Replace spark plugs

[clare]

Not looking forward to the job on the 2.4 liter PT Cruiser!!!!!!

[Jack]

WOW !!! Guess it is worth the $191.

BTW I am p4o2 (different computer).

I should have know this since I had the serpentine belt on the 2000 Malibu replaced and they had to remove a motor mount and lift the engine.

[Steve Barker]

Actually, if the engine is not sucking oil down like it's on sale, there's no reason to ever change them.

[Ralph Mowery]

Not sure of the motor size, but a fellow at work was quoted $ 1200 for the timing belt on his PT Cruiser at a dealership. He drove it and the belt broke. Got it replaced for only $ 850. Thing was he was about 150 miles from home and had to get a ride back home and it took 3 days for the independent shop to do the work.

[Percival P. Cassidy]

Even if the plugs don't get fouled by oil and carbon, the electrodes do gradually erode. I'd bet that the gaps are somewhat wider after 100K miles than when they were new.

Perce

[Tony Hwang]

Hmmm, Platinum or Iridium plugs last LOMG time!

[hrhofmann]

I have 127K on my 2002 Pathfinder. I monitor every drop of gasoline that goes into the vehicle, and do a cumulative interval mileage check every 4K or so. So far I have not had any decrease in mileage, so I have to assume all cylinders are firing ok. I won't worry about replacing the platinum plugs until I see the mileage showing signs of decreasing.

[Nestor Kelebay]

I get annoyed sometimes when I hear about the way American cars are designed and manufactured. My sister had a Ford Taurus and had to pay over $700 to replace the fuel pump in it. That's cuz the fuel pump was inside the gas tank, and they had to drop the gas tank out of the car to replace that fuel pump.

I, on the other hand, had a Toyota Corolla at the time. The fuel sending unit on that car went, and I got a replacement one from one of my local auto wreckers. Toyota engineers and designers had the foresight to provide a removable panel under the carpet in the trunk of my car situated directly above the fuel sending unit. That little bit of thinking on their part saved thousands of their customers a lot of money. That same thinking on Ford's part would have saved their customers money too, but they didn't include such a panel.

I sincerely believe that GM, Ford and Chrysler intentionally include such "oversights" into their cars in order to provide their dealerships with greater income from repairs to the cars they sell.

That's why I'm sticking to Toyotas and Hondas, and won't buy an American car until the engineers in Detroit start exhibiting the same presence of mind to include replaceable panels where necessary as Toyota and Honda engineers have done for decades. Let GM sleep in the bed it makes for itself, and let the dam government buy the cars of the companies they're keeping afloat and eventually it'll occur to someone that better quality makes economic sense. Making cars both difficult and expensive to fix is a way of driving away customers, and not an effective way of increasing revenue.

------------------------------------- ..in solidarity with the movement for change in Iran.

[Molly Brown]

Rule of thumb: Never buy a vehicle where you can=92t fit your whole body under the hood.

[Jim Elbrecht]

I remember Nader's 'Unsafe' in the 60's- directed at the Corvair & GM. 'Let 'em burn' sounds like Ford on their 1970's Pinto. Are you conflating, or did I miss something.

Jim

[Jim Elbrecht]

Don't bet a lot on that. Granted I waited until 140K- but on my '95 Taurus they were widened a bit. I did my Impala right around the 100K mark & the plugs looked like they had just a couple thousand miles on them.

And then there are those gapless plugs that are becoming popular.

Jim

[salty]

The problems with the Corvair had been fixed by the time that book came out.

[Ralph Mowery]

Some of the "shade tree mechanics" have learned to take a hole saw and cut holes in the car to get at things like that and some things under the hood. Saves a lot of time for them and money for the owner.

[Jim Yanik]

"Ralph Mowery" wrote in news:C-2dnf-fe5k1aF3RnZ2dnUVZ [e-mail]:

2.4L-4cyl motor

he's lucky he didn't have an interference engine. Then he would have had to have the motor rebuilt,after some valves crashed into pistons.

I had a timing belt break on an 74 Civic CVCC,no damage,motor spun real fast when cranking it. I forget what it cost to replace,but it wasn't much. Maybe a couple $100.

[Eric in North TX]

I felt that way on my BMW at first, every under the hood job seemed to start" remove fluid and radiator" but the radiator really came out easily and it really was the first step to doing anything near the front of the engine. It turned out to be time well spent.

[clare]

I had to throw my Iridiums away in less than 35,000 KM - was getting random misfires throwing code. Replaced with OEM Champion Plats and the missfires went away.

[Steve Barker]

that's true, the gaps do grow. But with the high energy systems we have now (since about '74) the spark can jump a gap in excess of ONE INCH. So there's really no need for an electrode on the plug at all. The only reason for one is to keep the spark from jumping to the crown of the piston.