[wendieaccord]

Good Afternoon-
I have an 08 Accord and my 3rd and 4th spark plugs are shot! Money is pretty tight and i was hoping to do it myself. I couldn't find anything that gives a how to and I was hoping someone on here could either point me in the right direction or give me a how to. (keeping my fingers crossed)

 

[L's TLS]

Take off engine cover, remove coil packs, insert spark plug remover socket, unscrew, remove, insert new, screw in, put back coil pack and engien cover. DONE

 

[sodaks2k]

Take off engine cover, remove coil packs, insert spark plug remover socket, unscrew, remove, insert new, screw in, put back coil pack and engien cover. DONE

Torque specs are? A spark plug is one of the many items you don't want to over tighten. :thmsup:

 

[03LXV6]

Who told you they are shot? Did you do something to kill them? How many miles on the car? Spark plugs are supposed to last 105K miles so if you are within warranty and you didn't do anything to kill the plugs, take the car to the dealer for warranty work.

 

[wendieaccord]

I have about 150 k on my car. I drive a lot for work. I took it into the shop and they said it was the spark plugs. The car wouldnt accelerate and kept bucking. I had a similar problem with another vehicle and it too was the spark plugs. The shop i took the car to said the 3rd and the 4th were misfiring. Said i also could use another battery. Like i mentioned, my money is very tight at the moment so I was planning on taking care of the spark plugs and then work on the battery. From what I have been told spark plugs are a pretty easy fix and the shop wants to charge my $100. If i can do it myself it would make a world of difference!!

Thanks everyone for the quick responses!!!

 

[SD70MAC]

I have about 150 k on my car. I drive a lot for work. I took it into the shop and they said it was the spark plugs. The car wouldnt accelerate and kept bucking. I had a similar problem with another vehicle and it too was the spark plugs. The shop i took the car to said the 3rd and the 4th were misfiring. Said i also could use another battery. Like i mentioned, my money is very tight at the moment so I was planning on taking care of the spark plugs and then work on the battery. From what I have been told spark plugs are a pretty easy fix and the shop wants to charge my $100. If i can do it myself it would make a world of difference!!

Thanks everyone for the quick responses!!!

Are you on your original plugs at a 150k? is that kilometers or miles? Remember to replace your plugs with Iridium plugs like it came with.

 

[03LXV6]

Check youtube for a video on how to do it. As mentioned above you will need to make sure you use the ngk iridium plugs. They are about $17 from a dealer but about $10 from Advance Auto.

You said money is tight but don't cheap out on plugs. Make sure to change all 4 and not just the ones that are shot. If you have an I4 then it's much easier than the V6 since you don't have to reach around the back.

The youtube videos might not show you how to remove the coil packs specifically but you will get the general idea. You will need a hex key for the bolts on the coil packs.

 

[PatronTequila]

This thread is a DIY for a 7th gen 4 cylinder. Assuming you are talking about a 4 cylinder; although you didn't state 4 or 6.

http://www.driveaccord.net/forums/showthread.php?t=20631

For the 8th gen Accord 4 cylinder, it is just slightly different.

1. Remove the cover, 4 bolts.
2. Disconnect the ignition coil electrical connectors.
3. Remove the 4 bolts holding the ignition coils.
4. Remove coil and then remove spark plug.

For iridium plugs, do not adjust the gap of iridium tip plugs.

Apply a small amount of anti-seize compound to the plug threads, screw the plugs into the cylinder head, finger-tight. Torque to 18 N-m (1.8 kfg-m, 13 lbf-ft).

Reinstall everything else in reverse order.

 

[Edaccord08]

Important note, since your working with aluminum head . While unscrewing old plug if any resistance a cures don't force plug but spray some lube/cleaner down plug well and carefully back and forth plug out .
You don't want to pull threads in removing plugs because of deposits on plug thread end .

here general vid on plug removal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3myx2trNUo&feature=related

 

[wendieaccord]

yes its 150 k miles! also luckily it is a 4 cyl which seems a lot easier! Im going to review the video and as soon as it stops raining here I'm going to give it a try. are there special tools that I'm going to need? Wish me luck Ill keep you updated!

