I tried one in my 10 year old Toro with 6HP Briggs.Worked once and then had starting problems.Took at least 10 pulls.Went back to NGK and it starts on 1 or 2 pulls again.Save your money.

I've been running an E3 in my Lawnboy R7070 for about a year now. In runs and starts fine but no real noticeable difference from the stock Champion plug.

I bought 2 E3 at walmarts for old 10 horse lawn tractor 1970 model one ran 10 foot other ran 3 foot put old plug back in been running good for year no telling how old it is test fail.

I have used them in two problem engines; a 15 yr old Ryobi 31cc 2-cycle trimmer that was hard to start, and an abused (extrememly old fuel) 1989 B&S 3.5 HP mower) with great success. I made no adjustments to the spark gap, just installed them. Still, this is not a scientific study, because I did not try new regular plugs of the appropriate types in either engine, and both plugs were the originals. Not original 'type', the actual original plugs. I know, because I bought both of them new. I used the trimmer the whole time but the mower was lent to a relative who turned out to be a moron. He had bought 25 gallons of gas for 'Y2K' in late '99, and instead of using it in his vehicles after nothing happened in 1/2000, he just kept it. I guess he got the mower around '03 and was using the old gas in it since then. I just cleaned it up, replaced the blade, spark plug and air filter, changed oil, cleaned out the gas tank, refueled and fired it up (one of the benefits of the vacuum-pulse carburetors - they almost never need cleaning even when abused). Of course, there was no oil change while he had it either. Now I have the mower again and it's staying here, but I have to fix it up again. I'm not going to do anything to the plug, just do everything else and see if it starts and runs. My guess is it will run fine.
On the 2-cycle, the E3 also worked great, providing fast starts and smoother running. I eventually threw it away because the carb went bad; I can't stand to work on those little Walbro-type 'cube' carbs. The power head was still as good as new except for the crummy carb.
Since I never have been one to change plugs every year like the manuals recommend, but keep the originals as long as they start okay, I would not hesitate to buy another E3. I actually have never had a plug to fail on any OPE except the really old one in that B&S.

Installed an E3 within my B&S Quantum last Spring seemed to idle smoother , but then the original plug was a few yrs old. I did try a E3 also within my Older Pioneer Saw and my one snowmobile both which are hard on plugs . So far so good one season , the acid test will be this season since the majority of Premium Plug Manufacturers produce sufficient Quality for my usage to normally get at least 2 yrs service . Perhaps when you have a oil burning engine or one slightly out of tune some of the Hype may pay dividends ? I doubt if you have a well maintained equipment that only Serious Performance Addicts would find the added Performance Gain from these Plugs . It would appear though that the Pricing has dropped significantly , at least in my neck of the Woods.

Well, I was wrong. The previous E3 could not take a couple years of abuse and had to be replaced. So, I got another one since they are cheaper now. The old one was caked in carbon from the use of bad gas, no oil change and excessively dusty conditions - a real torture test for a new mower and I was thinking the 20 year-old one was going to be toast. The foam air filter had dirt caked on it, cutting off most of the air flow. I scraped the mud off the filter before trying to wash it. I never actually saw what they were doing with it but they had the height adjusters bottomed out and the blade was worn badly as if by sandy conditions. They don't really have much grass so I guess they were using it for weed control. Guess what? It started on the first pull with the new plug and runs fine with no gas or oil smoke. I ran it on the dark oil just long enough to get some heat in it for the oil change.
One thing for sure, it's never going back to that hell hole. I picked up a couple of new blades on ebay a little cheaper than ordering them - no standard generic blade fits. There are some OPE guys on there that buy out other suppliers and auction it off. He had a number of these blades, but there probably aren't but a handful of the Homelite/Jacobsen 'commercial' 20" mowers left. All I can say is this is one tough mower. I don't really have a use for it but I may use it a few times then try to sell it to somebody that might appreciate something a little different.

I got the new blade on, installed the bag and did a little cutting - the thing still works great. I put it on the truck and took it to my brother's house, and he was very glad to get it. He also won't abuse it. I simply did not need it.
One thing jumped out at me about the E3 plug situation. For some unknown reason, the first one I bought for this mower a few years ago was an E3.12. When I went looking for a new one, the look-up book listed an E3.10 for all B&S 3.5 HP 'L'-heads. This may have had something to do with it not surviving the abuse although I would never blame any part that failed under that onslaught. It seems very happy with the E3.10. Once again, I did not even check the gap - I just looked at it and it looked like 0.030" so I left it alone. You always want to at least look at the gap to make sure the electrode didn't get bent down during handling.

In the shop I am a service writer for, we've not seen an E3 plug that functioned properly. There have even been a couple cases where the failure of the magneto could more or less be attributed directly to the E3 plug. We always return all parts replaced in the service, but the equipment never leaves with an E3 installed.

Sky: I would appreciate an explanation (Cause & Effect) of the Magneto Failure being directly attributed to the E3 Spark Plug Design ?

Tried one in my 8hp Briggs and it had a bit more power but would make a poping sound under load. One day it just quit on me and I heard a rattling in the cylinder. Pulled the head and found the ground electrode fell off. It didnt damage the cylinder at all. Put a new Champion J19LM in it and it's been fine ever since

"Sky: I would appreciate an explanation (Cause & Effect) of the Magneto Failure being directly attributed to the E3 Spark Plug Design ?"

