Cincycls

iTrader: (1)

Being that my car has over 87,000 supercharged miles on it I thought it was time to change the spark plugs. And yes these are the original IK22's installed when the kit was first put on. It has run perfect and really my only reason for doing it was to save myself some $ when I take it to get the 105K service. I would have done it sooner but the supercharger needs to be removed and up until now I haven't felt like tackling that.

So after much labeling and a plan set I dove in. 2 hours later all the plugs were changed. The actual plug change didnt take that long, it was the blower removal that was a pain.

After looking at the plugs that came out I dont know how the car was still running smoothly. See what I mean.


Old one is on the left. The iridium electrode is gone!! All 6 plugs looked just like this.


So then the time came to put the blower back on. A quick inspection made it clear that wasn't going to happen. The seal between the blower and the shaft was leaking. Not sure if I did it or there was already a small leak that just got bigger when I took it off. The instruction from Comptech state-

*Note: DO NOT remove (2) upper (top) bolts on
drive shaft & housing. Bolts around blower drive
shaft also maintain seal (B) around blower’s internal
oil reservoir, if this seal is broken during installation,
the blower unit will need to be returned for a NONWARRANTY
service to properly reseal the blower.

I know there are instruction on how to do it HERE but I have a feeling, (knowing my luck) i would have just ruptured it putting it back on. So I figured it is time to remove the supercharger. After 87,000 miles I have gotten plenty of enjoyment out of it and it will help the engine go the distance.

So at this point I have a few more things to remove from the engine bay and then it will be time to tackle the FPR, Fuel pump, and ESM. The dealer put it on for me so this is a learning experience. And having only a basic set of tools doesnt make it any easier.

Here is a shot with the blower removed and much more work to go.



Hopefully today I will get it done

I will post some more pics when I get time but it probably wont be today.

ChucksCL-S

That it was still running good with a huge gap like that tells me our 3.2's have a good ignition system,coils etc.

Cincycls

iTrader: (1)

Success! After many more hours and a lot of sweating the car now runs. And I must say these cars are quite fast even without boost and they sound great.

Everything came off or went back fairly easily and nothing broke in the process. The only mistake I made was not paying attention and put the battery in backwards. That mistake blew the 120 battery fuse and these are very difficult to find. It took until the 4th parts store I visited to find one, and even then it wasn’t an exact fit but I made it work. Success! After many more hours and a lot of sweating the car now runs. And I must say these cars are quite fast even without boost and they sound great.

Everything came off or went back fairly easily and nothing broke in the process. The only mistake I made was not paying attention and put the battery in backwards. That mistake blew the 120 battery fuse and these are very difficult to find. It took until the 4th parts store I visited to find one, and even then it wasn’t an exact fit but I made it work.

There were a few parts I didn’t have the tools to remove, the alternator pulley, FPR and ESM. I will just have the dealer take these parts off when I take it in for a service visit. The FPR is mounted in a way that needs the black plastic wiper arm cover removed to access the bolt. If I get some free time I may try to access this again. The stock FPR is back on so it is just sitting there. The ESM removal needs some wires to be soldered back together and that is something I have no knowledge of. It runs just fine with it on and it will only be week until I take it in.

Here are a few more shots.

All of the old plugs together. Moral of this shot is don't wait 87,000 miles before changing plugs if you are supercharged.


The unblown engine minus the plastic. Note the 51R battery is a lot smaller than stock so I had to wedge some cardboard in there to get a tight fit.


Most of the parts removed. The cold airbox, FPR, ESM and pulley are not in the pic.


And before anyone asks this will eventually be for sale in the black market.

CL-S progression 01

iTrader: (2)

what headers are you running? I don't think I've seen the ones you got

Cincycls

iTrader: (1)

Sure you have, they are Comptech. It must be the angle of the picture.

02type-s

Why did you remove the blower?

p.diddy

iTrader: (3)

how bout reading the thread.

e30cabrio

iTrader: (6)

Wow, those are some dead plugs. I cannot believe the car ran reasonable like that.

The SC has to come out to do the Timing belt/Waterpump?

Allout

Nope. Timing belt job can be done with the SC in place. It just needs to be pulled for plug change or valve adjust,

CL-S progression 01

iTrader: (2)

yea I'll stick to N/A on these cars. Save myself some more trannys and a couple grand in FUEL

Cincycls

iTrader: (1)

With all the automatic tranny issues I would not suppercharge it either. My car is a 6 spd and has been very reliable and is still running the original clutch.

As far as fuel goes when I was watching my speed and driving more conservatively when fuel was $4.50 I got 30 MPG. So fuel usage doesnt change much. Now if you are very generous with the throttle that is a different story.

Allout

I still can't believe the condition of those plugs. Were you running the HBP? Did you have very much detonation?

Cincycls

iTrader: (1)

I am still amazed myself. Just as ChucksCL-S said it just shows how good these engines are and what a modern ignition system can overcome.

No on the HBP just the standard size. I do think I heard some detonation but it has been a couple years and it was only a few times. I did in fact get a dyno run to check the air/fuel ratio and from what I was told it was fine. Not sure on what the numbers were I would have to go dig it out.

Now that it has been a couple of days I can tell it runs a bit smoother. Usually if I reved it up sitting still, the revs dropped back down to about 500 and stumbled a bit. Now it no longer does that. Next Monday I am taking to get the 105K service done so that should make it feel like a brand new engine. Not looking foreward to the bill though.

Allout

I would guess that once the iridium tip is depleted, the rest disappears quickly. I wonder how much WHP you were loosing running those plugs?


Here's one after around 30K miles on a standard boost pulley:

phee

iTrader: (5)

pm me wen it goes for sale

p.diddy

iTrader: (3)

i was wondering how long it would take until someone asked lol.