# changing spark plugs and E85 questions please chime in! :~)



## tspielman (Jun 25, 2007)

ok guys!
i have a couple questions since i am stupid with german cars and this is my first german too!
okk....first things first! i got 85,xxx miles on my 2.5L 07 jetta and thinking its time for a tune up with a little research found this car doesnt have spark plug wires it has "coil packs" one what the hell is a coil pack? do i have the replace them with a tune up?can i use pulstar plugs? and last if so how much and where do i get them?
now to E85 ....
ive been mixing my gas with E85 for a year now (9.5gals/gas plus 4.5gals/E85) it runs sooo much better i found that they have these conversion kits that hook up to the injector wires







....then it calculates the fuel mixture and adds as needed so you can run all E85 gas or E100 what do you guys think or do you think i am







? lol
everyone please chime in even if you wanna call me an idiot its all good










_Modified by tspielman at 4:53 PM 1-29-2010_


----------



## Unilateral Phase Detractor (Aug 23, 2005)

*Re: changing spark plugs and E85 questions please chime in! :~) (tspielman)*

A coil pack is just a smaller coil directly on the spark plug. Theoretically it improves reliability because you don't have spark plug wires or a distributor. 
You should probably stick to the OEM plugs. I think they are Denso. 
The main problem posed by E85 is that it can cause corrosion in the fuel system. They sell the 2.5L Jetta in Brazil where they run high ethanol concentrations so I'm not surprised that it works fine in terms of driveability. I would also change your oil quite often when running E85 (every 3,000 miles max). 
Really though its your car and if you're comfortable experimenting with it and have the $ to pay for repairs then do whatever you want.


----------



## jettafan[atic] (Dec 2, 2008)

*Re: changing spark plugs and E85 questions please chime in! :~) (tspielman)*

I'd say you're a lucky sob with using the e85. For an engine to run on e85 it needs to have special fuel lines, filter, seals, etc... E85 is a really caustic substance and it _will_ eat away your seals and lines and really damage your fuel system if the car isn't designed to run it. I hadn't seen anything saying it's ok in the 2.5 so I didn't dare try it, thanks for being a guinea pig unwittingly though!


----------



## _V-Dubber_ (Jan 30, 2007)

*Re: changing spark plugs and E85 questions please chime in! :~) (classicjetta)*


_Quote, originally posted by *classicjetta* »_ 
You should probably stick to the OEM plugs. *I think they are Denso*. 

Thats untrue. I believe the stock spark plugs are from NGK, correct me if I'm wrong
</End erroneous technical detail>


----------



## KulturKampf (Nov 30, 2009)

stay away from pulstar plugs they have been know to burn up coil packs in alot of VWs andother vehicles that dont use distributor/wire set ups. I believe the OEM plugs are NGK, as vdubber said. if you feel the need to change plugs to a more "performance" plug like the pulstars, just switch to an iridium single electrode plug, but most people stick to OEM...what does that tell you?


----------



## tspielman (Jun 25, 2007)

thanks guys! my whole think with the spark plugs is i usually just throw the stock plugs but they sounded like a deal $12/plug is a good deal if it will pay in the long run...
As for the E85 it seems its still a topic that has mixed opitions with everyone but like classicjetta said its sold in brazil and they are all for the ethanol blending ,E100,etc. i had a vw tech a while ago shocked when i told him about it he the same thing ....the one main reason i get away with the E85 is because the engine being higher compression. honestly i love the way the car runs with the e85 mix .....


----------



## TBT-Syncro (Apr 28, 2001)

*Re: (tspielman)*

putting E85 in on a stock tune is just going to cause you to run lean, and make way less power.
in order to run properly on E85 you need substantially more timing and fuel in your ecu tune.


----------



## david8814 (Aug 14, 2007)

I think it is safe to say that VW probably wouldn't build the car for use with E85 unless they advertised that fact (which they haven't). Unless your car is imported from Brazil, stick to the regular stuff.
And yes, our plugs are made by NGK.


----------



## tspielman (Jun 25, 2007)

putting E85 in on a stock tune is just going to cause you to run lean, and make way less power.
in order to run properly on E85 you need substantially more timing and fuel in your ecu tune.
thats why i like the idea of the conversion kits that plug into the injectors and modify the timing and fuel flow i still have alotta research to do i honestly think its all the same stuff under the hood if you look up about the ford and gm flexfuels everything fuel lines fuel pumop gaskets etc is the same all they do is slap a e85 fuel cap and mod the ecu for it and its good to go ....
another thing to look at on youtube (i think its under e85 chevy tahoe or something) a college did a project bought a new tahoe (the video is a couple yrs old) ran it on e85 97% of the time put like 120,000mis then broke the engine down next to a straight gas engine its quite impressive how clean the e85 engine was! i am not you guys are wrong i think this would be a great thread if everyone added there ideas. also it seems the more and more i researching this topic the more i find the oil companies try to cover up yes! theres less enegry (by about 20,000btus/20% dont quote me my numbers might be a hair off) and yes! its corrosive ....but fact is it wont ever by as good as gas its a step forward tho! ive pondered converting to CNG (compressed natural gas) but thats too much of a pain to get!
anyway i am rambling i wanna do a little research and see what type of difference between the us and brazil version i dont want to take this to far off the 2.5 topic tho!
Thanks for reading!
just in>>>check this out
http://www.ethanolsummit.com.b...6.pdf 
complete spec sheet of vw "totalflex" system it seems most of the flex is exactly like american "flexfuel" just adjust the ecu!


