Spark plug removal? Changed your feelings for BRZ?

[BMWDavid]

By now some of you have read the spark plug removal instructions in the service manual.

Yeow! Has this soured anyone on getting a BRZ/FR-S? It has caused me to rethink it a bit. Still waiting for my car to arrive and I'll need to see how I fit in it and give it a quick run down the road before making final decision to buy the car.

But the spark plug issue will be in my mind.

[Dave-ROR]

Something cheap thats a PITA that you'll need to do in ~5-6 years makes you rethink buying a car?

[atledreier]

The what now?

I didn't get the manual, what's the procedure?

[Zgrinch]

Originally Posted by Dave-ROR

Something cheap thats a PITA that you'll need to do in ~5-6 years makes you rethink buying a car?

Took the words right out of my mouth.

[Dave-ROR]

Originally Posted by atledreier

The what now?

I didn't get the manual, what's the procedure?

It's a major pain you have to lift the engine, remove a bunch of parts, etc I've pulled motors just to clean them well, replace hoses, replace gaskets, etc before so I guess this doesn't bother me any. IMO it just looks like a good time to freshen up seals, gaskets, etc also.

I could see it being a problem for those who don't work on their own cars but still not enough of one to not buy the car. Heck it's not as bad as the hose from hell on a mr2 turbo

[BMWDavid]

Originally Posted by Dave-ROR

Something cheap thats a PITA that you'll need to do in ~5-6 years makes you rethink buying a car?

Well that might be a bit harsh and I fully understand your position. I was just a bit disapointed to see what a PITA it would be.

Kind of reminds me of the Porsche 964 and 993 with their dual plugged heads. The lower set of plugs required the removal of the mufflers and many of them never have had their lower plugs changed.

[Dave-ROR]

Originally Posted by BMWDavid

Well that might be a bit harsh and I fully understand your position. I was just a bit disapointed to see what a PITA it would be.

Kind of reminds me of the Porsche 964 and 993 with their dual plugged heads. The lower set of plugs required the removal of the mufflers and many of them never have had their lower plugs changed.

I've seen them on a RS America Another good excuse to "upgrade" the exhaust lol

And I figured shock treatment would be the best reply.

[Spaceywilly]

seriously? you're not going to buy this car because it's "hard" to change the spark plugs? wow... grow a pair dude, it's still something you can do yourself it will just take more time. And even if you want to pay someone, it will only be once every 6 years or so. This thread is ridiculous, nobody is seriously going to change their mind about the car over spark plugs. I'm guessing you were already having second thoughts and just looking for an easy excuse to get out. All I can say is that if you really change your mind over this you're missing out on an awesome car for a completely bullshit reason.

[thermobox]

It's a boxer. Not inline, v, straight, etc. The plugs are always on the outside.

[n2oinferno]

Originally Posted by Spaceywilly

seriously? you're not going to buy this car because it's "hard" to change the spark plugs? wow... grow a pair dude, it's still something you can do yourself it will just take more time. And even if you want to pay someone, it will only be once every 6 years or so.

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:

[Spaceywilly]

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.

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.

[Ranatsu]

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

[azian_advanced]

changing spark plugs seems to be the only major PITA maintenance item. all else are relatively easy. the size of the engine relative to the engine bay also makes it easy to work on than most cars. so the way i look at it is that changing the spark plugs vs. all other replacement items sort of balance themselves out. but with all the advantages the FRS/BRZ has to offer, i wouldn't let the difficulty in spark plug replacement be an influential factor when buying a car since it doesn't get replaced often enough.

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

[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.