 

[avs]

This thread is a DIY for a 7th gen 4 cylinder. Assuming you are talking about a 4 cylinder; although you didn't state 4 or 6.

http://www.driveaccord.net/forums/showthread.php?t=20631

For the 8th gen Accord 4 cylinder, it is just slightly different.

1. Remove the cover, 4 bolts.
2. Disconnect the ignition coil electrical connectors.
3. Remove the 4 bolts holding the ignition coils.
4. Remove coil and then remove spark plug.

For iridium plugs, do not adjust the gap of iridium tip plugs.

Apply a small amount of anti-seize compound to the plug threads, screw the plugs into the cylinder head, finger-tight. Torque to 18 N-m (1.8 kfg-m, 13 lbf-ft).

Reinstall everything else in reverse order.

Do not apply anti-seize compound if the thread is plated with Trivalent Metal. This apply to all NGK iridium plug.

 

[fastball]

I'd also add you should wait until the engine is completely cool to remove them as aluminum gets soft when it's hot and as been stated by other posts you do NOT want to over tighten the plugs or risk damaging the threads . If you can do the job on a morning after the car has been sitting in the garage all night that would be best.

 

[avs]

I'd also add you should wait until the engine is completely cool to remove them as aluminum gets soft when it's hot and as been stated by other posts you do NOT want to over tighten the plugs or risk damaging the threads . If you can do the job on a morning after the car has been sitting in the garage all night that would be best.

The thermal expansion rate for aluminum is quite high comparing to other metal and when they get hot they expand quite a bit.

 

[Edaccord08]

I have seen on internet comments/recommendation for remove when cold to remove when warm .

When I worked in shop you don't have the time to do either much . Two main things you "don't" do with aluminum head .

Remove plug with 1/2" air impact !

When removing if any resistance is felt back off and spray some penetrating oil down to free threads .

You can really mess up head if not careful , On installing most aluminum heads the plugs are around 15 ft-lb torque , with Honda I think spec is 13 ft-lb's . So go easy there its not really very tight .

Also when first putting plugs back in I find a small length of fuel hose works great threading the plug in by hand, much more control than using socket .

 

[wendieaccord]

thanks everyone for the advice! I got the spark plugs for $85 and replaced them. However, the problem with my car is persisting. It wont acclerate and seems like the engine is bucking and jerking. If you have any ideas of what this might be I would really appreciate the advice. I am going to call tomorrow and try to get it into the dealership. I am just hoping it is not an expensive repair.

 

[fastball]

Yeah, you need to have them hook the scanner and check everything if it's running rough. The days of a new distributor and spark plugs clearing up all rough running problems are long gone lol.

Do you have the check engine light on? Usually rough running engines will almost always throw a CEL.

 

[Edaccord08]

thanks everyone for the advice! I got the spark plugs for $85 and replaced them. However, the problem with my car is persisting. It wont acclerate and seems like the engine is bucking and jerking. If you have any ideas of what this might be I would really appreciate the advice. I am going to call tomorrow and try to get it into the dealership. I am just hoping it is not an expensive repair.

did you clear the codes , ECU might of been in some kind of limp mode if it was missing . Reset ECU either by disconnecting battery or removing the "backup" fuse under the hood fuse box. Do note you need radio codes if you disconnect battery on EX+ .
Best to write down the codes before and after if any , in case the issue comes back .

 

[wendieaccord]

yes the engine light is on and it blinking. Also the VSA light and the triangle exclamation light comes on sporadically.

 

[avs]

yes the engine light is on and it blinking. Also the VSA light and the triangle exclamation light comes on sporadically.

Did you some how shorted the battery cable when you replace the battery or did not jump the car properly? I bet you one of the fuse is blew under the hood.

 

[fastball]

Did you some how shorted the battery cable when you replace the battery or did not jump the car properly? I bet you one of the fuse is blew under the hood.

Uh, no. If the VSA fuse was out the light would be on permanently and constantly. If it comes on sporadically there could be an intermittent problem somewhere, like one of the ABS sensors having a loose connection. OR, it could also be tied into his engine issues. With the complexities of modern cars there's no way to tell that without having the dealer run all the codes.

The OP needs to have the dealer check everything out.