Okay, I was looking through the engine compartment today familiarizing myself with everything, and the one thing I couldn't see was where the spark plugs are. I know I don't need to change them until I have a lot of miles on the car, but I like to know where things are. Anyone been in there and know? Appreciate your help.

 

it's in page 174-176 of your manual. the reason you don't see them is that you have to remove the "DOHC VTEC" cover first. BTW, they are good for 7 years or 105,000 miles.

 

Yep, right smack in the middle of the head.
After changing the FPR and running lean, its wise to check them if you know what to look for, so I do.

 

RE interval, not on our cars apparently, 32,000 miles , replace platinum sparkies,

 

Alright, 2nd Gear, my favourite, up until 63 mph then 3rd is my favourite

 

What is the stock plug gap dimension? Sometimes you can improve performance, low end and idle with a larger gap. This may require more frequent service but at 100K + there is some room!! At showroom stock events competitors change gaps and use new plugs when it counts. Sometimes larger gaps require associated changes such as plug wire, coil etc upgrades.

Stan

 

The gap is in the manual, but off the top of my head I think its 1.1mm +0 -.01mm or very close to that, there isnt much tolerance. The only upgrade I would think about are the Iridium plugs they will last longer than the platinum and may even have a smaller electrode. And with the coils on top of each plug, you dont have to worry about the plug wires.

Happy sparking!

 

<<The gap is in the manual, but off the top of my head I think its 1.1mm +0 -.01mm or very close to that, there isnt much tolerance>>

Ignition upgrades can be funny. Sometimes you don't know if they will work or not unless you try them out. For example some are reporting gains from the iridium plugs on cars that seemed to have zero ignition limitations beforehand. Cars that can reliably fire a 100,000 mile old spark plug may have some room for improvement. Sometimes the gap is set low in order to achieve the long maintainance interval. Ideal plug gaps, which are essentailly NEVER achieved might be around 3-4 MM. In many cases you can improve things like part throttle torque and throttle resposne (lean conditions) since a larger gap exposes more mixture molecules to the spark. Go too big in gap and other issue can arise.
I ran lots of tests on my M3 engine and didn't find power bu found below 4500 RPM driveability improvements. BTW you do have wire leading from the coil to the plug on a coil on plug set up. They are just short! And sometimes internal.

Stan

 

Interesting that the manual says

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by E30M3:
[B]
BTW you do have wire leading from the coil to the plug on a coil on plug set up.