is it possible to need spark plug replacement at 76,000 miles?

Question

I have a 2001 chevy malibu (v6) and it has those 100,000 platinum tipped plugs. I was having an engine misfire, i took the car to my chevy dealer turned out a plug needed replacement. All was good a for few weeks now the engine its running rough again.. the other day after it rained really bad the plugs barely fired. Think the rest of the plugs need replacing? I just had my intake gasket replaced and intake and MAP sensors done before they figured out it was the plug (i have an extended warranty so it didn't cost me but 75 bucks)

i have had an incredible ride for 6 years in this chevy, its a quick little sucker, surprises alot of people, it 's actually more like driving a small 8 to be honest. she's just getting older now and needs some loving maint. so the guy thats bad mouthing my car can.. kiss off

GM new the intake gasket was faulty on lots of its models, ya can read about it all over the internet on GM and car sites are that time so they paid for the gasket replacement

sorry if that last statement was pretty much imcomprehensible.. its a bit early and i haven't even had coffee yet

Answer 1

They didn't really just replace one spark plug did they? That is just plain stupid. If one needs replacing you always replace them all, whether they are platinum, iridium, or standard. Even if they say 100,000 mile plug life, that is pushing it, especially if you have had any bad gas at any time, or incompatible fuel additives. Some fuel additives contain octane boosters that leave conductive deposits on the core nose.
If this happened after a bad rain, you may need new plug wires. They could be arcing to ground, which gets worse with moisture.

Answer 2

It was a little ridiculous not replacing all the plugs when they were that old. A lot of plugs will last 100,000 miles, but 76,000 isn't bad.
Rain wouldn't have cause bad plugs to fail. That would probably be bad plug wires.. Any decent shop would have just replaced all the plugs and wires at once. Replacing intake gaskets and map sensors when plugs weren't firing is a pretty clear sign of incompetence or milking a job by performing unneeded work. (The shop gets paid for any warranty work they do)

Answer 3

Something is fouling the plugs (making them dirty, so that they do not fire properly). I don't see why such a newer model car would need a new intake gasket. My guess would be the Oxygen Sensor (there might be 2 on your car) needs replacing. Thats just a guess. It could be a million things. Fix up the problems while under warranty, as fast as you can, then sell it.

Answer 4

wires or plugs may be bad.. get a spray bottle of water, start the car, open the hood, and spray the wires with a water mist to get the spark plug wires wet.. if it starts to run rough, you know the wires are bad.. the spark plugs are rated for 100000 miles but they can still go bad.. this is an easy test for a do it yourselfer with little auto repair knowledge. hope this helps.. if not, take it back to the dealer and let them figure it out.

Answer 5

No plugs last 100K miles, I use platinums all the time they dont get any wheres near 100K miles. If you have put 76K on a set of plugs consider yourself lucky your car still runs.....

Answer 6

Spark plugs don't need to be replaced at a certain milage, they need to be replaced when they get dirty. The plugs are probably doing fine, the problem is that they're in a Chevy V6 which is fouling them up.

Answer 7

Hint- it rained and it ran bad-
Get some plug wires on that baby.