Ok so my car is in need of a tune up, and i went to this one guy and he said he could do it, then when i went to go get it done he said he couldn't do it cause he said he did some research and his mechanic couldnt do it. This wasnt some random guy, he had a shop and all where he did oil changes and sold tires. A proffesional place, well he said he couldnt do it and to take it to the dealer, but the dealers asking for 800 (200 to de-carb) which i think is really expensive considering the price of the parts, (not including de-carb) So is the tune up something we could do ourselves or is it some science rocket (exaggerating) thing we need not bother with?

 

You got ripped off by about $750

 

What did they say they would be doing for the $800?

If decarb, plugs, coils and wires....maybe but it depends.

Take care,

Brian

 

They said they would replace the spark plugs, ignition coils, and decarb the engine, didnt get more details but i think that about it. Without the de-carb its $600

 

The guy from the shop said he could do it for $300 before he said he couldnt do it. One of the guys from a local Mazda dealer said 2 spark plugs were like $130 and the other 2 were like $50 i think.

 

You easily buy all the parts and do them yourself easily for 1/4 the price.

 

Just look at what you were going to have done and do it yourself. It's wayyyy cheaper that way... and you learn something. It's not science rocket as you put it.

 

does your butt hurt after those prices?

 

did u mean rocket science?

 

yeah... i meant rocket science

 

Dealer list price for a set of plugs can be over $200. But you can buy the exact same plugs from vendors here (like BHR) or from sparkplugs.com for $80 or so. Four coils will set you back about $100. There are DIYs here on how to change both. Fairly easy project. If you've ever done anything on cars, it should be duck soup. The guy at your shop chickened out needlessly.

As far as de-carbing goes... look at Mazda's TSB:

http://www.finishlineperformance.com...4-08-1924g.pdf

A bunch of guys here do that on general principles, but the process frightens me and I personally would not do it unless I had a specific problem. YMMV.

BTW, if you haven't disccovered that site yet, it's a dealer with a very good reputation and also a forum vendor.

Ken

 

socket rice?

 

Sick My Duck

 

fo yuck gourself.

 

Why I'd love some! Rice is delicious.


OP: Coils, plugs, and wires can be done yourself, and you'll save a bundle. Even the decarb can be done yourself.

 

Dice is relentless.

Oh yea, I can go all day with my serious dislexia.

 

wow, $600 bucks?! Damn, I'm in the wrong business....

Alright, here's the breakdown on this "tune up": (I'm including links for all the necessary parts)

- Ignition Coils (you'll need 4) Total = $107.80
- Spark Plug Wires - $59.95
- Spark Plugs - $119.95
- Engine Cleaner $20

Total: $307.70

Optional Items:

- Air Filter (assuming no aftermarket intake) - $29.95

 

800 ? rofl

I do everything for you for 300, including parts and labor.

2 hours and u're good to go.

 

damn thats nuts we sell OEM NGK's for less than that lol

$20 bucks a piece!

 

Do need a tune-up because your car is hard to start, runs rough, misfires, misses , ect. If it runs fine. Just drive it. People spend lots of money on tune-ups when they don't need too.I keep reading on this forum about changing you plugs every 20k or so. Why would you as long as it is not fouled or burned ? It's only job is to deliver a spark. Same for the coils. Coils are just that. A coil of copper wire. A transformer to step up low voltage to high voltage. If your car runs fine , keep your money until something stops doing it's job. Cheers

 

I'm sorry but I couldn't disagree with you more on this.
I do 'tune-ups' in order for my car to NEVER have trouble starting, or run rough, and my car has never been prone to misfiring. They call it preventative maintenance for a reason.
Why wait for it to stop working when I know that it will soon fail?

Our spark plugs take a lot more abuse then most people think and replacing them every 20-25,000 miles is a way to ensure that your car continues to operate as intended and you don't find yourself stranded because your 3 year old spark plugs aren't any good and you just flooded your car.

Coils in our car are poorly designed for those in hot climate weather. We have seen coils fail as early as 5,000 miles and considering their only job on our car is a rather imporant one, I too change them out before they go bad.
But maybe that's why I have a car that outperforms most N/A's on a dyno and has never had any major issues.

 

Exactly. Well said.

 

I do understand your thinking about preventative maintenance. I still believe that a spark plug is a very simple part that hardly ever fails and folks throw them away when there is absolutely nothing wrong with them. As long as it delivers the spark every time , it's fine.Unless a coil overheats and destroys the insulation , copper does not just stop conducting. There is no guarantee that a new coil won't fail early. My car has 66k mi. Same coils, runs better now than when new.

 

if you ever come to austin let me know..

buy the stuff to do it and i can do it for ya..

-sea foam
oil change
plugs
tranny oil
diff oil


you can buy it all yourself man. I do mine all the time.

I also clean my plugs Every other oil change that i do and it helps alot.

So if your ever in the austin area let me know NO WAY IN HELL YOU HAVE TO PAY 800 bucks.. thats outragious

 

if your car ever floods, you will effectively reduce the life of the spark plugs.