did mine the other day really easy Thanks!

 

Unless you are running lots of boost (even that is debatable) the stock coils are just fine. Its the connections you need to check. The plugs should be changed often, yes. The coils are good for a while. Make sure you have a good connection between the coil/wire, wire/plug. If the connection is loose, even just a little bit, will cause the coils to want to overheat and the spark will not be as consistant on top end. You should dyno your car often to see how it is performing and check the connection of the plug wires to the coils and sparkplug end too. I am going to find out what we use at work to make good connections to our annealers and let you all know so you can use it, its some kind of paste similar to silicon. Will keep you posted.

 

Wow- you guys aren't kidding about replacing the spark plugs often. I just changed the original plugs on my 04 RX8- with 33.5k miles. Wow- they are worn/fouled- though mine seem "oilier" than the OPs. The car runs so much better now.

 

You only need one set of wires. So actual cost is $92 for 4 spark plugs and 1 wire set. Awesome deal. Wish Amazon sold the ignition coils too.

 

Autozone must have screwed up the order I made for the plugs because I ordered 2 leading and 2 trailing and received a box which contained 4 individually boxed leading plugs and another box with 4 individually boxed trailing plugs. 8 plugs total for for 84.99.

 

^ Yeah they messed that order up.
Nice x-mas gift

 

Yup...Merry Christmas to me! Maybe I should try my luck ordering some coils from there too. 2-for-1's on those would be really good.

 

bump

doing all 4 of mine tonight. i bought the car with approx 42.5k mi on it, now it has approx 57.5k mi. i have never changed the plugs, and to my knowledge they've never been changed in the past. so we could be dealing with 4 stock plugs with 57.5k mi on them. regardless, will post pics when done.

 

Very nicely explained tony.
I wanted to ask that will the car display CEL light if there is a foulty spark plug??

 

Hey, guys. I've read most of this thread and have a few questions. Is it recommended to change the ignition coils along with the wires and plugs? Which vendors currently offer the better prices on OEM parts? I'm sure I'll order the plugs from sparkplugs.com, so are the twenty-some dollar plugs sufficient, or are the racing class plugs recommended? I noticed the wireset from sparkplugs.com is much cheaper than finish line performance. Are they the same? Which vendors do you guys recommend for the coils? Finish Line Performance has them at thirty-five dollars each. I've heard people talking about one hundred dollar four-packs, but am not sure.

Also, using the wheel removal method, how long from start to finish is expected for someone with moderate mechanical skills and understanding? Don't wanna run out of daylight!

 

I needs plugs.
My car is the spark plug zombie...

 

there is a store on ebay selling NGK laser iridium plugs, NGK wires and 4 latest version coils for 375$. I bought it right away and installed myself. My baby feels fresh.

You can change plugs without changing the rest. Your wires and coils will probably last longer than your plugs but i wouldnt go more than 25k with them before i change

 

I have changed the plugs; miss-firing gone!!!
however, when it is on drive and idling, it vibrates the car, kinda funny noise I hear coming from the front of the 8.

Suggestions?

 

Are all the wires connected securely?

 

Ran into the same problem as kersh4u. First plug seems like its in there good. Even put a little cheater bar to get more leverage. Any one else find a solution to this problem?

Thanks

 

Can happen, just make sure you put an anti-seize grease on the new spark plugs threads before install...will make it much easier to remove next time, and don't over-tighten.

 

Use a bigger cheater bar is my suggestion. I think I needed an impact wrench to get one of mine out. Took all the threads from the block with it. Needed to helicoil mine. Hope yours isn't as bad.

 

My 8 has 67k miles on it, and i bought it 2 years ago with 48k... sure that a tune up had been done. i figured it was getting close to needing one again, but just to make sure i called my stealership. they looked through the records and found that the car has never had a tune up, and still has the stock OG plugs, wires, and coils... WOW. it runs fine except for a little wait on the starting (or maybe ive never really experienced what this car can do), but im going to replace it all this week and we'll see how bad it is...

 

SAME THING JUST HAPPENED TO ME!!!! it was great! the guy at the counter was like its your lucky day they sent you eight plugs! SO GOOD! 8 plugs for 85 bucks hell yeah

 

Just needing a little clarification. I ordered a new wire set, plug set, and a coil set. I understand the removal and installation of each, but I'm a little unsure of the average time? This week would be ideal to work on it, but it's going to get nasty by Thursday. When I get off work, it's almost dark out. Are we talking a half hour job? Hour? Three hour?

What are your experiences?

 

are the NGK plugs pre gaped?

 

Yes

 

All sparkplugs are gapped for their intended application, but a good idea to doublecheck them yourself.

 

Does anyone know of other working spark plug brands that I can use, its proving difficult to get NGK's in South Africa other than from the dealers and Im not willing to be bent over by them on pricing. I have heard that there are a Greddy version that can be used....anyone know the product code?

 

I have stumbled my way through most of the post's in this thread and still need to know what is the avg life span of our spark plugs mine are stock Mazda.