Spark plug removal? Changed your feelings for BRZ?

[the_3d_man]

I hope it's not as bad as they make it out to be. I can do the plugs in my Legacy with relatively little pain without having to do anything crazy. So maybe there is enough room on the BRZ/FR-S to get your hand in there and fish everything out. I would love it if someone could take a pic looking down through the gap to give us an idea of how much room there is.

[Enemies]

Haha, put me in the group that's going to have to pay to get this done. :P

[azian_advanced]

Originally Posted by Dave-ROR

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..

my bad, messed up the wording. TRD's are rebadged Denso plugs.

TRD IK22/IK24 (Denso)

Don't buy the TRD ones because they're double the price than Denso's unless you want the TRD lettering on the plugs for the extra cost.

[uspspro]

With Iridium plugs, it's not a big deal... just change them when you replace the clutch

[FRSCoupe]

From my research on Subaru owners many customers have their engine removed for various issues anyway before 100k so sparkplugs is least of worries :P (runs)

[Rampage]

I understand the OPs position. While many (most?) people on here can turn a wrench on their own car there are millions of people in the US that do not have a clue about cars or engines. The first time I looked at the boxer engine in the FR-S/BRZ, I thought to myself: How the hell are you supposed to change the spark plugs or the coil pack? That is coming from a guy who has worked on cars for 43 years!

The difficulty or high cost of performing routine maintenance functions will likely dissuade some buyers from buying the car. Guys like me that started working on cars in the late 60s and early 70s do not think about only having to change spark plugs every 100K, or coils, or valve cover gaskets. We expect the worse and when we eyeball a new car that is one of the things we think about. If my sons or daughters were interested in the car I would still be thinking the same thing because if it breaks I know who is going to be called to work on it.

Just sayin.

[King Tut]

In the Cayman R you have to drop the engine to remove the intake. Be happy with what you got.

[Jayde]

Originally Posted by King Tut

In the Cayman R you have to drop the engine to remove the intake. Be happy with what you got.

Ouch. I've always thought when it came to Porsche, if you wanted to do any work to the engine, you might as well just drop it out of the car. Looks like I was right!

[Dave-ROR]

Originally Posted by Jayde

Ouch. I've always thought when it came to Porsche, if you wanted to do any work to the engine, you might as well just drop it out of the car. Looks like I was right!

I've never dropped a Cayman engine, but it's definately easier for many things to just drop a 911 engine instead of trying to work on it in the car. On the plus side, they are incredibly easy to remove from the car.

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by 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.

I took a quick look. I don't see any way you are going to be able to get to them from the top. Even if you could get the wires out, I don't think you could get a socket in there to get to the plugs.

Might be different from the bottom but I doubt it.

Add me to the "pay someone elser" list. Either that, or trade the car before it needs it!

[fistpoint]

Some of you are being too harsh to the OP. I started a similar post the other day. I do not have the time or tools to do the job, it must be done by a mechanic for me instead.

The issue is having faith that they put every single little nut and bolt back rather than tossing it over their shoulder. Since there is obviously going to be lots of little things removed, it makes 100% logical sense that there is a lot of stuff to forget or simply overlook when reinstalling it all.

My personal experience with mechanics absolutely worries me in regards to tiny nuts and bolts not going back where they belong. Yes, it worries me. All they have to do is be lazy/stupid once, since we're only getting it done once.

[AZP Installs]

It is no different than a sports car v8 or a fwd v6 where the back 3 cylinders are up gainst the firewall. I've seen many of a maxima where the intake manifold needed to be removed to do the plugs.

Any Subaru mechanic worth their salt can do them. We charge about 150 with oem platinum plugs for the change on the Wrx/sti as a point of reference.

-mike


11+ Years Maintaining, Modifying and Educating TriState Subaru Enthusiasts.
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[Dave-ROR]

Originally Posted by fistpoint

Some of you are being too harsh to the OP. I started a similar post the other day. I do not have the time or tools to do the job, it must be done by a mechanic for me instead.

The issue is having faith that they put every single little nut and bolt back rather than tossing it over their shoulder. Since there is obviously going to be lots of little things removed, it makes 100% logical sense that there is a lot of stuff to forget or simply overlook when reinstalling it all.

My personal experience with mechanics absolutely worries me in regards to tiny nuts and bolts not going back where they belong. Yes, it worries me. All they have to do is be lazy/stupid once, since we're only getting it done once.

The mechanic concern is true for EVERY bit of maintenance. I've known people at dealerships who have forgotten to put oil in a car during an oil change and only remembered when they noticed the oil light didn't go off.

Find a mechanic that you trust if you don't feel comfortable doing the work yourself.

However, again, something you will have to do in probably 6 years or so shouldn't be a massive concern IMO. If the oil changes cost $400, and rotors cost $600 each and pads cost $400 per axle set, etc I could see some concerns, or if you had a WC Porsche motor with possible IMS failures, etc.. but it's spark plugs.. and likely won't require that much work as described in the manual.

[Laika]

No one seems to be commenting about the bonus of not having to change a timing belt...I don't care if I have to change the rotation of the Earth to change the spark plugs, at least I have a timing chain.