96 ram 1500 spark plugs and gap

50

Asked by Dennis May 15, 2022 at 12:21 AM about the 1996 Dodge RAM 1500 Laramie SLT 4WD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I changed plugs in 96 ram 1500 5.9 eng. from champion copper to NKG
platnium and has a miss at idle and in gear. champions were burned out to .080
new NKG are pre gaped at .035. wth???

10 Answers

50

Thanks you are correct batt. is from 2018 and winter tried to kill it. I had to wack socket on plugs scrape and blow out to get them out, do you think some of the crud fell into the cyl. after I pulled them out and got on new plugs? When I test drove firt time everything was good then second time it got that miss. I hate to think those plugs were original from 96. I recently bought this truck spent about $3500 stuff to pretty it up cause of the low milage.

1 people found this helpful.
307,235

.35 is the stock gap, however NGK is not the brand for Chrysler products, stick with Champions and no better than double platinum. That old I would also do a dry and wet compression then replace the plug wires, cap and rotor.

2 people found this helpful.
50

Thanks, I finally threw a code and 4 cylinders are miss-fireing so I researched the platnium plugs I got from Amazon, they are wrong, so I am going to get the NKG copper replacements for the stock champions that I don't like because NKG says I need a 2685 platnium and parts store says (thats) not right and tried to sell me another one NKG dosn't recognize ??? I hope that does it, but I ordered a set of wires, cap and rotor if that is going to be right.

307,235

No. Stick with Champion spark plugs. NGK and ND are for Asian vehicles, Bosch are for European vehicles, Motorcraft/Autolite are for Fords, Champions are for Chrysler products and AC Delco are for Chevrolet products.

2 people found this helpful.
155,245

If the old plugs were that hard to get out you might need to clean the threads on the head to get the new plugs to seat correctly. Or worse, you may have stripped one of the plug holes. If either is the case you're probably losing compression and that's why the cylinder(s) aren't firing. You should also do a complete tune up, not just the spark plugs. Especially on something this old! Hope that helps! Jim

1 people found this helpful.
38,925

Yup , wires cap and rotor would be next where applicable , look for good motor to chassis ground

2 people found this helpful.
50

Thanks guys I am going to get either champion or more research or opinion, I will let you know. Maybe this will help someone else in the future.

2 people found this helpful.
50

OK guys thanks for the interest. I finally replaced cap rotor and wires, still used the NKG copper plugs I bought from autozone, runs great now... what a pain, but the cap and rotor looked like they could have been from 1996 as well...HA! anyhow no worries now, I have new tie-rod ends kit from parts geeks $120 compared to $650 quote. Looks good rather have all new parts than try to replace ball joints. reworked exhost with a glass pack and u-bolted some 2 1/2 clamp on tubes rather than $750 replacement system again 1996 exhost with holes and rattleing muffler.HA! If anyone benifits from any of this... its all about doing it good and saveing where we can for me. thanks again.

2 people found this helpful.
155,245

You're welcome! Glad to help! Thanks for letting us know how it turned out! Jim

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