Post by dderolph on Dec 24, 2009 19:51:08 GMT -5
Hi everyone, my first post here. My son has a '02 Montero Sport with a 3.0L engine. It has about 156K miles on it, about double what it had when my son bought it, if I recall correctly. My son has never had the spark plugs changed and we don't know whether the plugs might have been changed before he bought it. I believe it badly needs new plugs; the symptoms I see are rough running immediately after a cold start and sub-par fuel economy for this vehicle.
Basically, I'm wondering whether this can be viewed as a DIY job by someone who has some mechanical aptitude and has done such auto repair jobs as replacing alternators, brake pads, fuel filters, and spark plugs in other vehicles where plugs are easily accessed. The engine is this vehicle is designed quite different from the Honda Accords I'm familiar with.
Based on some browsing through this forum and some other Internet searching, I'm under the impression the cast iron component which must be removed on this vehicle is the "intake plenum". Is that correct?
If this is correct, I confess this is what I thought was the intake manifold. But, as I now understand this, the plenum sits on top of the intake manifold. Is that correct? And, the plenum must be removed from the manifold but the manifold need not be removed. Is that correct?
If this is all correct, then what parts would we need besides the plugs? A plenum gasket? Anything else?
By the way, does the plenum need to be removed to change plug wires, too? If so, I think we should carefully inspect plug wires if we proceed with a change of plugs.
Edit: The post at msport97.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=msport97&action=display&thread=7614 says this is an all-day job. Do you agree?
Basically, I'm wondering whether this can be viewed as a DIY job by someone who has some mechanical aptitude and has done such auto repair jobs as replacing alternators, brake pads, fuel filters, and spark plugs in other vehicles where plugs are easily accessed. The engine is this vehicle is designed quite different from the Honda Accords I'm familiar with.
Based on some browsing through this forum and some other Internet searching, I'm under the impression the cast iron component which must be removed on this vehicle is the "intake plenum". Is that correct?
If this is correct, I confess this is what I thought was the intake manifold. But, as I now understand this, the plenum sits on top of the intake manifold. Is that correct? And, the plenum must be removed from the manifold but the manifold need not be removed. Is that correct?
If this is all correct, then what parts would we need besides the plugs? A plenum gasket? Anything else?
By the way, does the plenum need to be removed to change plug wires, too? If so, I think we should carefully inspect plug wires if we proceed with a change of plugs.
Edit: The post at msport97.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=msport97&action=display&thread=7614 says this is an all-day job. Do you agree?