$350 for spark plug change!

[RKS]

I have an 02 Maxima with 130K miles. The platinum plugs are good for 100K.

I thought I would be able to do these myself but apparently you have to remove the intake to get to the rear bank. Is this too complicated for someone who can change oil and rebuild a computer?

 

[Vette73]

Should not be that hard as you don’t take the intake manifold off, just the upper plenum.

Get a haynes manual or serach at a Nissan/Maxima fan site for pictures to be safe. Get a upper plenum gasket and throttle body gasket just in case it can;t be reused. And also clean out the upper plenum and throttle body when you remove them.
And don't forget the Fuel filter and PCV valve if it has one.

 

[Soccerman06]

Im pretty sure if you go on google you can find some directions that make it really simple.

damn beaten to the punch

 

[StageLeft]

Does the 2002 really differ much from the 2000? 2000 is quite straight forward. The back plugs are a little trickier to get at simply because they're at the back but otherwise I think at the most you have to undo a couple of bolts for the throttle cable (I think 2002 is drive by wire so probably not worry about that). Then just unhook the ignition coil wiring harness, undo its single bolt, then down with your plug socket and take it out. Absolutely the manifold did not have to be done. I'd say it is a very straight forward job on the 2000. My mazda MPV requires intake manifold to be taken off and that is a real pain in the ass compared to the maxima.

Fuel filter is likely similar to the 2000 in which case replacing it is a big pain in the ass (in the trunk or behind a seat or some silly sh*t). Most owners never do; I got rid of my car at 134k on original fuel filter.

Haynes I don't know if it has a manual for that car. I had a haynes that covered 95-2001 maxima. It may be that the 2002 is different enough that they couldn't cover it in that publication, but it's got to be mostly the same as a 2000 or 2001.

 

[T2urtle]

Should not be that hard as you don’t take the intake manifold off, just the upper plenum.

um.. the 02-03 is the same body style as the 00-01 but they came with the 3.5 engine.

With these the manifold does need to come off to get to the rears least on the FWD platform. AFAIK.

 

[dawp]

can't be any worse than the SHO engine, which i did last month.

 

[NutBucket]

Plus they're charging at least $20 per plug for parts

 

[njmodi]

2k2 is definitely much different from the 2k/2k1 Maximas. As already stated, you have to at least unbolt the plenum to move it out of the way to get to the rear plugs.

It's not rocket science, but some of the firewall side upper plenum fasters are not the easiest to get to.

The dealer is probably charging 1.5-2hrs labor on it - it will take you probably at least that.

 

[CraigRT]

Just did this job on my 2k2 Maxima... Intake manifold definitely has to come off. Even if you remove only the plenum, you still can't get the middle coil out on the back bank.

It's not that big of a job otherwise, buy the gasket from the dealer, buy the NGK double plats from wherever you get the best price (Napa for me) and you're golden.

All in all, the spark plug change including gasket cost me less than $200. (plugs were $15 each and gasket was like $60 something after tax - CDN funds) The dealer wanted $21 or something per plug.

Here is my thread on Maxima.org regarding the ordeal.

http://forums.maxima.org/5th-genera...-5-5-today-pics-also-some-fun-misc-stuff.html

 

[Mermaidman]

My Aurora with the V8 had the same issue. Rear bank is a PiTA! I did the front four myself and paid a mechanic to do the rest. One thing that bothered me was bumbling around the rear plugs without visual, and possibly getting debris inside, or mis-threading the new plugs.

 

[Vette73]

um.. the 02-03 is the same body style as the 00-01 but they came with the 3.5 engine.

With these the manifold does need to come off to get to the rears least on the FWD platform. AFAIK.

Do you know the diff. between the manifold and the plenum? Only the plenum needs to come off on these. The older 3.0 motors you did not even have to take the plenum off. I am a former autotech and even had my own shop.

Here are some PICs of someone else doing this. He also does not call them a plenum but a manifold "collectors". Not sure if that is a nissan term or he does not know the correct terms?


http://www.greghome.com/Greg's Garage/2002MaxSE/SparkPlugReplacement.htm

 

[CraigRT]

Do you know the diff. between the manifold and the plenum? Only the plenum needs to come off on these. The older 3.0 motors you did not even have to take the plenum off. I am a former autotech and even had my own shop.

Here are some PICs of someone else doing this. He also does not call them a plenum but a manifold "collectors". Not sure if that is a nissan term or he does not know the correct terms?


http://www.greghome.com/Greg's Garage/2002MaxSE/SparkPlugReplacement.htm

I think the deal is that there is essentially 2 pieces to the manifold setup. The upper and the lower.

