Town & Country Van AWD V6-230 3.8L VIN L SMFI (1998)
Spark Plug: Description and Operation
Fig 3 Platinum Plug Pads
NOTE: This engine uses platinum spark plugs. These spark plugs are double platinum and have a recommended service life of 100,000 miles for
normal driving conditions. The recommended service life under severe conditions is 75,000 miles.
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A thin platinum pad is welded to each of the spark plug electrode ends as shown in (Fig 3).
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Use extreme care to prevent spark plug cross threading, mis-gapping and ceramic insulator damage during plug removal and installation.
Resistor spark plugs are used in all engines and have resistance values of 6,000 to 20,000 ohms when checked with at least a 1000 volt tester.
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Do not use an ohm meter to check the resistance of the spark plugs. This will give an inaccurate reading.
Faulty or fouled spark plugs may perform well at idle speed, but frequently fail at higher engine speeds. Faulty plugs can be identified in a number
of ways: poor fuel economy, power loss, decrease in engine speed, hard starting and, in general, poor engine performance.
Spark plugs also malfunction because of carbon fouling, excessive electrode air gap, or a broken insulator.
CAUTION: Never attempt to file the electrodes or use a wire brush for cleaning platinum plugs. This would damage the platinum pads which would
shorten spark plug life.
Apply a very small amount of anti-seize compound to the threads when reinstalling the vehicle's original spark plugs that have been determined
good.
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Do not apply anti-seize compound to new spark plugs.
NOTE: Anti-seize compound is electrically conductive and can cause engine misfires if not applied correctly. It is extremely important that the
anti-seize compound does not make contact with the spark plug electrodes or ceramic insulator.
Never force a gap gauge between the platinum electrodes or adjust the gap on platinum spark plugs without reading the procedures.
Due to the engine packaging environment for this engine, extreme care should be used when installing the spark plugs to avoid cross threading
problems.
