Is It Time to Change Your Spark Plugs?

Spark plugs ignite the fuel and air mixture in a combustion chamber, allowing the engine to start. It’s something everyone takes for granted, but these plugs can wear, get dirty, and cause problems for you, sometimes when you’re on the road.

These are signs that it’s time to clean or change your spark plugs.

A frustrating problem that can hit you even while you’re on the highway, bad or dirty spark plugs can cause your vehicle to become slow and sluggish. Having trouble getting up to speed or even losing speed intermittently can be traced to spark plugs.

The battery is what most people think of when they turn the ignition and hear the car or truck groan and sputter as it tries to start up. However, this can be another sign that the culprit is actually a spark plug. If the fuel can’t ignite, the vehicle simply won’t start.

If you notice that you’re needing to take more trips to the gas station, the problem could lie with the spark plugs. Worn or dirty spark plugs cause problems with starting a car and accelerating, which can snowball into reduced gas mileage.

If your vehicle is vibrating while idling or sounding rough instead of smooth, that’s a sign of dirty or worn spark plugs. In fact, if you suspect something to be wrong with your spark plugs, one of the easiest tests to perform is to idle your vehicle and listen. Even if the car or truck isn’t vibrating, a rough sound can still point to bad spark plugs.

An engine misfire sounds like a popping sound, or like a backfire. This can happen in cold weather, but if you hear strange noises in warmer weather, the engine light comes on, or it happens in tandem with the other symptoms listed, you probably have bad spark plugs. If a strange smell accompanies the popping sounds, however, it could be a cylinder problem instead, causing fluids to leak through its walls. These fluids can get on the spark plugs, but you’ll want to rule out having to repair or replace the cylinder as well.

Spark plugs are, thankfully, easy fixes most of the time. However, that doesn’t mean you should put a trip to the mechanic off, as these problems can worsen and lead to more expensive fixes.