New spark plugs and air filter! Maintenance weekend coming up!

[Elbimster]

Time for some much needed maintenance this weekend!

 

[leogla]

Time for some much needed maintenance this weekend!

Good Luck!

 

[AskMeLater]

Hey Elbimster,

Look to the northwest and you'll see me doing the same thing! I just bought an 03 EB 4x4 a couple weeks ago, so I'm doing all the typical PM stuff just because I don't know what kind of attention her PO paid to her.

Have fun!

Time for some much needed maintenance this weekend!

 

[Jigabeer]

Did the same thing after i bought my 04 EB in January. didn't have any service history, so i went through all of it and now I'm good for a many miles.

Had to spend some $ on the parts, but all my labor.
Just my way to maintain cars, i use what the factory put in the first place. no a fan of KN filter in general.

-Spark Plugs
-ATF Filter and Flush
-Rear Diff. Oil
-Coolant flush and Thermostat.
-multiple oil changes,
-replace aftermarket brake pads with original Motorcraft. Old one still good, but squealing every stop. couldn't stand it.
-all Filters replaced.
-A/C drain and refill. kinda surprised that only a minor amount medium was missing after 10 years
-replace 4 tires, installed life kit front and rear, performed alignment.
-countless hours of cleaning the inside.

Good luck to you with all of your work. you feel much better after everything has been replaced, good piece of mind

 

[mj173]

How hard were the last 2 plugs on each side? I have an 04 bought in 2006 with 42,000 now it has 160,000 and I have never changed the plugs due to fear of breaking them. Just found out after a CEL that I have the 2 piece plugs so I am thinking of trying to change them prior to a 8 hour round trip drive coming up soon. I do my own brakes, oil, COP and any other repair that I think I can handle like the Window Regulator and my plugs on an Acura TL but these alway scared me. I have very large hands so I am not sure how tight of a spot the back plugs are??

 

[Alan_in_Texas]

It must be going around...

I am in the same boat as the rest of you. About two weeks ago I bought an '06 with 75k miles on her. Last week on the freeway I started getting the dreaded 'buck' at 50mph. It has steadily gotten worse over the week. I am about to drop the bucks to order the plugs, and the extractor tool. I may replace the COPS as well, but I am still undecided on that.

What plugs are recommended?
--Alan

 

[Jigabeer]

How hard were the last 2 plugs on each side? I have an 04 bought in 2006 with 42,000 now it has 160,000 and I have never changed the plugs due to fear of breaking them. Just found out after a CEL that I have the 2 piece plugs so I am thinking of trying to change them prior to a 8 hour round trip drive coming up soon. I do my own brakes, oil, COP and any other repair that I think I can handle like the Window Regulator and my plugs on an Acura TL but these alway scared me. I have very large hands so I am not sure how tight of a spot the back plugs are??

it is actually not that hard. Take your time, clean everything nicely, cause you wont touch it for another 10 years or so. Since it an 04 you shouldn't have the 2 piece spark plug, but i might be wrong. at least on my car it was a regular style plug.

on cars I'm not familiar with i make sure the engine is hot prior to removal, just in case. I use a variety of 1/4 and3/8 tools. NEVER power tools.

Change them asap. You will feel the difference in performance and fuel consumption.

 

[Jigabeer]

I am in the same boat as the rest of you. About two weeks ago I bought an '06 with 75k miles on her. Last week on the freeway I started getting the dreaded 'buck' at 50mph. It has steadily gotten worse over the week. I am about to drop the bucks to order the plugs, and the extractor tool. I may replace the COPS as well, but I am still undecided on that.

What plugs are recommended?
--Alan

Again, I'm a fan of OEM stuff. can't go wrong with that.

 

[AskMeLater]

Hey mj173,
I just changed out the plugs this weekend on my new-to-me 2003.

I found that the plugs on the right side are not that bad to get to. My biggest challenge was the no. 8 coil hold-down bolt due to the fuel rail being in the way. But with some creative arm/body positioning, I was able to get to it.

On the left side, No. 1 and 2 are pretty straightforward. To get to 3 and 4, I removed the PCM and its bracket from the firewall. I also removed the heater hose between the engine and the valve. This allowed me to move the valve out of the way. You'll have to drain the coolant down a little bit before doing this. These two things gave me much more room to work on 3 and 4.

Hope this helps.
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How hard were the last 2 plugs on each side? I have an 04 bought in 2006 with 42,000 now it has 160,000 and I have never changed the plugs due to fear of breaking them. Just found out after a CEL that I have the 2 piece plugs so I am thinking of trying to change them prior to a 8 hour round trip drive coming up soon. I do my own brakes, oil, COP and any other repair that I think I can handle like the Window Regulator and my plugs on an Acura TL but these alway scared me. I have very large hands so I am not sure how tight of a spot the back plugs are??