96 Lumina 3.1, Plat. spark plugs or not?

I believe 1996 was the first year that Chevrolet used Platinum tipped plugs in the Lumina. I'm going to be replacing them very soon & was wondering if I should stick to with the platinum plugs or go back to the good old standard AC Delco plugs: I've heard some bad things about the Bosch plat. plugs. Anyone have any good insight to this?

No Bosch, stay with the Delco Plats or Iridiums.

It would not hurt to put antiseeze on the threads of the new plugs too since the heads are aluminum.All Bosch makes is junk anyway and a non profit company,to thier fuel injection and ABS systems to thier power tools.Sometimes plugs are cheaper at the dealer than at the parts store.You might want to check this out.I was taught a spark plug philosophy,GM: A/C Delco,Champions: Chrysler products only,Autolite and Motorcraft: Ford products,NGK: Asian cars ad finally Bosch: European cars only

I have never had any problems with Bosch Platinum Plugs. I run them in everything but our Blazer. My wife's 93 Lumina with 237,000 miles has them & we get 25 MPG. It runs great. Our 86 F250 4x4, 460 I have run them for years with no problems. I not sure where people their HATE for Bosch. I have A Bosch roto drill that I have used for 18 years as a contractor & never have had a moment of trouble with it.

My father bought a Bosch circular saw once and took it back,no power at all.My father has really bad luck with anything made by Bosch and talks bad about Bosch.The truth about Bosch being a non profit company is true,heard from a Snap On dealer in my area at one of his stop,a guy did work for Bosch and this was told.I know a Vetronix rep for Vetronix that Bosch bought out and wanted him out.He did have to take the retirement.Chrysler products run like crap with Bosch plugs and I can prove it twice.Once had a 1996 Dodge Intrepid with a 3.3 run like crap after an engine swap,Had Bosch plugs and pitched them replacing them with Champions,ran like a watch after putting in Champions.Same with a PT Cruiser,ran like crap with Bosch plugs,had brand new Bosch plugs and ran a lot better after replacing them with Champions.

My experience has been very poor on late model GM 6cyl engines in particular with Bosch plugs, they were done at 25 k as the center electrode was burnt below the insulator, new Delcos and the cars are on the road, 2 in particular out of my shop, have 75k.

I'm just out of my garage after son's Z-34 needed some "introspection"....well, started on a sudden to run like crap...obviously one ..or two..cylinders had stopped participating. ...to make a long story short..it turned out to be spark on front, passenger side cylinder . Bosch platinum...by the way..in fact, just trying things, test reveealed that cylinder was the culprit...cleaned tip, narrowed gap in case wire had tendency to leak somewhere (smaller gap needs less voltage), and tried with a spark plug wire extension..I guess it came from my late Pacer.....in case this long contraption leaked inside the long hole...and back to life again. ..NO question asked.....
ONe "spark", seems like the whole think is falling apart!
SO.....told the son to get new plugs, new wires ...

I believe 1996 was the first year that Chevrolet used Platinum tipped plugs in the Lumina. I'm going to be replacing them very soon & was wondering if I should stick to with the platinum plugs or go back to the good old standard AC Delco plugs: I've heard some bad things about the Bosch plat. plugs. Anyone have any good insight to this?


many here do not like bosch plugs or bosch anything.....I have used bosch +2 and they have not caused problems for me....

when you replace plugs use the platinum plugs....they work better longer ....also measure plug wire resistance and use dielectric grease on/in the plug/distributor boots this will ensure all is good and you will have a smooth running engine in all weather conditions...

GMs run like crap with Bosch plugs too.A cutomer brought in a sunfire with a bad 2.4 and the replacement engine had Bosch plugs in,ran like crap after hearing it run after it was all done.Chucked the Bosch plugs in the garbage can and replaced them with the ones out of the old engine,it ran a lot better.Bosch screws every thing,even their fuel pumps.Bosch supplies the wires with their fuel pumps a little too short and have to be modified.I am surprised this one did not fail yet and it was a Carquest pump.If this one fails,a Delphi from Carquest is going in it's place if it ever goes out.Everytime my father pulls out a Bosch plug,gets chucked and a better replacement better than Bosch goes in it's place.

The manufacturer of the plug really doesn't matter. What matters is whether the plug meets design criteria and materials standards. If the electrodes are positioned properly in the combustion chamber, the insulator design provide the correct tip heat, the internal resistor is correct for the application, and the electrodes are of the proper material, the plug will work just fine.

The problems arise when manufacturers start cutting corners and try to design a handful of plugs which are "middle of the road" for multiple applications and/or use interior materials. What Bosch or AutoLite engineers do is find one plug which has almost the right electrode position, almost the right heat range, and maybe close to the right resistance. It might even have close the the correct metallurgy. That plug will be specified for for any application which they consider is "close enough" to the design. Never mind that their ceramics are inferior (too porous and light) and heat range after a few hundred miles of use drifts too far to the cold side, and that center electrode megohm resistance drops very quickly. Forget that most of them are very scarce in platinum content, causing them to break down faster.

If you change them frequently enough, it probably won't matter a lot. Bosch and AutoLite are commodity parts, made to be marketed at a cheap price, and not necessarily made to be used. They have probably the largest profit margin for retailers (which is because they are dirt cheap) and are therefore pushed hard at retailers. It's a lot like Quaker State/Pennzoil in that regard.

FWIW, the only spark plugs which are FAA certified for general aviation are Champion and Auburn, indicating that they can at least produce a reliable product. Good luck finding a set of Auburn plugs for your Chevy. You can buy cheaper plugs, even with a Champion name on them, but the double platinums are good quality pieces. NGKs are also very good quality, and are a good choice if you can find one with the correct specifications. NGK has probably the best ceramics of any plug, and have a reasonably good program for metallurgy.

I'd caution you, however, not to take anything you might read in an interweb discussion forum as the absolute truth. Most of what you will read is merely opinion, anecdotal experience, and testimonial. Much, if not most of that is frequently not completely correct. Do your own homework and research. I have already done so to my satisfaction, and I use Champions in almost everything.

As for your original; question, your engine requires double platinum, single side electrode, resistor spark plugs. If you use properly gapped and installed OEM Delco plugs, they will work just as well as they did when the engine was new.

Blue, great post! You must be an (" ace typer!)

Just a guess, but I think he knows what he's talking about. ;)
so champion it is for my z34...

One thing I did on my Lumina was since I had to pull the engine forward to get to the rear plugs I installed NEW wires. I laugh when people talk Champion Spark plugs. When I was a mechanic for one of the worlds largest core drilling companies we used Champion plugs in our Been mud pumps because Champion made a plug with a high shoulder so the drillers could change them with a crescent wrench. Well, one day I had finished completely rebuilding the Wisconsin Engine & pump. I took it to the yard to test it & put sometime on it before it headed to the field. I cranked the engine over & one of the NEW CHAMPION PLUGs, blew the insulator off hit my hard hat knocking it off my head. When I went over to get the hard hat after cleaning my pants the hard hat had a dent about a 1/2 deep. The insulator was never found. The bottom line for me is after almost being shot in the head, and possibly almost suffering serious injury, by a CHAMPION SPARK PLUG I stay away from them.
I do agree that Champions belong in Chrysler products. I agree A/C & NGK are good plugs as for Autolites I have not had luck with them since they sold to Allied. Back in the day they worked great in Fords. I'm impressed with the A/C platium plugs. I have a set in our Blazer 4.3 V-6. They really last. My F250 4x4 460 runs Bocsh Platium +2 they have worked very good.