Change plugs when running ok?

[Patman]

I have 152,000 miles on the original plugs in my Civic! But the engine runs smoothly at idle and at full throttle and my gas mileage is insanely good (49 MPG average over the last 4000 miles!) I might as well leave it alone for now. I know of another Civic owner who has 250k on his plugs! So I have a ways to go

 

[GSCJR]

I never understood the idea of leaving spark plugs in on an engine that takes 15 minutes to replace them. On engines where it's a PITA, I get it.

 

[Patman]

I never understood the idea of leaving spark plugs in on an engine that takes 15 minutes to replace them. On engines where it's a PITA, I get it.

True, it is easy to change the plugs in a Civic but the iridium plugs that they use are not exactly cheap either. And I feel like if they are still working then why get rid of them? At this mileage now if they are stuck in the head then I might as well keep going instead of running into trouble trying to change them.

 

[JohnnyG]

But that would be the easy ones, and those are the most likely to have been changed while the hard ones might have been skipped.

Then, go for the tough ones. Save the easy ones for last.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

I never understood the idea of leaving spark plugs in on an engine that takes 15 minutes to replace them. On engines where it's a PITA, I get it.

I am with you on both angles. I bet some others are too.

Always operated with the attitude: I would do the predictive / preventive maintenance jobs I could , to save $ and try to prevent possible problems later on if neglected. Especially when jobs are easy. But , not some of those PITA types. The kind that sometimes turn into real monsters you wish you had not touched. So of course , I been bitten. Just like I am sure some other DIYers have been also. Stuff happens.

Yet , If a guy grows up to be a DIY , even some hard looking jobs do not stop you. Then as one gets older , it gets a bit easier to figure out the kind of DIY things to step aside from. To pay to have done. Even though paying , for a DIYer is a tough pill to swallow.

 

[mbaker]

I had an 07 odyssey with 265k on the original iridium plugs. Were they worn, sure they were but did I notice a difference after they were changed... no. If you have any concerns about them not coming out my vote would be leave them and not take changes on creating another problem.