So after a long 110K miles i finally changed my spark plugs and gaskets. After the install, i noticed the car idles a little lower than before. Does anyone know if this is normal or if I may have missed something? (FYI: Its an 04 2.5 manual trans).

The old plugs didnt look too good, so it was long overdue. I noticed that out of the 6 plugs, one plug was different to the others. Anyone else seen this before? I bought the car new and never changed the plugs. (Pic below).

Another thing I noticed was that there was a little oil coming out of the manifold when i took it off, is this normal (im bit of a noob when it comes to actually removing bigger parts)? Pic below of the oil.

Last thing to add. I dont think this is related, but I noticed that there is a little loss in power in the lower RPM range, and then once it gets over about 4k, it picks up speed a lot quicker. Not sure what could cause this, but if anyone else does, any info would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

04

 

04XType, the oil that you are seeing is "normal". With that being said, you probably want to replace your PCV valve as that is probably letting too much oil past it, leading to what you are seeing.

As for the idle, yes, the car will idle a little lower as it is not having to fight so much to keep a spark going. I would not worry about it.

The oddball plug, maybe I am missing what you are trying to show in the picture. The tips of the plugs all look good and have a nice gray color to them indicating that the cylinders are running at a good temperature. Granted, 2 of the tips are covered up, so, can not prove them good or bad. yes, there was a bit of excessive gap on the plugs, but for 110K miles, they don't look too bad.

As for the general lack of power in the lower RPMs, what I would tell you to do is to disconnect the battery, let the car sit for about 5 minutes and then reconnect the battery (you will need to reprogram your windows and radio). What this is doing is clearing any memory the ECM has of the motor with the worn plugs. The ECM "learns" how the motor functions and adjusts things accordingly. You are now causing it to have to relearn things for what the current conditions are. You may find that this will help you out. IF anything, you will probably notice a slight increase in mileage because of this (0.5 mpg or so, but it will decay away over time).

 

your plugs look real good for 110k

 

What plugs do these cars take ? I change mine on the Nissan every 35k what is the standard for for the X Type .

 

smittybizzle, I put in some double platinum Motorcraft plugs. Nothing fancy. The fancy plugs are going to do nothing but lighten your wallet. So, KISS. But, with that being said, double platinum plugs is a must. You can use the cheaper plugs, but you will be right back in there in 20K miles to do the plugs again. You will understand why we all say to use the platinum plugs.

 

Thanks for the reassurance Thermo. As always, your help is much appreciated. I will have to look in to replacing the pcv valve. I replaced the plugs with the oe ones from the dealer. Figured they lasted this long, might as well put the same.

The difference in the pic of the plugs is just that one has jaguar written on it and blue stripes vs.the other plugs have green stripes and no jaguar written.

 

04XType, I would venture to guess that someone took the car into the dealership for a misfire condition and the dealership resolved the issue with replacing the plug (if not the coil too). Hence why you have 5 of one style, and 1 of another.