2010 Legacy 2.5i 4 cylinder Spark Plug Change

The used ones are known to work. Sure they are worn, but can get you by until you get to good mechanic like JSmith said. Over the years I have bought a lot of plugs and had NEW ones that failed. In fact, one of my second tune ups resulted in finding a bad plug. That taught me a lesson.

 

Having owned motorcycles, boats and four wheelers, I always keep a spare working old set of plugs around to replace if the engine floods or fails to start. Just a habit.....you can do as you please though.

 

I tend to go on adventures and often find myself a hundred of miles from anything and lucky to have cell service. Better to be prepared than to be stuck.

 

This isn't everything I have stored away but here are some good ideas..

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Edited June 28, 2013 by Jsmith

 

I tend to go on adventures and often find myself a hundred of miles from anything and lucky to have cell service. Better to be prepared than to be stuck.

 

This isn't everything I have stored away but here are some good ideas..

 

I've got the exact same thing in my spare tire well. Last car had "60K mile plugs". I bought new ones with 50K since they were unusual and took time to get. Guess what? I had a plug go with about 53K. I was able to change them out in about 30 minutes (easy car) and not miss a beat. If I waited until it went and had to go find the right ones...it would have meant down time and inconveinence. It's better to do things on your own time.

 

I replace and keep old belts too. Then give them to the person that buys the car from me. I've ordered belts and got them and they didn't fit. Good thing about the old one is that you know it will fit in an emergency. Just send them off with the new owner to keep your garage clean.

Planing on attempting to change the spark plugs on my 2010 it has 105k miles on it... and had the check engine turn on just last night got it checked at an advance auto and says that there is a misfire... so since I'm super tight on money and I've seen that here it says that it is rather simple id figure id try it myself... I have changed park plugs before on a 95 civic but that was years ago...

I'm a female that isn't scared to get her hands dirty! any advice?

I paid the dealer to do my plugs on my 2013 2.5i at 60k, seemed excessively expensive, but after reading what is involved might have been worth it... now I'm at 88k miles...

maybe I should change the gear fluids.

Our generation is a lot easier to change plugs on, than previous generations. I popped in new ngks a few months ago. Just the battery and air intake had to come out. If you have the tools, do it yourself and save some cash!

 

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Small hands will definitely be an advantage, that's for sure. All you really need is a spark plug socket, whatever size socket you need to get the coil packs off (10 or 12mm, can't remember), a 3" extension, and a ratchet wrench (maybe a knuckle, can't remember if I absolutely needed that or not). I was able to get the back pair of plugs out without pulling the battery or airbox, but I'm pretty lanky, and kinda had to will my arms down in there.

Very easy, took only 30 minutes to change

I've been looking for at least one YouTube on how to change the plugs on a 2010 Legacy, bot have yet to see anything. There are lots of vids on Ourbacks, but none for the 2010 Legacy. I went out to the garage on kind of get my bearings of where things are and what may need to be moved. The plugs seem to shrouded, on both sides by some kind of bracket that seems to support other external engine components.

I've been looking for at least one YouTube on how to change the plugs on a 2010 Legacy, bot have yet to see anything. There are lots of vids on Ourbacks, but none for the 2010 Legacy. I went out to the garage on kind of get my bearings of where things are and what may need to be moved. The plugs seem to shrouded, on both sides by some kind of bracket that seems to support other external engine components.

If I recall, cylinder 1&3 were easy. Just remove the intake box for more room. Cylinder 2 was easy as well. Cylinder 4 is the tricky one. On some Subaru's I was able to access it without too much issues. On others, I had to lift the engine up to gain access. Either way, a flex head Ratchet and proper tools make the job much easier. My advice is to remove what you can to free up space. Edited March 14, 2021 by phillbert

If I recall, cylinder 1&3 were easy. Just remove the intake box for more room. Cylinder 2 was easy as well. Cylinder 4 is the tricky one. On some Subaru's I was able to access it without too much issues. On others, I had to lift the engine up to gain access. Either way, a flex head Ratchet and proper tools make the job much easier. My advice is to remove what you can to free up space.

 

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Either the Legacy is the step child of the Subaru line. Or, it is massively difficult to work on. Because there so few how-to YouTube videos. The intake box is that box on top of the engine?

I'm saying this without having actually changed the plugs on a 2010 Legacy, but it should be identical to the Outback in that regard, or at least close enough that you could follow an Outback guide. The Outback is essentially a lifted Legacy wagon, so other than some subframe spacers and a couple of slightly longer/taller suspension components, they're pretty much the same.

 

Also, the intake manifold is on top of the engine, but you'd want to leave that alone. What phillbert is talking about is the air filter housing, which is on the passenger's side of the car just behind the headlight. I've changed my plugs without taking the filter box out, but I only tried that because it's a pain to get the rear half of the housing uninstalled on the GT.

Edited March 15, 2021 by cww516

Raise the engine to change 4 sparkplugs??? This is a Subaru we are talking here, not a Lambo or Porsche. Is this required for all 4 plugs? What wires... What does it take to replace the plug wires? I am almost afraid to ask.

I have done the plugs for 2.5i and GT, You don't need to lift the motor to do the spark plugs. The GT was a little harder to snake out the coil on the #4 (driverside rear).

just make sure you've got a 1 inch and 3 inch extension handy, and a universal joint socket, and they're all easy. once you get the battery and air box out of the way anyways...like dgood said #4 coil requires a bit of maneuvering, but it comes out easy enough, and the rest is cake

Just a couple/few weeks ago did the spark plugs on my 2012 GT. Taking the battery out on the drivers side is the way to go. I didn't have any issues getting either of them out. On the passenger side didn't even remove the airbox. Now it would be easier to do taking the airbox out but the clamp over the inlet had the screw facing downward and into the fender well with no easy way to get to it so rather than screw around with that I asked my teen son to contort his arms and he was able to get them out no problem. I'd say go for it. Once you get in there you'll get it figured out. I used my ratchet, a wobbler on #2 if I recall correctly, and a couple different length extensions (3", 12" and a longer one that was probably 18" or so) just to give me some options. Used the longer extensions with the wobbler just to clear everything and get some leverage.

 

I'd done this previously on a 2014 2.5i we used to have and same basic procedure except on that one I did remove the airbox if I recall correctly. Gives lots of room if you do that.