Danny350z

Well, after almost a 2 week delay thanks to Royal Mail, they finally decided to deliver the new spark plugs (along with an assortment of other packages we'd assumed were nicked or lost). Fitted them and it started on the first go. Unfortunately, when fastening one of the coilovers back down the bolt head sheared off (happened just as it was starting to get tight) so now I've one coilover that isn't secured and a bolt I can't get back out. Will I have any problems with this (the wiring and cables above it are holding it somewhat firmly in place)? Also, I'm still unsure on this oil issue. Now it starts and I can let the oil cycle a bit I can't get a decent reading from the beyond useless dipstick. It's over but I can't really tell how much as it varies every time I put the stick in, sometimes just slightly over the H, sometimes about 1-2cm over. At most it's going to be a litre over (what I put in before I did the plugs) but then that depends on what the oil level was at the time I garaged it. As it has to be MOT'd anyway I might just get them to do the oil change, so will I be safe driving it there? What should the oil pressure be at idle?

Lol, I read on another forum you had to remove a load of bolts and a big panel to gain access but I wasn't sure how accurate that was. I've not lifted the car up yet (was planning to do it whilst I wait on the new plugs), I wanted a general idea of what I'm looking for. I managed to get the spark plugs out, I'm sure I'll manage to do this. I'd love to take it to a garage but a) Royal Mail have yet to deliver the replacement plugs and I don't want to start it up with too much oil in it.

Don't you need to keep your finger pressed on the ESP button for a few seconds to actually turn it off properly? Should I have said that? I tried it once.... as I was coming out of Tescos on to a small roundabout. I somehow managed to get the car to spin 180 degrees despite barely moving at the time, although it was absolutely throwing it down. Luckily it was late so the roads were quiet.

Where's the sump plug, do I need to remove something to get to it?

Heh, didn't work, the tube was too light so I imagine it just floated on the surface. How much messing about is the oil change?

as far as ive been led to believe, putting the HT leads in the correct places is the problem with all off ill be doing one at a time as im a mong did you remove your strut brace? Unfortunately I didn't know about the HT leads until after I did make sure they were positioned by their respective coil pack though so hopefully they won't get mixed up. They should really as there's not much slack on the cables so it should be difficult to mix them up. I left the strut brace on. It's not a major issue, it's the cables that cause the problems but you just remove one or two of their brackets as someoen else pointed out.

It's not too hard, just a bit fiddly. I'm doing it and I know nothing about cars. I already removed the old ones and I'm just waiting on the replacements, hopefully I'll still remember where everything went.

I was planning to use a large syringe and bit of plastic tubing? Draining it means lifting it (not much room in the garage) and removing a load of bolts and something from the underneath, and the opinions I've read elsewhere suggest it'll be a pain trying to plug it whilst there's oil still inside.

Cheers. Sent him a PM. Next question, how much oil is too much? When I added some more oil (as it was a bit low), a bit more went in at the end that I'd intended. Now when I check the dipstick it's a bit over the H mark (just near that first bend in the stick). Should I attempt to drain some or is it okay to leave it as it is? NVM: I see it's supposed to be between the L and H so I'll get some tubing and syphon the rest out, saves having to drain it.

Link to a reasonably priced site or member who can supply them at a good price? What am I looking at per plug? Local shop wants £11 each for platinum tipped.

I have removed the plugs, opinions:

Any tips on attempting it without moving the brace? I can get at them all (at least on the left side anyway), it just seems there's very little give with a lot of the wires. The little grey parts that plug into the side of the coil pack, can they be removed making it easier to pull out?

So after everything else failed I managed to get one of the spark plugs out (the far one on the left as you look straight at the engine, seemed the easiest, yeah right!) and the consensus is they need replacing. I'm pretty pi**ed off, the guy who last serviced it was supposed to have replaced them but clearly hasn't. He was a mate of a mate (has his own garage) which makes it even more infuriating. I might have a go replacing them myself, it's just a right pain. They could have at least made them a little more accessible rather than hiding them under all the wiring, etc. Ah well, it's a learning curve I guess.

Skill level? The basics. It's not the plugs that I find daunting, it's that strut brace. To me that seems the sort of thing that might screw up the handling if I don't put it back properly. I'm in Blackpool. I know a few 'professionals' who could probably sort it out but I kind of like to attempt these things myself (otherwise, how do you learn?) until I reach my limits and concede it's time to call in someone who knows better

I saw a guide on another Zed forum about replacing the plugs and it was a strut brace off job. Can it be done without removing that? Because that seems the sort of thing I don't want to be messing with (too tight, not tight enough, etc).