Spark plug NGK or Autolite

Torque wrench is unnecessary for plugs. I have several and have never once used them for plugs. 1/4 turn past hand tight is all you need. Good plugs like ngk laser iridium or ruthenium hx will run you less than 40 bucks. A small single use packet of anti seize compound and a 6 pack of your preferred beer. Less than 100 bucks all in and an hour of your time.

NGK plugs have instructions on the package and do not require a torque wrench. I have a torque wrench, but I do not use it for my spark plugs. It's just hand tighten until it makes contact - then turn it however many turns they say with your socket to fully seat it (usually like ½ - ¾ turn or something like that).

You don't need a torque wrench, NGK plugs have a crush washer and specify half turn past initial contact. Did my Mazda 3 with no issues. I have a torque wrench and didn't use it.

Harbor Freight has the torque wrench you’d need for $19.99 the Pittsburgh 3/8" drive and a 3/8" drive extension set for $16.99. I’d also grab a magnetic spark plug socket from AutoZone for $14.99 (just go straight for the magnetic one, it makes life way easier).

For the spark plugs themselves, I’d stick with NGK, but make sure it’s the correct spec for your car, since they make different cx5's, some being NA and some being turbo.

As for the "paste," some people put antiseize or dielectric grease on the threads to make future removal easier. I personally skip it because I want zero chance of anything getting into the engine, plus grease can amplify the torque applied with the wrench, which is bad. I’m hoping this is what you mean by paste?

If you do it yourself, the first time costs roughly $100-120 for the tools, and still is about half of what the dealer is quoting. After that, you just pay for the spark plugs themselves for future changes, which brings the cost down to around $50-70 per change since now you'll have the tools.

Get an icon click type torque wrench from harbor freight when they have a sale. And a deep socket set for spark plugs plus dont buy your plugs on Amazon. Go to rockauto. And buy them there buy ngks also rediitt has a rockauto sub and usually people give out 5%off coupons. Also Do not use cheap aftermarket plugs on your car also you'll need a regular ratcheting wrench and extension. Never use torque wrench to loosen plugs it csn destroy the calibration

NGK Laser Iridiums will last longer, but those aren't bad per se.

I had to put a new spark plug in mine after only a few hours of use. It had some China branded in it and I switched to NGK. Also propane creates a hard harder to jump spark gap so you generally have to narrow the gap a tiny bit from typical specs when you’re going to run propane. Since I only run propane I went down a little on the gap and it runs flawlessly. I optimize the gap width by seeing which widths responded best to a sudden surge load without hesitating.

Went with NGK spark plugs that was bundled with some generic wires and coils, not ideal but it’s all I could afford at the moment

Please use original plugs for the replacements. Just yanked out aftermarket NGK platinums because of a misfire. For some reason, Mazda and aftermarket plugs in my experience always resulted in a misfire.

I changed the plugs on my 2017 raptor recently with NGK iridium plugs. The punchline is that the truck started backfiring when I pushed it. I ended up putting Motorcraft plugs in and it cleared up.