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2.0 litre t5 850 which type and brand sparkplugs.

Help, Advice and DIY Tutorials on Volvo's P80 platform cars -- Volvo's 1990s "bread and butter" cars -- powered by the ubiquitous and durable Volvo inline 5-cylinder engine.

1992 - 1997 850, including 850 R, 850 T-5R, 850 T-5, 850 GLT
1997 - 2000 S70, S70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70, V70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70-XC
1997 - 2004 C70

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kaneelschep
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Year and Model: '96 850 2liter t5
Location: Holland
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2.0 litre t5 850 which type and brand sparkplugs.

Post by kaneelschep »

Hi all.

I have been driving my volvo for around 30000km now. And I want to give my engine a little tuneup with new cap, rotor, wires and plugs.
Now I searched around on forums and car part sites.
But since I have the not so common 2 litre t5 instead of the 2.3 or 2.5, I am a bit confused as to wich sparkplugs to buy.
Even the original Volvo part sites mostly fail to mention my model most of the time. And if they do, they say nothing of the types of plugs. Just Origininal plugs.
But I am the type who wants brands and parts numbers. ;)

So I read somewhere that Volvo uses Champion plugs? And that these engines are quite sensitive to wich plugs they use.
I am willing to buy an exact brand and type if that helps performance and durability insead of go for cheap ones.
So wich one should I buy you think??

For the rest of the parts I mostly find Beru, Bosch, Valeo or quinton hazel. In that price order btw.
I have quite good experiences with actually all of them but quinton.
Wich one would you advice??

Thanks!!

Ozark Lee
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Post by Ozark Lee »

I'm not sure who makes the OEM plugs but they should be a single electrode. On most of mine I just run Bosch copper core or super copper spark plugs. They used to have the number FR7DC but that got changed somewhere along the line. They work perfectly but you will need to pull them out and re-gap them every 50,000 km or so. The good news is that they are dirt cheap and even if you were to actually replace them every 50k or so it typically isn't terribly tough on the wallet. The gap should be 0.028"(.71 mm) and error on the tight side.

For the plug wires be sure to use the OEM Bougicord wires. For whatever reason other ignition wires just don't seem to work very well.

...Lee
'94 850 N/A 5 speed
'96 Platinum Edition Turbo
Previous:
1999 V70XC - Nautic Blue - Totaled while parked.
1999 V70XC - RIP - Wrecked Parts Car.
1998 S70 T5
1996 850 N/A
1989 740 GLT
1986 740 GLT
1972 142 Grand Luxe

cn90
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Post by cn90 »

Not sure if you can buy NGK in Holland.

I use NGK BKR6EIX spark plugs. It is Iridium, engine runs smooth.
For comparison purpose:
- NGK Copper ---> US $2/each, but it needs to be replaced every 25K or so.
- NGK BKR6EIX ---> US $7/each, replace every 80K miles or so.

Cap/rotor: Bosch only.
Ignition Wires: Bougicord only (made in France).

PS: Stay away from Denso spark plugs.
2004 V70 2.5T 100K+
2005 XC90 2.5T 110K+

mecheng
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Post by mecheng »

In my S70, T5. I use Champion as per the manual because the store didn't carry the Bosch plugs for my car.

Volvo uses a unique plug which I have in my 850 LPT.

Both operate well. You have the rare 2L Italian Market turbo engine, we don't get that in North America so be careful what you choose. As for the wires, if the resistance is okay, you don't have to change them. I am still on my original wires.
1998 Volvo S70 T5 - SE - 240km - Sold July 2018
1997 Volvo 850 GLT - 190km
Boost is my drug of choice

Cees Klumper
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Post by Cees Klumper »

Kaneelschep: the German Skandix webshop lists either Denso or Volvo original spark plugs for your engine model. €11 each for the Denso's, or €70 or so for the Volvo plugs. If I were you I,d give the dealer a call and if they're reasonable, just get them through the dealer. No point in experimenting with something that is so vital, will last a very long time and is for your engine model apparently tricky to order correctly from other places. Groeten,

kaneelschep
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Year and Model: '96 850 2liter t5
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Post by kaneelschep »

According to what you said I went on with my search and found bosch, NGK and Beru plugs easy to buy here. Champions are not very available.
Sorry Cees, but like cn90 sais, I read a lot about denso plugs not being the best choice.

Volvo plugs are really rebranded champion plugs. The Volvo parts guy at the dealer confirmed this to me allthough he did not know the exact type for my engine. Or did not want to say ;)
And allthough the Volvo dealer is not even that expensive and actually very helpfull, I found the price difference for all the parts together too big to justify basicly buying the same brand parts for more money.

