

 

[sparkplug]

did you gap the plug electrodes to proper specs? that gets me every time. i can never remember to gap em BEFORE i put em in.

 

[Goose]

I did check the gaps before I installed the Autolites.

After I let the pickup set overnight with the old plugs in, I had my original problem. I went to NAPA and bought a new set of plug wires. Problem solved. One of the old wires checked open with an ohmmeter and a couple of others weren't anything to jump up and down about.

 

[IH2444]

Ahh the myth of Wally world autolites vs Napa in the individual box myth is put to rest yet again.