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How to - Spark plug change


-Bradders-

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Bare with me guys its my first how to, i dont normally bother taking pictures etc so i may have missed a few pics but i'll try to fill in with the write up... Excuse the photo quality i used my trusty 5 year old s2!

 

 

So first things first heres what i used:

 

bradders1.jpg.1a0de0a14267723cb05d54dd01bdb5a4.jpg

 

ratchet x 2

2 x extension bars

8mm socket

10mm socket

14mm socket x 2 normal and long

Phillips head screw driver

flat head screwdriver

spark plug 14mm socket

Pliers

 

10mm spanner but dont need it, missed a bolt and used it to get to where the socket couldnt!

 

This is purely everything i used feel free to add anything you think i may have used to make life easier.

 

 

 

First things first: Remove the strut brace, 6 x 14mm bolts 2 x 14mm nuts:

 

 

bradders2.jpg.a2dcfe622c5c4c4699aa26adef345831.jpg

 

The black plastic you can see here holds the cables to the strut, this need to be slid off towards the engine:

 

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this is the underneath once removed:

 

bradders4.jpg.0ee3aef58ec2cc8fe1d4e9e9da76160d.jpg

 

using the pliers, pinch the inside of the 2 plastic clips, this will easily slide the other cables attached to the strut off:

 

bradders5.jpg.65f8385cfdd039bb5afd6ce1428375f6.jpg

 

Your ready to lift it off!

 

you then need to remove the engine cover, remove the oil cap first:

 

bradders6.jpg.60b43acc1f79ec8453d1f19db26e4081.jpg

 

you can see from the above picture 2 x 10mm bolts and 2 x 10mm nuts on the black cover remove those:

 

bradders7.jpg.df6164c86e54349b87b464cac248e89c.jpg

 

Then you need to remove the air intake pipe, pretty easy, 2 jubilee style clips at each end, for the airbox end, i used a 10mm socket but you can use the phillips too:

 

bradders8.jpg.15bdca8cc85100f08ffbfef9acde46f5.jpg

 

the other end, either a flat head or an 8mm socket:

 

bradders9.jpg.04d6b7ab985b58317605cceeb44adf59.jpg

 

slide the end off closest to the air box, i assume that why it has the softer plastic end:

 

bradders10.jpg.e92b9f9c43f3bc3b792be23bf06276c9.jpg

 

once lifted, there is a small pipe underneath attached to the pipe, use the pliers to open the clip and slide it down the pipe:

 

bradders11.jpg.f4a532a1d1296711a232a98687da1fd8.jpg

 

your ready and set now to start removing the coils/cables in the way! firstly i unplugged the coil main plug, underneath it, directly next to the first coil is a 10mm bolt, remove it it holds a bracket, this gives you some space to get to the coil:

 

bradders12.jpg.0a29ed7760cfd9e734c811318e01be7a.jpg

 

There is a bracket on the front of the engine, 2 x 10mm bolts and 1 x 10mm nut, remove this too:

 

bradders13.jpg.78e601337597b5215816e5881f12038a.jpg

 

If you have the patience, you need to get the pliers or if you have any, some long curved thin nose pliers to the bottom of these clips, they are the same clips that hold the cables to the strut bar, they need pinching underneath, thankfully, the previous owner has obviously taken it somewhere local that are useless or done it themselves before as several of mine are broken, as you can see you will now have easier access to the coils for removal (ignore the water spill):

 

bradders14.jpg.ae4ee3f838240b4325d263304937fc6b.jpg

 

easier access:

 

bradders15.jpg.ace35b0f1348d32c3965ef8ccf504065.jpg

 

Looking at the picture above, unplug all the coils 3 x push in and pull plugs, easy to do by hand. and remove the 10mm bolt you can see holding the coils in

 

i left the far right plug still plugged in as it was easier to get out, and didnt make much difference:

 

bradders16.jpg.9bada38629286b788add5ffd72882f78.jpg

 

Using the spark plug tool, i removed all the plugs:

 

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new plugs:

 

bradders18.jpg.5ad3cbec6fd614331254bcdcf05daf4b.jpg

 

Reverse the coil process but dont put any brackets or clips back just yet as you need the slack in the cables to do the other side:

 

bradders19.jpg.ff72b13d9c8dcd54814d7664b3e90673.jpg

 

All back in:

 

bradders20.jpg.f64e34852e17b5331328cfefe0cc99c9.jpg

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Other side the trickier one, starting with another bracket located at the front left of the plenum 10mm bolt, remove:

 

bradders21.jpg.044f0897edd620c13f78f3dbb03e2eda.jpg

 

There is another 10mm bolt holding another bracket as you can see here marked M2 remove this bolt:

 

bradders22.jpg.8dc2ccbf5f308e1289404b36477e3b7f.jpg

 

The bolt here another 10mm you can see dead in the middle of the photo, remove this as its another bracket:

 

bradders23.jpg.a5dcf13729ad515c731bfa3252335f35.jpg

 

unplug the first coil, one closest to the front of the car:

 

bradders24.jpg.d912461d855abc6e0d03b6eaa11441a5.jpg

 

If you can, get your hands in and remove the other plugs, the cables have some slack now all the brackets are removed so its easier to hold them out the way with one hand, undo the clip with the other, please note its still pretty tight working space!:

 

bradders25.jpg.53d65cf6c3c1aa8d0cd963a7347c2763.jpg

 

bradders26.jpg.d5f7a99deeb881e1f9cd33ce0b263086.jpg

 

enough room to get to the far back coil 10mm bolts again holding in all 3:

 

bradders27.jpg.c74eb154bd437c25b72a19c4ee1debd4.jpg

 

middle plug:

 

bradders28.jpg.cf1d343f1984a030db5d87e26d8ec1b7.jpg

 

front plug:

 

bradders29.jpg.a91def60b6a728f295e8e66679a80217.jpg

 

a bit of a squeeze, but once all the bolts and plugs are removed, you can get them through the cables without breaking them but dont be too rough!:

 

bradders30.jpg.d5bcc1c76908bac13310fe162d413afd.jpg

 

Again, remove all the plugs, reverse the whole operation.

 

I ran out of battery here so i have no further pics, but you can just scroll back up and do the things in reverse as so:

 

Replace all coils and the 3 x 10mm bolts holding them in place, remember to get all 3 plugs back on also, put the 3 bolts you removed on the left side holding 3 different brackets back on, working your way round to the other side, put the brakcet with 2 x 10mm bolts and 1 10mm nut back together, clip all the plastic bolts back in, make sure you remember to replug in the main coil plug.

 

make sure everything is tight, all plugs and brackets are back on. and your ready to go!

 

Comments are very welcome! anything you think i may have missed i will add. i hope it gives you guys a bit of confidence to give it a go!

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COOL. Gonna be doing mine over the week end. Would you expect to feel a smoother ride from changing them??

 

Depends how old the current ones are! first time i did mine made a massive difference, this time not so much as old ones where only 7k old!

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Cheers! Didn't know there was a guides section lol!

 

yep!

 

think there may be one or two for spark plug change but its always good to have more. You may show something that someone else didn't cover or yours may be more in depth. Yours looks very well done anyway :#1:

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Cheers! Didn't know there was a guides section lol!

 

yep!

 

think there may be one or two for spark plug change but its always good to have more. You may show something that someone else didn't cover or yours may be more in depth. Yours looks very well done anyway :#1:

 

didnt even think to check lol! cheers!

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Nice one Bradders. I managed mine without removing the strut brace, took me 2 hours to do and I used a tourqe wrench to tighten the plugs up to the right tourqe. Also did one plug at a time for fear of dropping something down the others.

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:lol: i do them by hand until they are tight, then nip them up with the bar lol. thats been my method since i started tinkering with cars 10 years ago, never let me down lol. (although i did do it to correct settings on the clutch lol)
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Nice one Bradders. I managed mine without removing the strut brace, took me 2 hours to do and I used a tourqe wrench to tighten the plugs up to the right tourqe. Also did one plug at a time for fear of dropping something down the others.

 

Thats cool! took me about 50 minutes in total, i just thought the strut had to come out the way as i couldnt really get to the engine cover bolt easily plus it makes more room lol and only adds another couple of minutes :)

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