Champion does not have a very usefull site. it just shows me every plug wich will fit and they are not easy to buy here.

The Bosch are very expensive and they just want to sell me the new laser platinum irridium ones.
Yes it is very annoying that they changed the parts numbers. I used to know the exact bosch plug number for my old Honda moped :D

Beru is Actually the parts brand for Mercedes and sells good stuff. But not very clear wich to get and expensive.

The NGK are the most affordable and most offered. Also the site offers good support. Even for my engine. :D
And I always had good experiences with them in all my vehicles.
I found the NGK BKR6EIX, but I must admit I am not a big fan of the long life stuff...
I rather change my plugs or oil for that matter more often so I know exactly what is in it..
Also they are 20 dollars a piece here. And the copper version, BCPR6EIX or V-Line 12 is 5 dollar.
I can swap them 4 times for that. ;)
I think the NGK BCPR6EIX are a nice compromise to what Lee and cn90 said and to what is availlable here.
Also I like the support on the site and that they dont push me to buy the newer irridium stuff.

For the other parts, it think I will not go for the cheaper quinton but for bosch or beru. Pricewise they are the same.
I will measure my cables before I buy anything.
I guess they just need to be around 1kohm?

hausmeister
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Post by hausmeister »

I would use oem plugs/cables. I have the 2L na; i tried the NGK plugs once and they just sucked. Bosch if you don't want to use the oem parts.
It seems the 2L also uses the normal turbo spark plugs:
http://www.skandix.de/en/spare-parts/el ... t/1005278/
http://www.skandix.de/en/spare-parts/el ... 2/1046250/

Normally you can get the parts cheaper from resellers (like skandix)...
Or maybe try europeantuning.nl, they are in NL and also have some IPd stuff. But If you want to replace the stuff to improve the car, dont get the cheapest aftermarket products, they might be worse then used original components. Just my opinion :)
850 T5-R '95 auto Image

cn90
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Post by cn90 »

I have used all kinds of stuff before.

NGK Copper: every 25K miles, even so I use antiseize compound.
NGK Iridium: every 80K miles. However, to avoid galling, even with Iridium, I remove the spark plugs at halfway through (40K miles) to clean and re-apply antiseize. The gap is still within specifications even at 40K.

Many new cars leave the factory with Iridium, simply because on the long run (10K, 20K, 40K, 50K), the fuel consumption stays stable, compared with copper which deteriorates after 25K or so, unless you re-gap the copper.

Once you use Iridium, you don't look back to copper.

PS: In all of my vehicles at home, I removed the cosmetic plastic cover, this way I have direct access to spark plugs etc. quickly.
2004 V70 2.5T 100K+
2005 XC90 2.5T 110K+

kaneelschep
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Year and Model: '96 850 2liter t5
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Post by kaneelschep »

@ hausmeister.
These are not the cheapest brand plugs. they are not even the cheapest type ngk plugs.
I heard and read people say this of bosch too.
i guess it has mainly to do with gapsize, precise type and a bit of prejudice to aftermarket parts.
As i said, i always had good experience with NGK. Never had bosch plugs.
But I'll just try them and let you all know how they work. If they suck i can always send them back and get volvo ones. If they work perfect, they are a great, and yes cheaper alternative.

Hahaha maybe one day i too will have that faith in longlife stuff. ;) Untill then i'll just take it apart every 30k or so, to see what happened to the part. and who knows what will happen to me or the car in 50k. ;)

kaneelschep
Posts: 279
Joined: 19 June 2013
Year and Model: '96 850 2liter t5
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Post by kaneelschep »

So.. Still did not buy the spark plugs :P
Reason is, I found the manual for the car and was still looking to get those Champion RC7GYC or its counterparts.
No luck, but after comparing some other reviews on sparkplugs I found out I read the NGK site wrong about the BCPR6EIX.
The site only showed them as an alternative to the vline 12.. They are actually much more expensive.
So I searched for my engine type and found it being used in a lot of Volvos with a few tweaks.
The s60, s80, c70 etc.. And the 'newer' BKR6EIX was recommended for them all.

Like CN90 allready said immediately this seems like the NGK to go for. Pricewise and futurewise.
I guess I am going for the long life stuff after all. ;)

Strangely they are 7 dollar a piece on the NGK site in America, but do at least 14 euro's a piece here and mostly come per 4 instead of 1 or 5.

I found a 5 package set on Ebay for 40 pounds wich is 60 dollar. Lets see if I can get that here.

Thanks again ;)

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