Spark Plug Install Instructions

I did zippy tied the broken one. It seem to hold just fine. Word of advice, don't remove the coil pack connectors. They will break!

 

Yikes! Sorry to hear about that; I've removed them the last 2 times I've done spark plugs on my 05 2.5T

Yikes! Sorry to hear about that; I've removed them the last 2 times I've done spark plugs on my 05 2.5T

 

Yeah. I guess the heat has gotten to the plastic tabs making it very brittle. I barely touch it with my thumb and it fell apart

 

So from that one mistake, I did the rest of the plugs without taking the connectors off.

The last few times I've changed my oil since buying my new plugs I've looked at those coil packs sitting there in plain view and contemplated getting the new plugs installed. My car seems to have lost power in the past few months and I'm hoping the major cause is the old plugs so I got all ready to make the change today after I did my oil. I know that most people, including the vacation pics, say to go from above but from below they appear to be so accessible and for the life of me I can't see how coming from above gives any more clearance for getting my hands in or the coil packs or plugs out. I guess I can envision that wrenching might be easier from the top. Anyway I got as far as loosening the front driver's side plug (one of the "easy" ones) and backing it almost out before deciding I better not get totally committed because my wife had to take the car in 2 hours. I don't want to have to jack up the engine nor give up easily and don't really have $200 +/- to spend on this but now I'm contemplating hiring a local shop to do it on the assumption that the dealer will be more money and may not want to install my plugs even though they are NGK and OEM heat range. I'd especially be interested in opinions as to why going from the top may be better and maybe I'll take one more try at it before surrendering.

This is really easy from the top. less than an hour(I have a cold air intake, so that helped) I have all different bits and pieces to go from a 1/4 to a 1/2 drive and vice versa, plus extensions for both. If you have some of those drive kink/angle adapters, they help also. Using a combination of some of these, I was able to find the correct length to get them all out easily and I was even able to get a 1/4" drive torque wrench in to the back plugs.

This is really easy from the top. less than an hour(I have a cold air intake, so that helped) I have all different bits and pieces to go from a 1/4 to a 1/2 drive and vice versa, plus extensions for both. If you have some of those drive kink/angle adapters, they help also. Using a combination of some of these, I was able to find the correct length to get them all out easily and I was even able to get a 1/4" drive torque wrench in to the back plugs.

 

The top was easiest. I did my plugs about a month ago and I found a easier way to get to the spark plugs. Of course I didn't figure it out until I was almost done. What you do is put the angle adapter to the spark plug socket first, and then add the extension after that. It gives you enough room on both sides to have the extension come out right to a ratchet. You also have enough room to get a torque wrench in.

 

If I did it again I could do it in half hour tops taking everything out. Hope this helps.

 

It would go

spark plug socket > angle adapter > extension

I also have a broken tab. What exactly are you zip tying it to (mine kept slipping off the coil pack body)?

 

I have a metal strip that put inder the bolt, then I can snug the zip tie to that. Cheap connectors.....

Edited August 21, 2011 by slowGT
Found a fix

Well I finally did this today. My right rocker cover gasket leak was getting worse and I wanted to change the spin-on transmission filter so I figured I'd combine a bunch of things to economize on time. Having never done the plugs before I'm theorizing when I say it was a lot easier to do the plugs with the rocker cover off. However I wouldn't recommend taking the cover off for the sole purpose of making the plug change easier . I can't imagine doing the driver's side without removing the battery. It's too bad that the fuse box can't be removed . A number of the tips offered in this thread were very helpful, among them putting the universal joint on the plug socket and undoing the front end of the guard on the driver's side frame. My vacation pix said to unplug the wire harness from #4 (back driver's side) and I don't see how I would have gotten it out without doing so. In addition to ones mentioned earlier in the thread, a couple of tools that came in handy were a 1" extension and a 3/8" thumbwheel ratchet <http://www.harborfreight.com/3-piece-thumbwheel-ratchet-set-94011.html>. I had to use my brake adjustment tool a couple times to separate extensions and the socket in order to get them out of the spark plug tube. I was able to use my torque wrench to set all 4 plugs.

 

I did everything from above with the car on the ramps. I had originally thought I would use my jack to put the car back on the ground after my oil change and rocker gaskets were done but I didn't and I think the higher level was less strain on my back with no perceived downside. The couple times I needed the extra height I just stood on the edge of my ramp. I didn't time the project but I know that even with the less complicated passenger side it took me well in excess of an hour just for the plug phase of the work.

 

The plugs coming out have about 60,000 miles on them. They look normal and not in bad shape. Only one had opened up to as much as .035 but as might be expected they all had gaps larger than .030. All the new NGK ILFR6B's were less than .030 as they should be.

A knuckle extension.

 

 

What's a knuckle extension? A Wobbly?

 

http://www.toolguys.com/files/imagecache/product/products/KP3032006.png

What's a knuckle extension? A Wobbly?

 

http://www.toolguys.com/files/imagecache/product/products/KP3032006.png

What I'd call a universal joint. Worked pretty good attached to the socket on the end of the extension rather than what I think of as the more usual on the socket behind the extension.

Also, remove the little rubber plug holder that sits inside the plug socket. It took me a half hour to get the socket off the plug because of this.

