Rep Power: 0

I'm thinking of changing my spark plugs... How easy is it to do?

And should I buy the good stuff or just the generic brands??

But mainly, what effect will it have on my vehicle??

 
Rep Power: 225

Get either NGK's or Denso's. I just bought Denso Iridiums today, so we'll see how they work when they come in.

 
Rep Power: 359

What year of Civic do you have? I have an '01 and they are easy. If you want to get technical:

1. Remove the wire cover using a flathead on the 2 plastic screw thingies. The plastic peice on top of the engine that usually says Honda.

2. Remove the little nut from the Ignition Coils, careful those little buggers like to drop down into the bay and since they are black, not fun to find.

3. Lift the coils slightly so you can unplug the wire by squeezing the sides of the plastic clips for the wires and pulling it off.

4. Use a 5/8 I think plug socket to loosen the plugs and lift them out..

5. Put the new ones in using some anti seize compound, put about a drop the size of a sunflower seed, maybe little more on your finger and rub your finger around the threads to give them a nice coat. Tighten them to about 12lbs of Torque. Start by hand tightening them with the 5/8 plug socket on the end of an extension, if they don't turn easy back off and try again, do not, do not, do not strip them, or force them in some weird way. You should get a few nice even easy turns out of them by hand.

6. Put a dab of diaelectric grease into the ignition coils, helps if you buy the can of the stuff with the little plastic nozzel, I got some from Autozone. It's in a white and red can.

7. Slide the coils in most of the way far enough to plug the wires back in, push the coils back all the way down and put the little nuts back on.

8. Put the wire cover back on.

Done.

I replaced OEM with NGK Iridiums and have since replaced them with Denso Iridiums. I'm not sure if I noticed a difference, but it's definately just as good if not better. I just do them at 40,000, wayy early, but oh well.

 
Rep Power: 259

havnt changed mine since i purchased the car.. when should we do them? and are there any advantages from upgrading plugs on our motors? better gas milage? easier start up?

 
Rep Power: 314

book says 110k

i say like 60k

 
Rep Power: 0

Just replaced mine with NGK Iridiums... not much of a difference... maybe a tiny bit of better acceleration...

 
Rep Power: 0

its actually time to change mine also and i was planning on buying the oem one's from the dealer. would these be fine or should i get a different brand?

 
Rep Power: 314

dealer should sell you denso or NGK your good to go

 
Rep Power: 812

you realize dealer charges $100 for plugs right? for some stupid platinums that you can buy better ones for less than $50?

 
Rep Power: 225

For some reason with the new Denso's, my motor got a lil deeper sounding from the intake. Dunno what the deal is with that, but I like em so far.

 
Rep Power: 242

doubtfull, i don't see any difference with plugs

 
Rep Power: 812

yeah i didnt either going from new copper to iridium lol

 
Rep Power: 0

do you need those anti seize compound and diaelectric grease, or can you just install them (just take the old out and put in the new)?

 
Rep Power: 812

just install, do not add anti-seize! they only need to be torqued around 15 ft/lbs and will not get stuck later. the grease you can put on the tips if you want, the side that touches the ignition coil boot, but its not needed.

 
Rep Power: 280

Since the civic has been in my garage, I have only used ngk iridium spark plugs. It has been about a year, so I changed mine today in the parking lot @ work. They were not black, but a copper color near the tip, and the tip was gray. So I made sure to torque the new ones down more.

Before I changed them, I had to mash on the gas for a fast take off response, and my fuel consumption went up a little. now that the new ones are in, this is no longer an issue. It was funny though, b/c i called autozone, and asked them if they had the iridium plugs for my car, and she said NO, all we have is the NGK IX.

 
Rep Power: 256

so is it worth it to buy more expensive plugs??? the stealership wants to charge me $100 but for $100 i figure i might as well buy the best plugs i can get rite and just do it myself its not like its hard. I'm thinkin of gettin the NGK iridium ones. My car is pretty much stock engine.

 
Rep Power: 256

so is it worth it to buy more expensive plugs??? the stealership wants to charge me $100 but for $100 i figure i might as well buy the best plugs i can get rite and just do it myself its not like its hard. I'm thinkin of gettin the NGK iridium ones. My car is pretty much stock engine.

 
Rep Power: 256

so is it worth it to buy more expensive plugs??? the stealership wants to charge me $100 but for $100 i figure i might as well buy the best plugs i can get rite and just do it myself its not like its hard. I'm thinkin of gettin the NGK iridium ones. My car is pretty much stock engine.

 
Rep Power: 242

Jamie, plugs don't make much difference, but i would go to a princess auto or something instead of the dealership. They are power expensive though.. i got the best i could get at work for cost and they were 60

 
Rep Power: 812

i got denso iridium pack for $50 and i like them more than ngk which i can get for $25. the ngk dont seem to last very long and usually about 15k miles you can tell they are getting old. the denso also has a smaller center electrode.