_Modified by tspielman at 6:40 PM 2-3-2010_


----------



## VLub13 (Nov 28, 2002)

*Re: (tspielman)*

"I'd say you're a lucky sob with using the e85. For an engine to run on e85 it needs to have special fuel lines, filter, seals, etc... E85 is a really caustic substance and it will eat away your seals and lines and really damage your fuel system if the car isn't designed to run it."
bull****
1986 OK / 1985 NEED NEW 86 OR LATER FUEL SYSTEM!
You need to look into upping your fuel tho, search e85 on here and you will find a few very useful threads. I am getting ready to full on convert 3 cars very soon and kiss big oil goodbye, well at least 85%.


_Modified by VLub13 at 6:12 PM 3-6-2010_


----------



## Zurique (Feb 15, 2008)

*Re: changing spark plugs and E85 questions please chime in! :~) (classicjetta)*


_Quote, originally posted by *classicjetta* »_
You should probably stick to the OEM plugs. I think they are Denso. 



_Quote, originally posted by *nickbeezy* »_


----------



## 07bunny (Nov 21, 2007)

*Re: changing spark plugs and E85 questions please chime in! :~) (Zurique)*

factory plugs are iridium plugs produced by ngk, they are vin specific, i know, asked ?'s when getting ones from dealer, you should typically change your plugs every 40k, but since these are a better quality they are good to 50-60k.


----------



## Zurique (Feb 15, 2008)

*Re: changing spark plugs and E85 questions please chime in! :~) (07bunny)*


_Quote, originally posted by *07bunny* »_factory plugs are iridium plugs produced by ngk, they are vin specific, i know, asked ?'s when getting ones from dealer, you should typically change your plugs every 40k, but since these are a better quality they are good to 50-60k.

They are not iridium, they are platinum plated. Neither NGK or Bosch make iridium plugs for MKV 2.5l.


----------



## '05JettaSPE (Jul 10, 2008)

I replaced my plugs with NGKs about 10k miles ago, I got them on amazon for about $12 a plug I think, engine runs great with them. I caught some heat from others on previous threads for using NGKs instead of Denso and after doing some research they are actually both stock plugs depending on where your car was put together and when. Mine is the BGP engine and was made in Mexico, when I pulled my old plugs out it said NGK right on the side.
If you do not have a spark plug socket, they usually have a strip of teflon on the inside to keep the plug in the socket when you remove it, you may want to have a grabber handy that you can stick down in there to grab the plug, short of that the only thing you can do to get the plug out is flip the engine upside down








As far as E85 goes, I asked the vw dealership about it and they said it is a really bad idea and the best thing to do if you ever put e85 in is to run a few tanks of 92-93 octane afterward.


----------



## zucchini (Aug 30, 2009)

Here in Brasil we have 24% of Ethanol on the gas, but, when you have a full Ethanol engine, you need to replace the entire fuel system due to the corrosion problem.
Also, if you run Ethanol you must to set the air/fuel ratio to 9:1, instead 13:1 like gas, and advance ignition time a lot, to start burning far before than gas.
The Ethanol fuel is 95% alcohol from sugar cane, and 5% water, while the Ethanol added to gas is no water at all.


----------



## RINGSROC (Apr 2, 2007)

*Re: (zucchini)*

Just did my 40K and went ahead and replaced the plugs just after the dealer replaced all coil packs under the warranty. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
They looked very good to me, but found the plugs cheep on Amazon.com.


----------



## '05JettaSPE (Jul 10, 2008)

Those look like the ones I used, there also seems to be a lot of debate about anti-seize on the threads for the plugs. It probably is a good idea, I did not because the thought didn't even cross my mind but you are threading a steal plug into an aluminum head and it may cause headaches the next time you have to change plugs


----------



## DGOMDK (Jul 30, 2007)

*Re: changing spark plugs and E85 questions please chime in! :~) (tspielman)*

E85: In the end its all going to burn....there's NP with mixing eth with your regular gas fill-ups. Just log with vag to make sure your not running too lean with your mixtures.... I run anywhere between 20- 33% E85 with NP on 1.8t - its actually way better with N/A cars. fudge all the fuel line myths. E85 kits - never used - cant comment. Theres a guy on audiworld that has a E85 kit on a allroad V8.


----------

