problems after changing my plugs
 

i attempted to change my sparg plugs again today (as i do every 10k miles) and well, when i started it up i could hear something arcing under the hood and like the moron i am, i shut the engine off. well, i went back through got the wires on the plugs correctly but low and behold... here's my problem.

when i started the car up again, it kinda chugged along and was burning ALOT of excess fuel. did i just flood the damn thing a little? if i start it up one last time and keep it running till it warms up completely, will it go away? or do i have to completely remove the plugs and spin it to "unflood" it... or should i just send it off to the mechanic, tell him what i was doing when i f*cked something up and ask him to fix it for me???

someone please give me a though here. i'm really pissed off at myself right now.

just tighten up the plugs snug, and run the car for a lil bit

it should go away


make sure the spark plug wires are on there tight, had the same prob before

you should be able to get it to start and the plugs will clean up

try to floor the gas while cranking it and rev it a little higher than normal when it starts so it doesnt die again.

You probably did flood it. I know when i changed the plugs in mine the old ones reaked of gasoline and were dripping with it. A good way to clean the plug holes out is to remove the plugs and turn it over. That should clean em out then put the plugs back in. A clean plug is a happy plug

- Dlight

thanks guys... i guess i'm gonna go idle it in the drive way (bildging smoke and all) for a while to see if it cleans up when it gets warmed up properly. if not, i guess I'll be talking to AAA to have it towed to the mechanics tonight.

i really appreciate the help ya'll

Take that bitch down the freeway and open it up! Don't let it just idle in the driveway, if it's flooded it will just load up more. You want to get it hot, drive it. If it continues to run crappy you may have fouled a plug or the wires are not connected well enough. Good luck!

well, its flooded to the point where it won't turn over and i don't have the time/patience to deal with it. the tow-truck is on the way. off to the shop with it where they can do it without screwing it up... more.

god i wish i had a shred of ability when it came to cars... how can i love something so much and yet still suck at everything involved in enjoying it? (rhetorical)

If the engine isnt turning over, you have a completely different problem. When the engine is flooded, it will turn over and sound like a low compression engine. I doubt you could have caused the engine to flood so bad that it cant turn over on its own power. Maybe the battery died because of the engine cranking so much while flooded.

yeah, i didn't do a good job explaining that... now that i think about it, it turns over, just won't start or anything. the battery felt like it was a little low when i was putting the windows up/down and such. whatever, it is, its just a matter of money (that of course i don't have) now.

Dude.. learn to fix the car yourself!!

i was trying to, but its the only car i've got right now and i can't afford to let my stupidity ruin it. thanks for your positive input though. it helped alot.:knob:

i've done all the rest of the stuff (with the exception of the tuning on it so far) i just don't have the patience or desire to ruin it right now.

I'm sorry if that came off wrong... :( I know how that is, I've made my car worse before while attempting to fix it. But that's the only way to learn right?

i know that that's the case, but i'm seriously swamped right now... i have a midterm in one of my grad school classes coming up next wednesday, i have a huge class project going on in the other course which eats up alot of my evenings and i just got a projet at work that is going to take up extra hours i'm sure.

didn't mean to be so pissy, but i'm really aggrevated with myself for being such a dumbass. i've changed them out twice before with absolutely no issues at all.

Yeah, stuff like that always happens.


When I was taking off my airpump and installing my 1300s, I put everything back together and the car woulnd't even idle :( I just gave up and went inside.

The next day I realized I was stupid and my PowerFC had to learn my new idle, but it still pissed me off that night.. I finally finished at like 4am and the thing wouldnt even run.

yeah so they think i may have screwed up the engine and now they're gonna do a compression test on it. i can't believe i may have just completely f*cked up my car. my god i'm such a moron. my wife is gonna be so pissed off at me.

Before you get too crazy, make sure of 2 things. Both will be easy and quick to check.

First, make sure you didn't knock the vacuum line off that goes to the MAP sensor. The sensor is high up on the firewall and is clearly lableled. It's REAL easy to knock the vacuum line off when you change plugs or change the oil filter.

Second, double-check that you put the plug wires on the correct plugs and you didn't get them mixed up.

I'd bet you did #1.

Dale

well its at the shop right now... heard some kind of noise that made them worry about the compression. i know i got the wires back on in the right place because i only did one at a time. they said something about the leading and trailing plugs having different lengths and that a trailing plug in the leading hole may have caused an issue... but i've done this before because its what the RX7Store sells as the set of 4 OEM replacment plugs and i had no issues. is there ANY chance that there is a shread of truth to what they said?

so i'm panicing right now, i've felt like i'm going to throw up ever since i talked to them on the phone.

Like Dale said. Don't panic. This can't be a serious problem. No way, no how.

There is nothing you can do with a plug change, including switching the wires all kinds of ways, that is going to destroy your engine sitting in the driveway.

OH HOO-RAY FOR BOOB-AYS!!!! I HAVE COMPRESSION!!!!! They said it was a little low but that its right on par with an engine that's got 50k miles on it... its all cleaned out and running again and its gonna get a new set of plugs and will be runnin like a champ in no time!

thanks for all the advice guys... lesson i've learned from this... i'm an idiot. :bigthumb:

Removing the plugs on the side of the road ain't easy. Especially because you'll have to do it from the top. Granted, I've been under the UIM a few times now, but it's still not 'easy'.

Dave

PS: OH HOO-RAY FOR BOOB-AYS!!!!

He was on the side of the road? Where did it state that?

Yeah, I know, plugs can be a pain.

I usually change plugs from the top. How are you guys lifting the car to get them from below? I'd rather not put the car on jackstands (don't want to squish the frame rail).

-s-

I always change them from the top. Just remove the throttle body elbow, plenty of room, no sweat. Takes me 5-10 minutes, tops.

When you jack up the front, use a big floor jack on the front subframe in front of the oil pan to pick it up. Then, put the jackstands under the A-arm mounting points on the front subframe. Easy, secure, and doesn't damage the car.

Dale

I change the plugs from underneath my means of a hoist, yeah.. i'm spoiled.. I work at a shop.