Hi guys, fitted a set of iridium spark plugs from Opie oils, but I re-gaped them to 1.0mm from the factory gap of 1.3 mm, as I read on here that 1.0mm is better than the factory gap.

I've since noticed that my mpg is lower and before would fire almost instantaneously, but now crank's for about 1.5 seconds before firing. Should I remove them and re-gap them to 1.3mm ? What damaged could I be doing to the plugs by decreasing the gap ?

The car is running absolutely fine, no misfires or hesitations. Previous plugs were genuine Ford one's I fitted 3 years ago when I got the car, what you think guys 🤔

Wilto (Chris)

re gap them and see if they are any better

7 hours ago, wilto said:

Hi guys, fitted a set of iridium spark plugs from Opie oils, but I re-gaped them to 1.0mm from the factory gap of 1.3 mm, as I read on here that 1.0mm is better than the factory gap.

I've since noticed that my mpg is lower and before would fire almost instantaneously, but now crank's for about 1.5 seconds before firing. Should I remove them and re-gap them to 1.3mm ? What damaged could I be doing to the plugs by decreasing the gap ?

The car is running absolutely fine, no misfires or hesitations. Previous plugs were genuine Ford one's I fitted 3 years ago when I got the car, what you think guys 🤔

Wilto (Chris)

 

The prescribed spark plug gap for the 1.8 Duratec HE engine is 1,3 mm. Ford never changed the prescribed spark plug gap for this type of engine. Next to this there are also no known problems regarding the spark plug gap on this type of engine.

You should regap the spark plugs at the prescibed gap of 1,3 mm. 

A narrower gap results in a smaller / weaker spark. Because of this the spark can be not powerful enough to properly ignite the fuel/air mixture. This can affect both the fuel consumption and starting behavior of the engine and in extreme cases the catalytic converter can become damaged as a result of unburned fuel residues. 

legit plugs (like genuine NGK) come with a suitable gap NEVER touch it

if you did, you ought to hope you didn't trash the plug - by either weakening the electrode or cracking the insulator.  NO plug has needed touching for way more than 30 years and if people suggest otherwise they are working round a different fault, buying some fake rubbish or the wrong part