Counterfeit spark plug ID help request

Well check the gap first. And yeah, they should be correctly gapped at the outset: I've always checked them, and NEVER found one off. Also, I seem to recall at least one the manufacturers (NGK?) caution against adjusting the gap.

Not sure how you tell counterfeit, how prevalent they are, and what the differences would be.

 

yeah, i bought a set if plugs on ebay at low cost and 3 of 4 were previously used (slightly, maybe a store return?) and looked a bit funny. i thought they were fake too and returned them. bought the authentic ones from advance auto for only several more $. in retrospect, turned out the ebay ones were legit. i deleted the pictures by now, but yours look OK to me.

edit: wait, where is the iridium on the ground? aren't these supposed to be double iridiums.

 

IF......it quacks like a duck............

How often are you going to change plugs ? Maybe every 5 years ?
Is it really worth the gamble just to save a few bucks ??

Sometimes these "deals" end up costing you more in the end.

Did you check with known reputable auto parts dealers, either locally or via the Internet ?
Their price might not be that much different than the "unknown" ones.

 

From the 2010 owner's manual, it says the plugs are DENSO SC20HR11, yours say SC16HR11.
Also JAPAN is embossed on your plugs but the package says MADE IN CHINA.
Use your best judgement. They're "probably" okay to use, but as mentioned, for how infrequently they are changed I would go with parts from a reputable dealer.

 

[QUOTE="yours say SC16HR11.
[/QUOTE]
SC16HR11 is the part number for a later plug, and is legit. In fact, it is the current plug called for by Toyota. (I still would not buy those; why skimp on such a critical part, that also lasts for 100,00 miles?)

 

I'm the one who recently posted the “after” pics of the counterfeit iridium plugs with 30k miles on them and the electrodes were essentially gone — worse than I’d expect of standard cheap Champion plugs at that mileage.
The car ran fine for the first 20k miles with those plugs. If you don’t mind taking the wiper and cowl off, you could go ahead and run them with the idea that you’re going to check them after 20k miles. It’s not like they’re going to damage the engine.
But my educated guess is that those are not legit. Based solely on the fact that the box says “Made in Japan” and the bag says “Made in China”. That just makes no sense.

I presume they shipped from China?

 

Please, please explain to me why the box says made in Japan, and the bag they come in says made in China?

I would NOT install those plugs in my car. As mentioned previously, they're missing the ground electrode tip. Without that tip, they will wear extremely fast (compared to plugs with the ground tip), the gap will be larger and you'll start having misfires. Do it right, one time, so it doesn't look like this:

2005 Spark Plug replacement....... | PriusChat

 

Do you really know what the heat range of a spark plug means ?

 

How more authentic will the plugs be then? Like 98% authentic?

 

The heat range of the plug refers ONLY to the temperature of the electrodes and the nearby attached parts of the plug itself.
It should have absolutely NO impact on the temperature of anything else.

 

good luck , you might need it..../
obviously missing the ground electrode tip means they're fake /

 

oops, I thought they were the same/
that's the one I put in; works flawless/

 

https://www.denso-am.eu/media/corporate-news/2017/june-2017-product-bulletin-supersessions-within-the-spark-plug-range/

 

Take a look at this....plenty of clues in this that lead one to believe there's probably a lot of Chinese copies out there.

Iridium spark plug , Toyota Spark Plugs DENSO SC20HR11 OE 90919-01253 For Toyota length 26.5 mm