# Question about spark plug gap



## Chevy_Country (Oct 16, 2015)

adoomy said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> I've researched on here some common mods people do with their Cruze and came across the spark plug gap issue. Many have noted it should be adjusted to 0.035 as opposed to the 0.028-029 from the factory. My question is, would the dealer adjust them accordingly per the AllData specifications or will they not touch them regardless of how they are set from the factory?
> 
> ...


If she runs fine, no shuddering or reason to believe you have any miss fires you should let it be lol

When I did them the first time I went with .035 and it ran awful, recapped to .030 and was a little better but had adjusted to .028 and settled there.

I believe it's dependant on the conductor (platinum, copper, etc) my car ran alright at .030 with iriduliums, but not so well with the coppers.

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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

For the 1.8L LS (Gen 1), the plug gap has always been 0.028".

For the 1.4T (LT, ECO, LTZ) (Gen 1), GM originally had the gap set to 0.033-0.035". After we proved to GM that the plug gaps were all over the place they came back with 0.025-0.028". It doesn't matter what the conductor material is - copper, platinum (don't use), or iridium. The problem is that once your plugs erode to 0.037 these cars start to get spark blowout.

Take a look at the bottom part of the first post at http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/34-gen1-1-4l-turbo/46833-new-copper-spark-plugs.html. I analyze the gap erosion rate of the OEM plugs in this post. It also links to GM's official statement regarding spark plugs in the Gen 1 1.4T engine.


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## Chevy_Country (Oct 16, 2015)

obermd said:


> For the 1.8L LS (Gen 1), the plug gap has always been 0.028".
> 
> For the 1.4T (LT, ECO, LTZ) (Gen 1), GM originally had the gap set to 0.033-0.035". After we proved to GM that the plug gaps were all over the place they came back with 0.025-0.028". It doesn't matter what the conductor material is - copper, platinum (don't use), or iridium. The problem is that once your plugs erode to 0.037 these cars start to get spark blowout.
> 
> Take a look at the bottom part of the first post at http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/34-gen1-1-4l-turbo/46833-new-copper-spark-plugs.html. I analyze the gap erosion rate of the OEM plugs in this post. It also links to GM's official statement regarding spark plugs in the Gen 1 1.4T engine.


Which material should we not use? I only ask cause I was very underwhelmed with the performance of my copper plugs, on premium flue or not lol


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## adoomy (Oct 30, 2016)

Thanks for the quick replies. Obermd, would I be able to ask my dealer to check the gaps for me and tune them accordingly?


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## Chevy_Country (Oct 16, 2015)

adoomy said:


> Thanks for the quick replies. Obermd, would I be able to ask my dealer to check the gaps for me and tune them accordingly?


Yes you could, if you wanna save a few bucks you could purchase a gapping tool, I suggest the gap coin personally, its like a dollar lol, the link obermd posted has a step by step procedure for removing the spark plugs and gaping them, but if you don't mind spending the money or rather piece of mind, us they could remove and check the gap


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

The Cruze doesn't like platinum plugs. Very few turbo charged cars like platinum. Copper works the best but has a short life. Iridium provides the longest life.


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## Chevy_Country (Oct 16, 2015)

obermd said:


> The Cruze doesn't like platinum plugs. Very few turbo charged cars like platinum. Copper works the best but has a short life. Iridium provides the longest life.


I've heard that before too, I wasn't sure if you meant copper, I bought the ngk, gapped at .028 and found that's where I was happiest, the link you posted was way more clear than I was lol


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