Changed my plugs this morning (pics enclosed!)
 

Not too shabby for 39k miles...
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Only took about 20 minutes to do it. Just cranked the wheel to the right, and got all four from the wheelwell with:
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And here's Henry. He obviously couldn't care less about my spark plugs.
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Damn those things are cooked. Notice any difference since you changed them? I changed my coils/plugs about two weeks ago and didn't notice much difference really. Slightly smoother idle. I also took my wheel completely off to make things easier, but also takes more time.

Nice cat by the way

I did notice a smoother idle, but I haven't driven it yet... I work nights, and it's way past my bedtime. ;-)

Was definitely time for new ones.

With 39K please measure the gap and see how much it opened up. I noticed the engine response when I changed mine and smother idle. What type of driving did it get and premix?

I'm at work all night, but I'll try and remember to measure the gap when I get home in the morning.

I've had the chance to log a few miles on it, and there's a noticable improvement. Starts a little quicker, throttle response (particularly at low rpm) is improved, idles smoother.
I'm a bit surprised at the difference. I have seen plugs that looked much worse on piston engines that didn't affect the performance whatsoever. Apparently, these rotaries are a bit more sensitive to it. (This is my first rotary.)

I just bought the car 8 weeks ago, so I don't really know what type of driving it got. With only 39k, it obviously didn't get driven often. But the owner didn't live in the city, so I'm sure that every trip was not short. And I know he wasn't shy about hitting the redline. The fact that he insisted I hit 9k rpm several times on the test drive, was one of the factors in me deciding to buy this from him. :)

And there has been no premixing........ Yet. I plan on starting soon, once I get all my ducks in a row about it. (i.e. What kind of premix, where to purchase, easy/consistant way to do it without pumping my own gas, etc...)

Funny story about buying the plugs...

I went to AutoZone and told the guy I needed plugs for my RX-8. He looks them up and then turns the monitor to me, saying "Looks like you have two choices. Both are NGK, but one is a 'Trailing' version and the other is 'Leading'."
I tell him that I'll take two of each. He gives me a deer in the headlights look and says "What?" I explained that's what it takes. Then he rings them up and again, kind of just stares at his monitor. He then said "It says the total is $80, that can't be right. Let me go check on that." I told him that it was correct. He commented that he'd never sold plugs for that much, and then asked what Leading and Trailing meant. I was in a bit of a hurry, so I told him the RX-8 used a rotary engine, and that it's really cool, and that he should look it up on YouTube how they work.

He was a really nice guy, so I hope I don't make him sound like a complete moron. I wouldn't doubt this was the first RX-8 owner he'd ever helped, as they are pretty scarce around here.

I just love how unique these things are. I was hoping he was going to ask how many cylinders, since I still get a kick out of that. :)

Wingznut. You just introduced a young impressionable man to a whole new world. The world of Rotary.
Which path he chooses now, is up to him.

Dun dun dun.

That's a pretty cool story.

I had the EXACT SAME EXPERIENCE.

Also, it's quite nice to not have to buy plugs online anymore after discovering they carry them.

loving the cat.

wingznut, did you replace your coils and wires too? i'm close to 37k and was thinking of doing all of them. manual says only the plugs at 37.5k.

are you experiencing missfires at high rpm?:dunno:

no misfires. but still on oem coils. was thinking of switching to BHR's but a little low on funds at the moment.

No, I just changed the plugs. But my next purchase will be upgrading the coils before they actually need it.

thanks. i think i'll do the same.

I was going to mention that it might be worth replacing the coils as well. Not necessary if there aren't issues, but it's a nice security measure.

You can do better than that on price...but it would be mail order.

The kid's not alone being unfamiliar with rotary plugs. At 33K I sprang for my dealership's 30K service, which included checking the spark plugs. I figured I's ask them to just put in my spare set of plugs rather than put the old ones back. My regular service writer was out the day I brought it in, so the Nissan writer in the next cubbyhole checked me in. He looked mystified, and asked why did I want to change the plugs so soon, since these days platinum plugs lasted 60k or 70k.

Granted this guy is on the Nissan side of a Mazda-Nissan dealership, but you'd think he'd have learned something from watching whatever rolls in. That kid at Autozone sounds like a much better learner.

Ken

Where? (It'd be good to know, for the next plug swap.)

Mine has 32k+ miles on it. I wonder how my spark plugs look. I am about to change it soon.

just cut them off.:evil_laug

^ Why i never thought of that in the first place... :wallbash: