Spark plug removal? Changed your feelings for BRZ?

[mark]

Originally Posted by Spaceywilly

If the oil changes were a PITA I could see the point. The Civic Si for example requires you to remove the front wheel to change your oil. That did really turn me off of that car. But spark plugs are just not something you change often enough for me to see it as a problem at all, especially when you look at how easy and clean everything is in the engine bay. It won't be a problem at all. Any mechanic will tell you, Subarus are very easy cars to work on except for the spark plugs.

taking off a wheel on a civic annoys you? really? I would not want you to work on my car if youre too lazy to do it properly.

ive take R32 GTR turbos off with nothing but hand tools. in 6 hours thats an accomplishment. plugs on a MCVR36 camry is harder than EJ20/25 motors

[the_3d_man]

Originally Posted by eikond

I have mixed feelings about this topic. The difficulty of changing the spark plugs wouldn't dissuade me from buy the car new.. but it would certainly make me think twice about buying one used in a few years.

I've had a long string of Nissan 240sx's.. I can't tell you how many times I needed to pull spark plugs as part of diagnosis as you're working on the car. Being able to swap plugs to find a misfire, check the color of the tips to see if it's rich or lean, do compression tests, and other stuff makes a used car or a modified car easy to live with. Having to lift a motor to do any of these things will make this an unfriendly car to own and modify when it's a bit older. I'm not a big fan of this.

My thoughts exactly as I was reading the procedure.

[Jayde]

Originally Posted by n2oinferno

That's not entirely true. When I was living in an apartment I had nowhere to work on my car. Wasn't even able to do my own oil changes. And I have the feeling that some people see "pull engine = ridiculous labor cost" which can factor into future planning. I'm just saying, it might be something to take into consideration for some people.

When I saw that it required lifting the engine, I thought, oh wow that'll be a pain.

And then I thought:

You, my friend, have just made my day with that picture.

[aethelwulf]

Originally Posted by Ranatsu

If its even remotely similiar to changing the plugs in the WRXs or STi I've owned.. It will be a cake job.

Yeah, the STi procedure says you need to lift the engine to do the plugs, but I did them myself without lifting it fairly easily. Now, who knows how much harder the BRZ is to do, but I think that there are plenty of people that work on subarus and have gotten past this issue and it won't be as bad as it seems.

[Dave-ROR]

Originally Posted by n2oinferno

That's not entirely true. When I was living in an apartment I had nowhere to work on my car. Wasn't even able to do my own oil changes. And I have the feeling that some people see "pull engine = ridiculous labor cost" which can factor into future planning. I'm just saying, it might be something to take into consideration for some people.

When I saw that it required lifting the engine, I thought, oh wow that'll be a pain.

And then I thought:

Agree on the apt complex issue but hopefully most have a friend/family member whose garage/driveway they can use.

Well you don't really pull the engine if you are the dealership, and I bet you can jack it up instead too if you want to risk it. A hoist will be able to lift it just enough to do it also..

I also wonder if it's easier to drop the subframe with the engine mounted a few inchs.. time will tell. Not something I'm worried about looking into anytime soon

[Dave-ROR]

Originally Posted by azian_advanced

if you ARE going to replace your plugs, you might as well go with good ones. i recommend using denso iridium IK22's. not sure if you've got them over-the-counter but i had to get mine from a tuning shop. it's what the tuner recommended. also they are just rebadged TRD plugs

You mean the TRD plugs are just rebadged denso plugs.. I'm not sure if that's accurate but Denso definately doesn't rebadge "TRD" plugs regardless..

[Draco-REX]

Just because the service manual saus you have to lift the engine, it does not mean you ACTUALLY have to. I'm pretty sure theres less room between the heads and frame rails on the STI and those plugs you can pull without lifting the engine.

Hell, I know a guy who can do head gaskets on a SOHC boxer without removing the engine.

Don't panic.

[Spaceywilly]

Originally Posted by mark

taking off a wheel on a civic annoys you? really? I would not want you to work on my car if youre too lazy to do it properly.

ive take R32 GTR turbos off with nothing but hand tools. in 6 hours thats an accomplishment. plugs on a MCVR36 camry is harder than EJ20/25 motors

Cool story. Taking the wheel off is not what annoys me. What annoys me is that a job that should be simple and take 5 minutes now takes 30 minutes for no reason other than bad engineering.

[dsgerbc]

Originally Posted by Draco-REX

Don't panic.

This. Quite a few Subaru service manuals had ass-backwards procedures to do relatively simple tasks, that could be gotten around by the DIY mechanic.

And, like I said in the other thread, nothing prevents Subaru from coming up with a special tool that will reach the plugs w/o lifting the engine .

[BMWDavid]

Wow! A lot of reply's on this. As some have said perhaps it won't be as bad as Subaru says it is.

We need someone that has a BRZ/FR-S to take a close look and see what it really looks like to remove the plugs.

[Mavrik]

Having worked/rebuilt several subaru engines in my past, both turbo duel overhead cam and single n/a engines... the spark plug placement doesn't bother me a bit. Its no different in placement then any of their other engines. Seems to have more room than an STi infact.

If anything I am more impressed with the BRZ that Subaru kept a lot of their tried and true stuff under the hood.

[brzninja]

I've only have to replace my spark plugs once...maybe twice in the past 10 years? I'm not worried about it.

[FrX]

It's not any worse that what it takes to replace the plugs on my SC300 (intake manifold wraps over the head). I am not overly concerned about it. I would have bought a Camry if I wanted a pain free car.

[AZP Installs]

Yeah, the manual may say to lift the motor but if you find a good subie expert, I bet they can do it the same as the rest of the subies. If there is an air pump it may need to be removed as well. Not to mention most plugs are good for 60-100k miles these days.

-mike


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