30K on the Odometer, Time to change some Plugs

[forestacademy]

OK
I now have 30K On the Odometer and according to smart I need to change the plugs.
This shows me how according to smart, smart USA Owners Portal - Spark Plugs but what else should I know before I jump in

I was a bit surprised to search for this topic and only find threads from early 08 when no one had hit 10K yet.

[jwight]

How's your car running? Any problems, decrease in mpg, etc? If not, I'd be tempted to leave things as they are.

[forestacademy]

Well that's what I was wondering, Since I cant recall EVER having plugs changed on a car I owned in the last 15 years

But if its any easy thing to DIY, it cant cost that much for 3 plugs and a New Gap Guage

[WhiteNBlack08]

I did the 30K plug change, took all of about 30 minutes. Unless your car is running rough, don't bother. My plugs looked good. In fact, if I hadn't already bought new ones, I would have regapped the old ones and put them back in. I kept them, may just put them back in when the new set finally goes.

Don't waste your money on the factory plugs. You can buy the Iridium replacements from a couple of vendors on here for less money, then you don't have to worry about them for the next 100K.

They aren't bad to remove, just remember, you need a 3/8" drive ratchet and short extension with your plug socket. You'll never get it out with a 1/2" ratchet.

[WhiteNBlack08]

Originally Posted by forestacademy

But if its any easy thing to DIY, it cant cost that much for 3 plugs and a New Gap Guage

Dealer get's $15 each for plugs And so far that's the only place I've found the OE plugs. It's cheaper to do a V-8!

[chieftmc]

Originally Posted by WhiteNBlack08

Dealer get's $15 each for plugs And so far that's the only place I've found the OE plugs. It's cheaper to do a V-8!

Sparkplugs.com - Cross Reference Search Results

[NeWave]

I'm just gonna do it this spring with the iridiums to get it out of the way... And the iridiums don't need to be gapped! That saves some work, too.

[Old smart]

Time permitting and digging as deep at I could, I found that in addition to reducing oil change intervals for "severe service" (which more owners are involved with than they think), spark plug life also suffers.

I finally was able to access Mitsubishi Motors Corp's info on their hi-tec, all-aluminum, MIVEC engines (of which our Mitsu 3B21 is one), and in severe service, their standard is to replace standard plugs at 15k miles and platinums at 30k, half the normal (read "ideal") service.

[silverbrabus]

Originally Posted by forestacademy

I cant recall EVER having plugs changed on a car I owned in the last 15 years

That's because ALL the other manufacturers went to factory installed exotic metal plugs 15 years ago with minimum change interval at 60k.

Smart/Mitsu cheaped out with standard plugs, go figure? They're DONE at 30k, may look OK but the sharp edges are gone and with them the spark energy(and power and fuel economy.)

For a few $$ more, take this opportunity to upgrade to iridiums.

[SmartDigger]

Yes I will do it this summer with about 20-25K on the clock