 

Not sure if it's been mentioned, because I haven't looked through all 40+ pages, but I use the spark plug socket to remove the old plugs, and to put the new ones in, just a thread or two. Then I remove the SP socket and use a regular deep 5/8" socket to tighten the plugs in place.

 

Learned your lesson a few years back as well, and that sucked.

I'm only on page 16

Not sure if it's been mentioned, because I haven't looked through all 40+ pages, but I use the spark plug socket to remove the old plugs, and to put the new ones in, just a thread or two. Then I remove the SP socket and use a regular deep 5/8" socket to tighten the plugs in place.

 

Learned your lesson a few years back as well, and that sucked.

 

In my automotive course we just cut down the rubber in half, kept the extra half as a spare, and put some dielectric grease on the piece in the plug.

You guys are over-complicating things. This is the ultimate tool that makes plug changing a snap:

 

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item.asp?P65=&tool=hand&item_ID=2144&group_ID=1349&store=snapon-store&dir=catalog

 

It seems to be custom made for Subaru heads, perfect length.

Yep $60.00 worth of over-complicating

I think I bought one off ebay for $20 or so. But trust me, it is worth every penny of $60.

Not sure if it's been mentioned, because I haven't looked through all 40+ pages, but I use the spark plug socket to remove the old plugs, and to put the new ones in, just a thread or two. Then I remove the SP socket and use a regular deep 5/8" socket to tighten the plugs in place.

 

Learned your lesson a few years back as well, and that sucked.

 

These are really not that bad if you have done a few. The best way to start the new plug is slip a piece of vacuum line over the tower on the plug, (use a piece about 3-4 inches long). It works as a flexable extension and you will never cross thread a plug because the hose will spin if the threads crossed. I usually run the plug all the way in with the tubing, then torque them.

 

Also, some cars have a fiber type insulation on the inside of the frame rail. Pop the clip out and let it hang down. This will give you another 1/4 to work with between the head and the frame rail on the back two plugs. I dont know why some cars have this insulation and some do not but I see it randomly.

^ Yeah, one of my LGTs has this insulation, the other doesn't. The one that has is an earlier build, so maybe they eliminated it as a cost saving measure.

 

EDIT: checked. Yeah the insulators were there to till some date in Nov 2004. Part # 90815AG170 and 90815AG180 if someone wants to retrofit Also need four clips part # 94070GA490ML.

Edited October 27, 2011 by unclemat

^ Yeah, one of my LGTs has this insulation, the other doesn't. The one that has is an earlier build, so maybe they eliminated it as a cost saving measure.

 

EDIT: checked. Yeah the insulators were there to till some date in Nov 2004. Part # 90815AG170 and 90815AG180 if someone wants to retrofit Also need four clips part # 94070GA490ML.

My October '04-built '05 has it and I think it was a help to rotate it out of the way when I did my plugs. It doesn't look thick enough to make any difference but with the tight tolerances at that location even an 1/8th of an inch can be a help.

Thanks for the great write up! Just finished the install. Took about an hour:)

Dude... no doubt that the driver's side rear was a real PITA. I beat my hands to hamburger trying to get it all back in and then had a realization. It took about 10 mins to take off the bottom plastic pieces and loosen the LH engine mount. 30 seconds later I had it jacked up a few inches and HOLY COW it went in like butter.

 

I highly recommend that when you do this install that you considers just loosening those darn engine mounts and jack it up a few inches. 10 minutes of extra work up front will save you 45 mins in the long-run. I'm just saying...makes all the difference in the world!

Dude... no doubt that the driver's side rear was a real PITA. I beat my hands to hamburger trying to get it all back in and then had a realization. It took about 10 mins to take off the bottom plastic pieces and loosen the LH engine mount. 30 seconds later I had it jacked up a few inches and HOLY COW it went in like butter.

 

I highly recommend that when you do this install that you considers just loosening those darn engine mounts and jack it up a few inches. 10 minutes of extra work up front will save you 45 mins in the long-run. I'm just saying...makes all the difference in the world!

 

Not necessary. It's just matter of technique.

Dude... no doubt that the driver's side rear was a real PITA. I beat my hands to hamburger trying to get it all back in and then had a realization. It took about 10 mins to take off the bottom plastic pieces and loosen the LH engine mount. 30 seconds later I had it jacked up a few inches and HOLY COW it went in like butter.

 

I highly recommend that when you do this install that you considers just loosening those darn engine mounts and jack it up a few inches. 10 minutes of extra work up front will save you 45 mins in the long-run. I'm just saying...makes all the difference in the world!

 

You mean like how I did in post #595?

Any need to undo anything other than the engine mount frame nuts, e.g., TMIC or pitch-stop (dogbone) before the motor can be lifted slightly? Going to do this today in the garage and thinking that lifting the motor makes sense. Presume that a 4x4 under the crank pulley supported by a jack would be adequate for the "lift"? TIA.

I wouldn't jack the engine up using the crank pulley. A block of wood under the oil pan is okay.

 

I was able to just remove the two engine mount nuts and then use a block of wood under the oil pan to jack it up when I was changing my oil pan. So you should be okay to do the same I would think.

and you didn't undo anything else? My plan is to take out the battery on DS and the intake box on the PS and then undo the nuts and lift. Presume yours was a similar lift.