$140 Power Steering Pressure Hose
$40 04 Rear Valve Cover
$20 Valve Cover Gasket
$20 Upper Plenum Gasket
$70 OEM Spark Plugs
$5 ATF Fluid
$5 Blue RTV
$20 Wiper Blades

Doing the spark plugs wasn't nearly as bad as I had thought. Greg's how-to was phenomenal (Thanks Greg!). The valve cover was easy too, although there was a lot of RTV from the factory, so I had to really pry that thing off. Well worth getting a replacement valve cover when getting the spark plug change stuff, because sure enough one of the rear spark plug holes was filled with oil.

The power steering hose was a PITA, but had to be done to stop the leaking. Had been going though 1/2 qt a week!

Most expensive and time consuming spark plug change I've ever done, but it sure made a difference. At 90k miles I noticed that the detonation is gone (it was mild and just started this summer, only cylinder 3 according the the spark plugs), idle is smoother, and there's a lot more oomph when the throttle is mashed. Well worth the cost and the hassle. Gotta keep this baby on the road!

 

good work. Thatll keep it goin.. hah
that reminds me.. i gotta get some new blades.. Im gonna have a maintenance day pretty soon.. good idea.

 

70 bucks for spark plugs?!?!??

advance sells denso iridiums for 7 a piece..
and the NGK Platinum (OEM) for about 4 a piece...

 

True, but if he got them from the dealer, they'd probably mark it up to at least 10 a piece...like Courtesy does (and Courtesy's on the 'cheap' side with regards to purchasing from a dealer).

Regardless, performing maintenance is a good feeling, especially when the results are obvious. It just hurts when you buy the parts.

I need to do my plugs soon too...almost 130k on the clock and on originals most-likely.

Worthless comment: I just changed my swaybar bushings yesterday to Moog...and after all the problems I had with replacing the end-links, thought I'd be caught up in another fiasco; however, it went pretty smooth...and quick! That was a first!

 

To the OP, when you first pulled your plugs, did you have oil all the way up the tube? If so, did you drain your oil before changing the valve cover? How did you get all of the oil out of the tube? Thanks.

 

When I pulled the spark plug socket and extension out they were covered in oil. I stuck a rag down there to absorb what I could before pulling the spark plug out, then just let the rest drain into the combustion chamber. Car smoked for 2 blocks! Draining the oil would have zero effect on how much oil was in the spark plug tube.

I went with OEM plugs at the prison rape price just because I didn't feel like experimenting with non-OEM plugs. It's a big enough job to do that the high price was worth it not to have to redo. $11/each plus tax. Found the same plugs online for about $9, but after shipping it wasn't enough savings to justify the wait.

 

nice

 

when you say "covered with oil" was the whole tube flooded with oil or just enough to coat your tools?

 

Flooded. Probably 2-3oz worth.

 

im at 99k miles and still are on OEM spark plugs. car still runs great and the plugs are rated to 105k miles so i think ill wait it out =]

 

Im at 116 and STILL on OEM plugs from when i got the car @ 70k miles...

 

i dont think the VQ30 has the 105k mile tune up interval though does it?

 

At least wait until the evil AZ summer is over, I dunno WTF I was thinking by doing this yesterday when it was 105 in my garage haha.

Even though this cars have the 100k interval, it made a big improvement in the car's performance by changing at 90k. Once the novelty of having all my power back wears off, I'll see if it helps with mileage. I'd love to get what the window sticker says I should

 

haha yeah i think i'll wait til december when its a nice 60 degrees out to flush my coolant as well. my right now my car still drives like new. well ive never driven it new, so i wouldn't know, but the guy i bought this car from drove it like a granny so i doubt the spark plugs have been put through much abuse. plus my throttle response is so insane i feel like im going to break a gear everytime i step on the gas haha

 

Yeah those AZ winters can be brutal...

...ps: you'd love Chicago!

 

haha well at least in Chicago i could do car work in the summer without dying from dehydration

 

I've never done the plugs myself but over the years (maybe the opinion changed) I've always gotten the impression that there was a bias towards using OEM and not something else. I know the dealership would say the plugs are $10 each and that was two years ago....(they installed them for free plus fuel filter, long story)