Replacing Spark Plugs

jez001 · Post by **jez001** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 8:33 pm

Hey all, has anyone replaced their spark plugs on their FTO at all? I had my car serviced on tuesday, and the mechanic said that the intake manifold has to be taken apart, which is gonna cost me a packet. Is there any way i could do this myself, or is it best left to the professionals? Cheers.

airbornespanner2 · Post by **airbornespanner2** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 8:48 pm

jez001,

If you are mechanicly minded then it is not too big of a job. I have changed my own and it took me about an hour.

Although I am an aircraft engineer, so I guess for me it is easy.

airbornespanner2

Chiangstar · Post by **Chiangstar** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 9:09 pm

its not that hard to do...
if you dont know what youre doing, research it before you try it but all thats involved is taking off the intake manifold (which is just unscrewing some bolts) and then replacing your spark plugs...then putting the intake manifold back on...

note: make sure you remember where all the bolts go

i dont know why your mechanic wants to charge a packet for it...for a mechanic it would be a piece of cake...

i remember reading a write up on it...either in the manual or on a DIY page somewhere.... just research it before you do it

simon

EURO · Post by **EURO** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 9:49 pm

this surprises me???

I know when i had mine replaced, it was done at the same time as my major service, e.g. timing belt replacements etc, from what I remember from the many mechanics i rang, they all said that on the FTO, the front 3 plugs are easy to replace, but the back 3 are very hard to get to.... and require a fair bit of the engine to be taken out?

when mine were changed, The mechanic told me that my back 3 plugs looked like they had never been replaced and were well and truly gone!

i guess it depends on your knowledge, but i would think a non mech, would find it a fairly big job?

Chiangstar · Post by **Chiangstar** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 11:38 pm

dont get me wrong....its not a piss easy job....but im not particularly mechanically minded...i just dont mind getting my hands dirty

and ive got a lot of time on my hands .....

what you have to do is disconnect your intake pipe, unscrew the intake manifold, change your plugs, then put everything back together....

if you have a writeup on how to do it sitting next to you, you really shouldnt have too much of a problem....i wouldnt attempt it if you havent researched it or if you really have no idea what youre doing....

btw...if youre going to do it, you might wanna change your fuel filter at the same time...theres a tutorial in the manual on this.....cos if you do it any other time, its a bitch to get to....i learnt that the hard way...or maybe i was just doing it totally the wrong way

simon

jez001 · Post by **jez001** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 12:10 am

Im not really mechanically minded, but i dont mind getting my hands dirty either, just so long as i can do it properly! At its recent service, he changed the fuel filter for me, just didnt do the plugs before asking me. Do any of the gaskets need replacing when doing this? If its not as straight-forward as taking out a few bolts or something simple like that, am i better off forking out the cash? I think he wanted to charge me like $150 or something stupid!!!

Chiangstar · Post by **Chiangstar** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 12:33 am

you shouldnt have to replace your intake manifold (IM) gasket if youre careful....if you warm your engine a little beforehand, it shouldnt rip the gasket when you take of the IM....thanks to markyboy and payaya (among others) for advising me of this when i did my sparkies

if 150 isnt a lot to you, then just pay it....but if its a lot or you want to learn about your car, then i would do it myself with the aid of a writeup / tutorial....i do as many jobs as i can on my car because i want to learn about it...

youll need spanners and/or a socket set, screw drivers, spark plug remover, maybe a breaker bar to get some leverage (cos some of those spark plugs stick in there pretty tight) and thats about it really if my memory serves me correctly....find a write up on the net about the job and if it seems easy to you, then do it, if you have any doubts, then refer it to your mechanic

Chiangstar · Post by **Chiangstar** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 12:37 am

http://www.funky-fto.co.uk/sparkplugs.html

GPXXX · Post by **GPXXX** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 12:49 am

hmm, sounds simple enough... i'll give it a show and replace my sparkies for a set of platinum plugs but before that i'm gonna invest in a video camera very soon (thanks to Harvey Norman's 17mths interest free deal

) so hopefully i can get a footage of what was done and post it in a DIY section when the time comes...

SilentBob · Post by **SilentBob** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 8:28 am

17mths...
bah take a drive to newcastle, ill hook ya up with 24mths

though if you were payin cash/cc i could have hooked you up with an interstate discount

my recommendation for entry point mini dv would be the lovely new sonys....sooo perrrty

SilentBob

FTO338 · Post by **FTO338** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 11:59 am

Yeah Harvey Norman is well know for rip off prices, so Mikey u save a lot more by going someway else, plus everyone is offering interest free these days.

jez001 · Post by **jez001** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 1:49 pm

Thats crap guys, i work for Harvey Norman, we dont rip people off.......much.....

GPXXX · Post by **GPXXX** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 2:17 pm

adam, if you pay for my airfare + accom then yeah I'll go to Newcastle so you can hook me up haha...

harvey norman is the only place that i know of so far that has the longest interest free terms and since i got a credit account with AGC/Buyer's Edge i thought maybe i could make use of that (rather than signing up for yet another credit account which affects my credit rating

)

anyway my friend is a top haggler - she usually gets no less than 20% discount whenever she haggles and she does it like there's no tomorrow haha... so i'll try and see what she can do for me hehe

but yerrr, that's another story so back on topic!

FTO338 · Post by **FTO338** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 2:26 pm

jez001 wrote:Thats crap guys, i work for Harvey Norman, we dont rip people off.......much.....

Hey which department u work for? U work in the Devonport store?

BTW AGC & Buyer's Edge are both owned by G.E finance, so u can go to them directly.

jez001 · Post by **jez001** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 7:55 pm

FTO338 wrote:
jez001 wrote:Thats crap guys, i work for Harvey Norman, we dont rip people off.......much.....

Hey which department u work for? U work in the Devonport store?

BTW AGC & Buyer's Edge are both owned by G.E finance, so u can go to them directly.

I'm in the Furniture and Bedding department in the Devonport Store. If you know anyone down here that wants anything, send 'em to me!

FTO338 · Post by **FTO338** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 9:23 pm

eheheheh i only know the boys from electrical & communication. Hmmmm you should know a person name Franco though.