I haven't changed my plugs in over and year and just ordered some DENSO IK22's. I forgot what a pain it is to change the rear ones. Anyways, what a significant difference!!

WOW!

First off, the car idles MUCH smoother. All those noises that I kept hearing.. they are all GONE! Now for the acceleration... MUCH quicker. Pulls very hard to redline... I must have forgotten how quick the car was before 2nd just rips loose much easier now and its 80C here today!

I suspect I'll see a good increase in gas mileage as well. The plugs I had in there for about 12K miles were DENSO BPR7ES's... but from this initial drive, the IK22's are much superior.

I am happy

 

I am going to do a valve adjustment soon as well. It's chattering a little... I have heard the exhaust valves get a little loose on these motors with some mileage...

Beyond that, I'll check the PCV valve and maybe tune the car on the dyno again.

 

What type of noises were you hearing? I think my engine is loud and the dealer keeps saying its normal noise from the valves and injectors. Maybe this could solve some of my problems.

 

yea same here.....prolly because they'd have to do it under warranty. Although I'd be willing to pay.

 

I'd recommend a valve adjustment, change spark plugs and just keep changing oil frequently.

 

FYI - you cannot hear injectors! (At least when the engine is runing!)

 

Did you get em online? If so, what site?

 

Allmotor, what kind of mileage do you have on your CL ??

 

Anybody try the Hyperformance Plugs from Zex? I have them sitting here and have not installed them yet.

 

Ram,
Curious what it takes to do a valve job on this car....you gonna DIY? A FAQ would be AWESOME!!! (hint-hint)

 

With very normal (always in closed-loop) driving, I get 350-380 miles per tank. This got down to about 300 per tank when the plugs were bad.

I bought them on Ebay.... mrsteve gave me a link.

I will probably do the valve adjustment myself... you have to remove the intake manifolds, both valve covers and be able to turn the crank (to get each cylinder where the valves are all closed... TDC on each cylinder). Other than that... make sure you have a torque wrench, feeler guages and don't fuck anything up

Not sure about a FAQ... the service manual has the details!

 

how about simply posting pics while doing it...or posting scans of the manual...i don't have the service manual

 

Mine were being done this weekend. It is no fun with the SC in the way.
I went with the NGK equivalent of Iridium's IK-22. They came to be about $7 each and they were available locally. How much did you pay for the IK's?

 

The IK-22s are on eBay for $9/each.

The cheapest I found them elsewhere was $12/each.

 

Sounds good dude! I'll check my plugs one of these days and see what's up. I'd be interested in a new dyno as well. I actually use my car so little I'm thinking of selling it . It just barely turned 8,ooo miles and I've had it nearly 3 years. I think that's a waste and someone should be enjoying it, if not me...

 

Blue - WHAT?!?!? Yes you don't drive your car enough at all... and I don't think you need to change the spark plugs

Well, try to sell it 'as-is', if possible. But if you are parting it out, give me a call first

 

I'll give you $14.95 for it....

 

how about a trade? Mine has 50k miles on it and it's a 2002

 

^ your car isn't an '02

 

i bought it in 02 6mt w/ some miles. he could have the car and not feel guilty for not drivin it

 

350-380miles per tank?!?! holy cow i average only 250 lol.

 

Has anyone re-gapped their Iridiums? Standard gap for the CL-S per Helm is 1.0 - 1.1mm. The IK16 and IK20's come pre-gapped at 1.1mm. The IK22 used for FI cars comes pre-gapped at 0.8

http://www.denso.co.jp/PLUG/iridium-e/q23.html

The difference between 1.1 and 0.8 mm gap is pretty significant. I know that there are pro's and con's to going to a larger gap.

Ram - Did you re-gap or just install out of the box. I installed my IK22's just as they came as recommended by Comptech but the difference in gap has been a question for me.

 

Gapped to 0.8mm... FI should run a smaller gap. Less chance of misfires.

 

With mixed driving and mostly highway (my work commute), I can get 350 miles to the tank. If I happen to floor it around a given week, it will drop to 300. If I really gun it around... 260-270 is probably the worst. On one trip, I drove the car on cruise-control most of the way and hit 407 miles before I needed to fill up. It was pretty much empty and running on fumes - the fuel pressure guage was jumping around and the fuel pump was screaming!

 

Been to0 spoiled with top mounted plugs. The rears on the J32A2 are a breeze. Try changing them on the GM L67 (transverse pushrod engine), which still isn't bad, or the Typhoon engine which is a PITA (over one hour for a single plug).

Oh yea, when did you move to Venus, 80 C, that must be pretty hot.

Anyway, I know what you mean about the change with plugs. When you make 150WHP the difference isn't as noticed as opposed to 400+ WHP, the change is dramatic.

 

It's starting to get hot here... but the weather is gorgeous

Well, the rear is only annoying because I have to temporariliy move the FPR so that there is room for the socket etc. Other than that, its just slower than the front.

 

Is the IK22 biased for forced induction, or will it work well on a naturally aspirated engine, too? I have 37k miles on the original plugs. Last time I checked was at around 28 and they were "okay".

 

i have 38k on my stock plugs, u think its time to change????

 

If you are a true die-hard car person who wants the best in performance at all times... I'd say change the plugs at 15K for NA engines and 7.5K for FI engines.

 

Well, is the IK22 a good application for NA engines, too?

 

i'm wondering the same also. if not, which would be the best for n/a cl's?

thanks.

 

I'd say go for the IK24 for NA use...

 

IK22 is a "colder" plug than IK24, correct?

 

Yup!

Keep in mind that my dramatic response to changing plugs has more to do with the fact that my plugs were in bad shape than to do with the IK22's necessarily. The IK22's are good plugs, but I don't think they are significantly better than the DENSO's I had in the car to begin with.

So if you guys order these plugs, don't expect this big increase in power... especially if your plugs are in decent shape to begin with. Also, as Scalbert alluded to, the effect of bad plugs on an FI application is more than an NA application.

 

Right, I understand. It's just that I know my plugs are going, and I was going to replace them soon, anyway. Might as well go with something that has a good review by someone who knows his shit. :thumbup:

 

im a little confused... Im looking on autocarparts.com at denso iridium plugs... the ones they have listed for 2003 CL-S is for Supercharged engine... and the other is for 01-02. I have no forced induction on my '03 CL-S... which iridium plugs do I go with?? also, where else can I order them from?

 

Umm, I guess the higher number, the colder it is. So IK24 is colder than IK22.

 

Sorry... I am wrong.. You want to use the IK20 or even lower than that. The IK24 is an ever 'colder' plug than the IK22.

 

That was the first thing I learned with supercharger - change plugs frequently.
Correct the lower the number the hotter the plug. NA should use IK16 while FI IK22. I wonder if us FI cars can use IK24?

My car runs much colder with MAX + HBP vs. HBP, however now I have IK22, Mugen cooling mods + IC vs. IK20, no Mugen and no IC before.

 

If you have a TL-S or CL-S that is not running a turbo, or S/C stick with the IK-20's.