Changed spark plugs - Autolite XP103 -

[Mote]

I have an 03 with K&N CAI and a Reinhart tune. Car has 38K miles. I got a set of Autolite XP103's ($2/plug rebate), some anti-sieze, di-electric grease(a Qtip to apply), some hose that fits snug on the plug tips. I opened the hood early yesterday morning. The car was cold.

Man was this easy. Removing the coil covers, everything was clean as a whistle. No issues at all with any plug removal or installation. I was methodical and it went steady and smooth. I torqued to 10+ lbs/ft - it was hard to tell on my needle torque wrench that scales to 140. I plan on getting a different one for this finer work. My old plugs were the originals. All were all the same ash-gray-A good thing according to charts I found. I had the battery disconnected while I worked. It took 1 hour front to back.

The car runs noticably stronger throughout the entire range. I am surprised at how much difference there is. I burned some gasoline yesterday, spinning the tires, having a blast!

[GordonB]

Question: Is it necessary to disconnect the battery when changing plugs? Have never had to do this before.
GordonB

[Got_1]

no it is not.

[Mote]

No it isn't. I wanted it to re-learn so I took advantage of the timeframe.

[fastblackmerc]

You did use some anti-sieze on the new plugs, didn't you?

[musclemerc]

That 2.00 rebate is a good savings. I've been posting that info for some time now.
Great Job, glad things worked out for you with the change in plugs.

[88LTDCV351]

I'm about due to change my plugs at 100,000 miles. Anyone have all the links on this all together? I did a search awhile back but got mostly crap threads with the relevant threads. I just know I'm going to f something up. I usually do. ha ha. My first time changing plugs on this car or a car with COPs.

[RR|Suki]

Nice work. I assume those are platinum plugs or iridium or something? Just wondering since I get my plugs on rock auto for ~$1.79 per plug. So seeing a $2 per plug rebate made me chuckle a little.

[Mote]

You did use some anti-sieze on the new plugs, didn't you?
Oh yeah. That and di-electric grease


Nice work. I assume those are platinum plugs or iridium or something? Just wondering since I get my plugs on rock auto for ~$1.79 per plug. So seeing a $2 per plug rebate made me chuckle a little.

The way I see it, it isn't just the raw cost of each plug. I figure at the end of year 2 I will be money ahead, having enjoyed better plugs the whole time. My car is NA so I don't the same concerns the supercharger folks do.

Cheapest copper plug, change every year:
(8 x $1.79) + $7.99 shipping = $22.31

Autolite's fancy "eXtreme Performance" iridium plugs - Has gotten a good reputation for performance, and I won't have to change every year:
(8 x $6.99 x 1.07 tax) - $16 rebate = $43.83

[RR|Suki]

Can't say I've ever heard of NA guys having to change plugs every year ;)

[LeoVampire]

Can't say I've ever heard of NA guys having to change plugs every year ;)


No you do not have to do that but with doing it you can get a general idea if there might be a problem poping up with the way things are running in the combustion chamber.

As to disconnecting the battery I like to do it to make sure no spike's are accidently sent through the system while your working on the car. But no it is not 100% nessasary just a precautionary thing.

[RF Overlord]

Remember, we have aluminium heads with not a lot of thread. I would think that R&R'ing plugs every year is taking a bigger chance of thread wear/damage.

[RR|Suki]

Remember, we have aluminium heads with not a lot of thread. I would think that R&R'ing plugs every year is taking a bigger chance of thread wear/damage.

:confused: my plugs have been in and out dozens of times, (trying different temps, gaps, reading plugs, etc) and my car is an 03. I'd say a lot of thread damage is user error.

[ImpalaSlayer]

:confused: my plugs have been in and out dozens of times, (trying different temps, gaps, reading plugs, etc) and my car is an 03. I'd say a lot of thread damage is user error.

:concur:

:beer:

[Big Black Beast]

I'm about due to change my plugs at 100,000 miles. Anyone have all the links on this all together? I did a search awhile back but got mostly crap threads with the relevant threads. I just know I'm going to f something up. I usually do. ha ha. My first time changing plugs on this car or a car with COPs.

Yeah, that was interesting for me too. I couldn't find the spark plugs, so I tried to follow the plug wires from the distrubutor. That didn't work. Anyway, there are several good write ups on this. The main thing is to not overtorque them, otherwise it's pretty straightforward.

[BurpyTurtle]

What are the details on the rebate?

[fastblackmerc]

Yeah, that was interesting for me too. I couldn't find the spark plugs, so I tried to follow the plug wires from the distrubutor. That didn't work. Anyway, there are several good write ups on this. The main thing is to not overtorque them, otherwise it's pretty straightforward.

Where did you find the distributor?

[musclemerc]

If your not in a rush get them from rockauto.com. They had the best pricing. The xp-104 are the stock range and the xp-103's are one step colder. the rebate details are here: http://www.rockauto.com/lang/en/promo.html



What are the details on the rebate?

[burt ragio]

Thanks for the heads up. I just placed an order for the autolite xp 103. With shipping they were still less than 1/2 the cost from Nappa 1/3 less than autozone. This didn't even include the rebate yet to come.

[fastblackmerc]

Thanks for the heads up. I just placed an order for the autolite xp 103. With shipping they were still less than 1/2 the cost from Nappa 1/3 less than autozone. This didn't even include the rebate yet to come.

I'm running the XP-103's that i got when a member here offered them for free. So far they are running great!

[BurpyTurtle]

.

I'm not in a rush so just ordered from rockauto. $41.29 shipped for 8 plugs, minus the $2 rebate comes to $25.29 - which is less than I can them for locally.

Thanks.

[Big Black Beast]

Where did you find the distributor?

I said that didn't work.;)