NGK recommend spark plug gap change due to ethanol

I disagree with it. 35% more flow capability of the filter does not equal anything close to what increase in airflow an engine -might- see by a filter replacement.

You then of course have closed loop fuel trims which can compensate plus or minus to quite a large degree. (not that it's ideal but pull off a vacuum line and watch trims climb to 20+ percent, install a replacement filter and watch them move if at all, barely).

Everything I've seen in 06 is already calibrated for E10.

The only time I've seen an induction capable of putting the calibration out of range of the fuel trims is when it's a card style maf being replaced into an induction tube larger than original.

Just a filter replacement? Never.

 

hmmm... mass air fuel management would have a problem as those tables are pre-set, Alpha-N would adapt as would P-delta management. Ethanol AFR is not the same as pure fuel AFR's add in water due to ethanols hygroscopic nature and I could imagine a lean condition occurring when combined with a free'er flowing air filter on a mass air only engine.

Otherwise it seems like a catch all CYA for something they're not really saying.... like ethanol is crap and really the problem.

 

That makes no sense whatsoever.

Even if you are flowing more air, the cylinder is only going to air charge to the extent that the pressure difference allows. Furthermore, a good ECU (on any modern car) should be able to account and adjust for this via MAF sensor inputs.

At any rate, if the engine goes so lean that it experiences the conditions (consequences) they are warning of, the ECU is going to be puking mixture-related codes all over the place.

And, if the root problem is due to Ethanol chemistry, which is really what they are implying without explicitly saying it (I agree with Scott on that), then the only solution is to cut back the Ethanol concentration ---- varying the spark won't resolve anything.

I also suspect that the real agenda here is that NGK may have discovered that they have a failure issue related to running some of their own Platinum plug designs in engines burning Ethanol blends..... and, they are trying to cover their butts. Combusted Ethanol has chemical compounds that are more corrosive to Platinum (and other metals) than other hydro-C's --- this is the real problem, and NGK has likely discovered it is damaging some of their plugs.


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