The fact that I needed to have changed my spark plugs about 8k ago slipped my mind.

I'm taking the car in for service at the dealership on Friday. How much are they going to charge me to change them?

Also, do gunked up spark plugs affect fuel mileage? My mileage got worse around the time they should've been changed.

 

What year is your TL?

You might qualify for a free spark plug change if its a '96 or '97

 

2.5 or 3.2? My 3.2 plugs ran about 70 bucks for a set of NGKs, but the 2.5 may be different. The 3.2 uses platinum plugs, and my guess would be that a dealer would charge a large chunk of change... Do em yourself, very easy (at least it was on 3.2). 30 minutes top, and if you do, buy some anti sieze compound to avoid the plugs sticking to the heads next time you wanna replace them... Torque them to if you have a torque wrench.

The mileage could be affected on a slight scale, after about 3k miles after my plug swap/fuel filter swap/intake install, I noticed a dramatic change 2-3 more mpg, but I would'nt think that the car would just all of a sudden have crappy gas mileage if you were a few thousand miles over the "recommended" change date.

Good luck fellow TLer

 

Doh! Well if not, my advice still stands.

 

97 2.5.

So with labor, what? Maybe 100 bucks?

I could change them myself but I'd rather have them do it. It's worth 100 bucks in the saved time and effort, and knowing that it got done right.

The MPG change wasn't drastic. I've gone from getting about 25.5 mpgs to about 24. My driving habits have changed ever so slightly, I'm just hoping that new plugs will get me back up near 25 mpgs.

 

If you have a 97, then as Ken says, the dealership "should" do the entire thing for free (parts and labor) you may want to call first, tell them you know about the maintenance program for the first gen TL's, and ask them what they can do.

24-25 mpg is good! I get around that if go light on the gas (rarely), however, I have gotten 28 (record for me) on a road trip in south GA, flat roads.

 

yeah if you're under a 150,000 miles you qualify for a ONE time spark plug change and oil change from Acura. Its under an emissions warranty. They will fix/replace ANYTHING related to your emissions. This includes headers and catalytic converters.. so make sure they inspect all that.. it wont be cheap to replace later!

 

How often should one replace their spark plug wires? Or are those even things that need occasional replacement?

 

I'm also still curious to know a ballpark figure for how much this is going to cost if I don't qualify for the warranty.