Yes, I would like to hear this explained also?

It's the universal nature of the plugs. The engine manufacturer knows what heat range they need to make their engine run optimally, they know how big of a spark they want, and these figures are reported to the manufacturer of the capacative discharge ignition module so they can build something directly compatible. Everything in the system is designed to be optimally compatible. It's not possible to make a partially universal plug that functions the same. Changing one paramater changes the demands on the rest of the system.

I'm obviously not going to spend time debunking a company like E3. If the product were that good, OEMs would be using it in their engines. That not one OEM installs the plug, even a company like LCT, copying everyone elses designs, speaks volumes.

the spark on e3 is greater than stock plug and could cause problems. this is why i only use them in worn engines-what have you got to loose? worn engines run better and start eaiser

From these responses it's easy to see how in 2010 manufacturers can still sell snake oil and have a following of believers. A lack of understanding of how things work regarding engines, ignition systems, mags, and the like contributes to irrational thinking and crazy assumptions. Manufacturers know this and love to manufacture things that make performance claims that can't easily be proved or disproved one way or the other. Remember Slick 50, Dura Lube, and similar products? I treated my V-8 with Slick 50 in 1993, drained the crankcase a week later and have been running it dry ever since..........OH, and my neighbor has an evaporative carb that gets 45mpg in a Ford Van.

"There's a sucker born every minute"

PT Barnum

"There's a sucker born every minute"

That is a harsh and unwarranted condemnation of the members of this board who don't mind trying something new and a little different. Try to control your jackass tendencies.

You sure do jump to conclusions there Saxman. Kiss my a$$ for calling me a jackass. If you read, I have tried these plugs myself. That statement was not meant towards the members of this forum but as a general statement towards "miracle" cures and comment on rdaystrom's post.

Easy Gents ! Sax , don't believe Orange meant anything personal about you or I or anyone else regularly on the Forum . He's not the Type...Really ! I believe he was just throwing some general humor in response to Rdays Mind Set.

Note: Being a believer within some Engine Additives , Fuel Treatments and Oil Conditioners . I routinely use limited Product . As for Slick-50 or Duralube Engine Oil Treatments and their Marketing Statements , I would agree with Rdays analysis . But as for Lucus and Duralube Fuel Treatments or Resilone Oil Supplement for worn Engines for example , I have seen the upside to Seal and Oil leak and Consumption Usage and Carbon and Gumming Reduction. I further use Stabil for obvious reasons when warranted , even though I do not have Ethanol based fuel issues to contend with ..Yet lol . As for the E3 equation , same philosophy ! I have Raced both Motorcycles , Snowmobiles , Open-Wheeled Modified and have done extensive Engine Tuning to ensure the most efficient Flame Kernal possible to ensure Optimium Combustion . The E3 Plug has efficient plug design characteristic's . Is it a Miracle Cure ...No . Does it have Merit for certain application ? Certainly ! Do I use it across the board No ! Only as described. Will I continue to use this Plug , to soon to say . I will let you all know at yrs end (2 yr) testing is what I usually use to determine real world effectiveness .
Anyhow just because Rday condemns Snake Oil Remedies or I like certain Products does not make it Gold , these are just Personal Opinions , you must draw your own conclusions through Trial and Error . So Sax and Orange lets step back I respect both your Opinion's and Contribution's so lets just try to Relax lol :)

Yes ewalk, I was referring to the products with outlandish claims to get people to buy it. Products that swear to rebuild your entire engine with just one 12 ounce bottle added to your crankcase, or say you will get substantially better gas mileage instantly. Sorry to offend you Sax. I didn't know that you had Dura Lube, Sham Wow and Leak Ender stock.

As for E3 spark plugs, I have tried them and have not seen any great improvement. If you have a starting problem and an E3 made it better, well good. Most likely a hotter plug of the same brand as the OEM supplied would have done the same thing for half the price. But if it was quick and easy and worked, great. Most of us won't miss a house payment over a $6 spark plug. I have a set of Split Fire plugs in my wife's car right now. Why? Not because they work better or make a super fancy "flame front" across the combustion chamber. It was because they are platinum tipped and were on sale for $1 less per plug. Do they work better than the Bosch platinums they replaced, no, but they worked just as well. I try to stick with the stuff that works for me. Marvel Mystery Oil, Seafoam, Kano Aero Kroil, Sta-Bil, etc.

Sax, I do try new things on a regular basis but not because of outrageous advertisements or some Joe Blow on an internet forum swears he got a 35% horsepower boost by pouring it in. I'm still wanting to try Star Tron fuel treatment but can't find it locally. I agree with rdaystrom. Most of these gimmick products just mask or temporarily hide other problems. Just like running a thicker oil can most times hold down oil consumption in a worn engine just as well as well as some high dollar oil additive that basically just thickens the oil anyway.

I tried 2 of them for one year on 2 push mowers. One mower started running weird. Center electrode was no longer in center of the E3 spark plug. I contacted E3 by email and they never gave me the courtesy of a response.
I no longer use these high dollar plugs.

Put one in my Husky 445 chainsaw and it wouldn't start. Put a Champion in and it cranked right up.

It might have been a quality control issue, but I will not spend the money to find out.

Wow , another old thread brought back to life P.S. personally went back to my riginal Bosch Platinium or NGK plugs after a 2 yr evaluation . I only found improvement with E3 in old or worn engines , which usually a range hotter oem plug would provide !