How difficult is it to change the plugs? I have about 75k on it. 2004 MDX. I changed the plugd on my wifes Fronteir and the last one on the rear was a pain. I tore off a few layers of skin off my knuckles and it took me 3xs as long as the whole job did. I do not want to go through that again. Is the MDX just as painful on the knuckles?
Thank you
Not too bad on the knuckles on my 01 but it's something I don't want to do again. You have to remove the throttle body to get to the plugs (6). There's a thread here with some tips if you search.
I just changed the plugs on my 01 last week and it wasn't bad at all. Doing that was the first car mechanical work I had ever done and it went smoothly. Just make sure you have the right tools and it will take you about an hour. I save about $200 doing it myself. Good luck
as slash007 said you must have the right tools and it will take you about an hour.
Andry, what are you basing your advice on? What Slash007 said was this was his first mechanical work and it went smoothly. The tools required would cost far less than the cost of having a dealer or shop do the work. And it's the beginning of a set of tools to do other jobs.
The pride and satisfaction from doing these small jobs yourself is well worth the hour or so invested.
Changing oil and plugs were the first things I learned to do when I bought my first car and I consider them very basic tasks that anyone can do.
Take a look at this attachment. Not much to it. The correct torque for reassembly of the intake manifold cover and ignition coil cover is indicated in the diagram. You will not need more than a standard socket set with a couple of different lengths of extensions and a torque wrench.
This same set of tools will allow you to do your oil and filter change. There are good threads here on doing that job.
The torque for the plugs is 13 lb/ft. It's usually a good idea to coat the threads with anti seize compound, though some plugs have a coating on them and don't require this step.
If you get stuck ask for help. You will get lots of it here.
Great info. And the PDF makes it look very straight forward.
I've done lots of spark plug changes on my cars, but this will be my first one on a car with ignition coils.
Question: The process to remove the coil looks easy, but what is the function of these coils compared to the standard 'wires' which historically connect to the top of the spark plug? Is this basically some electronics added to the middle of the 'spark plug wire' to improve efficiency?
In the old days, most vehicles had a single ignition coil which was connected to the center terminal of the distributor. The outer distributor poles were connected to the top of each spark plug with wires. The distributor had a mechanical spark advance and a rotor to send the spark sequentially down each wire. Rotors wore out quickly and wires deteriorated.
Through time the rotor and mechanical spark advance was replaced by EFI ignition distributors and then eventually the need for the high voltage spark plug wires was removed by coil on plug ignition.
The timing of when each coil sparks is now controlled by the computer.
The coil on plug design is much more accurate,efficient and with the into of iridium plugs allows for extended intervals between service.
I changed the spark plugs in my 2001 MDX with no problems using the recommended plugs at 105,000 miles. It seems to run great. However, my MPG has significantly decreased by 25%. I was getting 18 MPG now getting 12.5%. Any suggestions as to why?
I just changed my plugs on my 2001 MDX, felt it was a rather easy job. Only my third time ever changing plugs, the ones in the back are a bit hard to reach, but defintley do able.
I used the NGK Platinum Plugs because the store was out of NGK Iridium.
Also, didn't Iridium Plugs used to cost more than Platinum? Now it's the other way around.
all you have to do is goto www.autozone.com and look it up for yourself in terms of the spark plugs
your choice in terms of iridiums or platinum plugs for your vehicle, as long as you put a dab of anti-seize compound on the spark plug threads & torque them down appropriately (~13 ft.lbs.)
It's been 5K miles since I replaced my spark plugs but the process went fairly well. I have an 05 and I found that the plugs in the front were much harder to get to than the rear.
Because of the close proximity of the front support brace and radiator/fan/ground strap, I found myself taking the extension on and off several times.
Did not apply lube to the plugs and torqued them down properly. The plugs didn't look that bad for 130K miles.
Bought the Iridium NGK IZFR5K11 plugs from Autohausaz.com for a little over $11 each.
Actually this is one of the reasons why I did this however I have not seen my mpg's go up.
I used to get 17-19 city with 23 highway however now I only get 17-19 highway and 14 city!
I'm thinking it might be my idle control valve. I've had my check engine light go on along with the VTM check light but I didn't get error codes read yet.
Still I agree, nothing like DIY and more importantly, this site for the help!
Go to Autozone and get the code pulled for free. Definitely find out the code and post it here. Sometimes when the CEL+ VTM is thrown it can cause the ECU into a safe mode and limit some power.
Not too bad on the knuckles on my 01 but it's something I don't want to do again. You have to remove the throttle body to get to the plugs (6). There's a thread here with some tips if you search.
When I changed the plugs on my 04 did not have to remove the throttle body. Looks like acura changed it from the 01 (the pdf directions looked a little differant)
Plenty of in the back room with 2 -3 " sockets. The front's were tighter - had to rotate the fan blade and slide the extension out. Especially tight was the driver's side front. There is like 3.1" clearance for a 3" socket
2004 MDX, 110K miles...
I could not pull the front-right ignition coil out due to the radiator support brace. The ignition coil is too long. Is there a trick to getting this one out?
I purchased the Denso plugs. It just so happened that these were the same ones used in my car. The 5 other plugs I replaced looked as good as the ones in the pics from the previous poster.
2004 MDX, 110K miles...
I could not pull the front-right ignition coil out due to the radiator support brace. The ignition coil is too long. Is there a trick to getting this one out?
I purchased the Denso plugs. It just so happened that these were the same ones used in my car. The 5 other plugs I replaced looked as good as the ones in the pics from the previous poster.
Actually this is one of the reasons why I did this however I have not seen my mpg's go up.
I used to get 17-19 city with 23 highway however now I only get 17-19 highway and 14 city!
I'm thinking it might be my idle control valve. I've had my check engine light go on along with the VTM check light but I didn't get error codes read yet.
Still I agree, nothing like DIY and more importantly, this site for the help!
Plugs are pre-gapped however I found that my valves were in need of adjusting. Idle problems have gone away but I still have not gotten my mileage back from when I first bought the MDX
Just changed my plugs out on an '03. I also did not have to remove the throttle body. Mileage was at 108k, plugs tips and gaps still looked fairly good on the old plugs, but after that many miles I'm sure there was some breakdown somewhere on the plug.
I purchased the NGK Iridiums from pep boys part # ZFR5FIX11. There were $6.99 each (saw on other on-line sites for up $9-$11 each). I saw some of the Acura on-line stores were offering this the NGK's as well.
:29: Took it for a test drive, and purrs like it should.
Also, these were all pregapped at .044 which is Acura OEM spec (pur the NGK web site)
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