Spark plug issue

[Sledge]

I went to cange my plugs a while back, and well to make a long story short the #3 plug was seized in its place. I emediatly called the dealer and they said I probably did it yada...yada...yada... so I fought this for months and they still said I did it. my complaint was not that the new plug cross threaded but the old one wont come out..
after refusing to pull that plug myself and having this happen.
http://www.elantraxd.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5483
I rode it out till the car started to ride really funky (sputtering).
I took it to the dealer and they ran the diognostics to find it was........ you guessed it the #3 plug they finally changed it for no charge and it was something that the tech who worked on it said the their was no possible way I could have done it.
If you have had this problem I want to know

[saturn]

had this happen on a chevy corsica...

the spark plugs were never changed and they were seized so bad that the tech couldn't get them out with anything but an air wrench... ended up almost stripping the threads.

[hyunelan2]

This can be a problem whenever you have an aluminum head. The steel (or whatever) on the sparkplug will bond with the aluminum of the sleeve, and be a nice PITA to come out. It's not an Elantra specific, or even Hyundai specific thing. It's just a part of life with aluminum heads.

I had a tough time with the #1 cylinder plug when I changed mine, but it came out.

[saturn]

I've never changed mine in my 03... should I bother? I don't have performance issues

[hyunelan2]

I went 58,000 miles before changing mine. The car runs smoother now, and some fuel economey has returned. But, if it aint broke, don't fix it.

[BobMs_wht2k2]

But, if it aint broke, don't fix it

Wow. . .what happened to preventative mainteance? Personally, I won't let plugs in ANY car stay longer than 45k miles. I've seen the ill effects of what happens when plugs sieze in aluminum heads. I won't do it.

On an 03. . .those plugs were required by Hyundai to be changed at 60k. To be honest they were done well before then. So if you're close or over, CHANGE THEM.

[Munky]

I ALWAYS apply anti-seize to the threads of my spark plugs. Just like Bob said...preventive maintenance.

[hyunelan2]

Wow. . .what happened to preventative mainteance? Personally, I won't let plugs in ANY car stay longer than 45k miles. I've seen the ill effects of what happens when plugs sieze in aluminum heads. I won't do it.


I misread and thought he said it was an '06, not an '03.

[BobMs_wht2k2]

That's better. . . I was afraid a long drive was ahead of me. I'd hate to have to slap you face to face :P

[hyunelan2]

Yeah, I was still working on my second cup of coffee at that point, letters and numbers were still blurry. I was thinking the car was an '06, and someone was thinking about changing the plugs just so they weren't OEM anymore (like to a gimmick plug). Nothing anywhere here supports that idea, but that's what my pre-caffeine brain thought it was trying to process.

[jkomp316]

I still had the originals in my 02 with 103k on it. They all came out, but were a little nerve racking. Crunch, crack, grind. The new ones threaded in fine.

[saturn]

03, 82k miles... I get about 22mpg, could run smoother

should I change the wires too?

[reallyflycouple]

I pulled the crap champion plugs out of mine the first month we owned it and installed NGK platinums. Why make it run on crap??? I was a Hyundai tech, and you wouldn't believe how many bad plugs, wires and coils we went through on any 2.0L in the product line. Preventative is the best!!!!

[jkomp316]

03, 82k miles... I get about 22mpg, could run smoother

should I change the wires too?

I would do the plugs first, check your mileage afterwards. If its still low, then do the wires.

[WytchDctr]

or get a multimeter and check the ohms.

[saturn]

I got some NGK iridiums... going to install them as soon as the engine cools down.

[ghrpdx]

I took my plugs out at 15K just to inspect them and put anti-seize on them before I put them back in. They came right out when it was time to change them. Put anti-seize on the replacements and installed them. The anti-seize goop is only $3 and it will last forever because you use so little each plug change.

[saturn]

yeah I always use that stuff. it was like 99 cents for me. I use the same sort of things on light bulbs too (not anti-seize... the anti-corrosive/anti-water stuff)


update: all installed. runs a LOT smoother now... went up .1 MPG within a few feet of the driveway!

the champions that I replaced were rusty and black and overall crappy. I think the car is happier now.

[ghrpdx]

Nothing beats a happy car and happy owner!