Mechanic Approved
 

My mechanic (shop owner) checked out my BRZ today. First thing he said was "pop the hood". He definitely had a different eye than me - noting things I hadn't and was impressed by the overall package. He asked that I take him for a ride after I was done with break in period. Was very excited about the car. Next time we'll put it on the lift and look under some of the aero panels. :)

Nice! My friends and I were impressed with a lot of little things - the oil filter location, the starter location, the size of the a/c compressor, the angle of the radiator, even the little rubber flaps on either side of the wiper cowl that would bend when you open the hood. Cool little details!

Yes, oil filter, alternator, throttle body are all at the easy-to-be reach locations. However, when the time comes for spark plugs replacement, it is like rebuilding the engine.....lift the engine up to get access to the plugs.....

huh? how is unbolting the motor mounts and jacking the motor up a few inches anything like cracking the block open?

I'm sure people will find a way to replace them without lifting the motor. If I recall, STIs require you to lift the motor in the service manual, but people are able to change them with the motor still attached.

Heres what gets me about the oil filter location, still super conviente but I bet getting the drain plug off is going to be a pain in the ass.

yeah...the location on the plugs is interesting, trying to get a timing pickup on the motor we noticed there is about 3x the width of the timing pickup clamp between the head and the frame rail...so about 1-1.375" I honestly think the plugs are longer than that,

I expect I will be drilling holes in the frame and welding tubing in the holes to allow plug access.

With as much Dyno time mine is going to see for calibration, it seems the only reasonable way.

Ofcourse this was on another companies FR-S since Subaru still hasn't produced my car...

Yeah, the spark plugs are the only thing that will be relatively difficult. But does anyone have a service manual? How often are they supposed to be replaced? Most new iridium spark plugs last between 60,000-120,000 miles.

If someone has a link to the maintenance schedule, that would be awesome.

Here you go! :)

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8374

There's a hole in the front under tray that allows easy access from under the car.

Ahh, found it. It's about halfway down in PM-3. Thanks. :thumbsup:

So it's every 60,000 miles. I guess that's typical for a sports car with iridium spark plugs.