Last night I got around to changing the air filter and spark plugs on my coupe and was amazed at what a difference it made
.
The air filter was filthy and the spark plugs were non GM single electrode type (in fact I have no idea what they were they didn't seem to have a brand name on them at all what.. )
Replaced both the filter and the plugs with GM ones (triple electrode plugs)and the difference is amazing. The car is quieter, runs smooth and pulls sooo much better.
Normally you get a small benefit from a service but this is great! rallygif
For anyone needing to change the spark plugs, here are a few notes:
- remove engine cover by taking off the oil filler cap and pulling the cover upwards until it pops off.
- on the top of the engine is a black strip with a silver module to the right hand side end (as you look at the engine I assume this is the coil pack) remove the 3 torx screws and slowly lift the silver module up and out of the way. ( I left all the cables connected and just put it to one side)
- remove the 4 silver bolts holding the long black strip in place and gently pull it upwards and off. (this is the equivalent of the HT leads on other cars)
- You should now be able to see the 4 holes where the spark plugs are. They are quite deeply recessed in the engine so you'll need an extension on your spark plug removing socket.
- Undo the spark plugs and lift them out one by one (note they have quite a long thread on them so will take a while to get them completely unscrewed)
- Using your spark plug socket without the ratchet put in each new spark plug by hand (doing this will help avoid cross threading them). When they are all in go back with your ratchet and tighten them up.
- Replace the black HT lead thing and bolt in back up (this will probably wobble about about until the bolts are tightened up but thats fine, tightening the bolts up we push everything into place) carefull not to overtighten these bolts, they are pretty thin and will probably easily break)
- Gently put back the silver coil pack back in place being careful to align the pins on the black strip to the socket on the coil pack. Reinsert the torx screws and tighten it up (again not too tight!)
- Replace the engine cover and of course put the oil filler cap back on.
Hopefully that will help someone, thats exactly what I did and it was pretty easy and worked fine. Obviously I can't quarantee that is 100% correct for all z22se cars (and can't accept any responsibility if you mess it up!) but I hope its a reasonable guide... I looked for one before I did mine and couldn't find one. 8)