HOWTO: Changing Spark plugs.

[Bart-man]

*Originally posted by JayRoc.*


Here are a few steps, but not a detailed how-to by any means... felt too lazy to take a picture of every single mundane detail. but this should be good enough as a "guide"



first you'll have to remove the upper portion of whatever intake brand you have so that the throttle body has clearance. Stock would require the same. no need to remove the whole thing. If you have a one piece fujita like me, simply unbolt it from the TB and its vibration mount and move it to the side.




This pic shows the sensors and brackets that will need to be removed along the perimeter of the plenum.





This one shows them removed. I found it easy (when possible) to lightly screw the bolts back into their position for ease of placement. This way you won't accidentally lose them.



Next i removed the throttle body, 4 bolts with one on each corner. Then just place it aside as far as it will allow to the right unplugging the harness of course. Remember to return the gasket when reassembling.





Then i got to work on the rear bolts behind the plenum. This is the trickiest part of the removal. It would definitely help to remove the strut bar as there is little space to fit your hand in, but i kept mine there cause once again i was lazy haha, but i had all the proper tools to get to them. you'll need a ratchet and open wrenches. 2 support bracket bolts. 2 for the EGR tube, and one holding the spring in place for the EGR tube (this is important to remove as it will allow the tube to bend in order to pull the plenum up and out once everything is unbolted.






Surprisingly, there was another support bracket along with a bolt underneath the throttle body position as well.




Then i removd the purge solenoid located after the throttle body in the plenum. simple, a few bolts... and don't forget the vacuum line behind it as well.






Once everything is disconnected from the throttle body, you can slowly wedge it from the grasp of the EGR tube like so... then carefully shimmy it up and out of the engine bay.








Also, ya gotta make sure nothing gets into the lower intake manifold so it would be a good idea to cover it up until you're ready to put it back.



Now it was time to remove the old plugs. you'll need a deep socket 14mm to get to it. it's pretty deep so unless you have all the tools needed don't attempt this at home.







Here is a side by side comparison of the old iridium plug and the new copper plug. can you tell which one is which? also, make sure they are properly gapped.










after replacing all 6... put everything back in its place, if you can remember where everything goes hahaha



As i said before, this is a cliff note description of what needs to be done. It's not as simple as a cold air intake that's for certain, but if you have the right tools you can do it yourself.

[NotUrAvg4G]

this thread was a great write-up. Applause.

[Tech_Greek]

Good Write Up

The tip for putting the bolts back in place has saved my ass multiple times on multiple cars because I have a short attention span and memorey!

[girl20racer]

Originally Posted by NotUrAvg4G

this thread was a great write-up. Applause.

x2

[JayRoC]

[Kilzod]

Very nice. Is there a suggested mileage to replace the plugs? Just curious.

[NotUrAvg4G]

just had to make this a sticky

[psy-q]

Haha, the last transverse V6 I had was a 3.1L Grand Am. You actually had to unbolt the front motor mount and turn the engine to do the back 3. Only way to change the plug wires too.

[j-rod]

very good right up... THANKS

[Tech_Greek]

I just did my back three plugs yesterday...

I found it was easier to leave the sensors on the left hand side of the intake manifold attached and just to bend over the manifold after it's unbolted and let it rest on the left wheel well and do the spark plugs.

PS Your spark plugs looked like they are gapped at like 22...stock they are at 33 from what I could tell so I gaped mine at 38.

[Leeclipse]

I just got my NGK laser Irdiums and plan on replacing this weekend. The Iridiums come pregapped at the factory .30 and say you shouldn't regap irdium. The top portion of the Iridiums are actually platinum and the small electrode is actual irdium.

I'm doing mine at 34k miles. How have your old plugs looked and at what mileage did you change? I heard the 2006 GT plugs have looked pretty fouled up because of the lean settings they started with before the reflash.

[360jeepboy]

Originally Posted by Leeclipse

I just got my NGK laser Irdiums and plan on replacing this weekend. The Iridiums come pregapped at the factory .30 and say you shouldn't regap irdium. The top portion of the Iridiums are actually platinum and the small electrode is actual irdium.

I'm doing mine at 34k miles. How have your old plugs looked and at what mileage did you change? I heard the 2006 GT plugs have looked pretty fouled up because of the lean settings they started with before the reflash.

I don't think our car has ever ran lean It's always ran rich and after the reflash it ran even richer. It's a little weird cause unburnt fuel is what heats a converter up and will make them go bad...

[Leeclipse]

The orgional problem was the fuel mix was lean. Lean fuel ratio creates more heat, which was burning the precats. It was actually heat burning them, not the chemical reaction with gas. If it was super rich and to much gas was getting to the cats them they could burn that way to from the chemical reaction in the cats.

This is how it was described by mitsubishis letter sent to their tech centers.

Now either way, both settings may have been rich by some others standards but when compared from the reflash the change was richer.

[Tech_Greek]

I got mine from Advanced Auto (not the OEM IR, I got the IRX's...)

They came pregapped at 44...and that was WAYYYY too big in my opinion so thats why I knocked them down to the 38 because the stock ones obviously wear over time...I dont want to go too small because it would hinder the complete burn/clean of the combustion

Heat kills cats, which blocks them up (burns up the platinum in it).
Too rich blocks up cats with unburnt gas....lots of pretty back fires and popping in the exhaust

The plugs looked burnt, from running lean, but not lean enough to fry the IR in the plugs or anything like that.

[Leeclipse]

Originally Posted by Tech_Greek

I got mine from Advanced Auto (not the OEM IR, I got the IRX's...)

They came pregapped at 44...and that was WAYYYY too big in my opinion so thats why I knocked them down to the 38 because the stock ones obviously wear over time...I dont want to go too small because it would hinder the complete burn/clean of the combustion

Heat kills cats, which blocks them up (burns up the platinum in it).
Too rich blocks up cats with unburnt gas....lots of pretty back fires and popping in the exhaust

The plugs looked burnt, from running lean, but not lean enough to fry the IR in the plugs or anything like that.

That pretty much coinsides with what I've heard about our plugs. I'll take pics of the old plugs when I get them out.

[360jeepboy]

Originally Posted by Leeclipse

The orgional problem was the fuel mix was lean. Lean fuel ratio creates more heat, which was burning the precats. It was actually heat burning them, not the chemical reaction with gas. If it was super rich and to much gas was getting to the cats them they could burn that way to from the chemical reaction in the cats.

This is how it was described by mitsubishis letter sent to their tech centers.

Now either way, both settings may have been rich by some others standards but when compared from the reflash the change was richer.

I agree that after the flash the car ran richer, I'm just saying that it never really ran lean.. I think the problem is cause they put the cats to close to the engine... but what do I know I'm just some guy..

Most of the time the cat will go bad cause there's to much unburnt fuel in the exaust and it gets the cat really hot and melts the inside. It is the job of the cat to get rid of the hydrocarbons but to much is bad... thats why I can't believe people with the reflash arn't having problems yet... but maybe they don't run as rich as I do.