Also know as the LIM and the UIM.

The UIM has to come off (upper intake manifold) the lower (that connects the 2 banks together) stays in place.

Also, do not clean the throttle body on this car unless you are not moving it, and use a non-harsh cleaning product. The drive by wire system can be a pain, and your idle can be all messed up if you move that plate while the car is off. The best way to clean the plate is by leaving the key in the ON position, and cleaning that way. Just a heads up.

 

[Viperoni]

I knew the MVI? (variable intake) was big on the 2002 and 2003 maxi's, but thats just BIG.

It's too bad that the coil packs and injectors are notorious for failing on maxi's, it'd almost be a good idea to change them at the same time as the plugs.

 

[SSSnail]

Hey, I thought maintenance on a Maxima was suppose to be cheap?

 

[Lotheron]

Hey, I thought maintenance on a Maxima was suppose to be cheap?

It is when you do it yourself

 

[KIAman]

100k maintenance schedule ain't bad. Replace, clean, adjust anything else while you have the engine opened up.

 

[StageLeft]

That sucks about having to remove the manifold. My 00 ignition coils did die and need replacing at almost 60k. I have no idea if the 2002s had the problem fixed by then or not.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Here are some PICs of someone else doing this. He also does not call them a plenum but a manifold "collectors". Not sure if that is a nissan term or he does not know the correct terms?


http://www.greghome.com/Greg's%20Garage/2002MaxSE/SparkPlugReplacement.htm

Holy crap. See, this is why I like my older cars. The spark plug replacement process goes like this:

1) Open hood.
2) Pull wire off of the plug you're changing.
3) Replace spark plug.
4) Put the wire on the new plug.
5) Close hood.

Even the newer Volvo only adds one step to that: remove the stupid plastic cover.

Vee engines in FWD cars are a royal pain.

ZV

 

[CraigRT]

Holy crap. See, this is why I like my older cars. The spark plug replacement process goes like this:

1) Open hood.
2) Pull wire off of the plug you're changing.
3) Replace spark plug.
4) Put the wire on the new plug.
5) Close hood.

Even the newer Volvo only adds one step to that: remove the stupid plastic cover.

Vee engines in FWD cars are a royal pain.

ZV

More just the VQ35.

There is also a VQ30 in the family (like Skoorbs Max was) and it was no biggie to change plugs.

Also, the plugs were in there for 8 years. I don't plan on having the car 8 more years. It's a 1 time job.

But I do agree as to the level of difficulty for being just spark plugs. My Saturn takes 10 mins to change the plugs. That car is fantastic for a DIYer!

Just a note, the coils on my engine are all original, and it runs, and pulls strong. It's a phenomenal driving car. Feels like brand new cruising down the road. Very happy with it!

 

[Fenixgoon]

Holy crap. See, this is why I like my older cars. The spark plug replacement process goes like this:

1) Open hood.
2) Pull wire off of the plug you're changing.
3) Replace spark plug.
4) Put the wire on the new plug.
5) Close hood.

Even the newer Volvo only adds one step to that: remove the stupid plastic cover.

Vee engines in FWD cars are a royal pain.

ZV

Even my VW is simple!

 

[njmodi]

As CraigRT said - even if you do end up paying $350 at the dealer, it's a once every 100k miles type maintenance... not something that should be breaking the bank for someone who bought a 25-30k car to begin with... and for someone buying it used, they're saving so much on depreciation, that it's still not that bad... at least IMO.

 

[Zenmervolt]

More just the VQ35.

There is also a VQ30 in the family (like Skoorbs Max was) and it was no biggie to change plugs.

Also, the plugs were in there for 8 years. I don't plan on having the car 8 more years. It's a 1 time job.

But I do agree as to the level of difficulty for being just spark plugs. My Saturn takes 10 mins to change the plugs. That car is fantastic for a DIYer!

There are a lot of FWD V6 engines that are as much or more trouble than the VQ35. For example, GM's 3800 in some cars effectively required removing one of the engine mounts in order to change the rear plugs. It's not the engine's fault at all, just a packaging issue.

I agree that it's not much of an issue when newer cars will run just fine for 100,000 miles on a set of plugs, but it's still a bit of a shock to see just how much effort it can take in some cars after working mostly on older models.

ZV

 

[zerocool84]

Holy crap. See, this is why I like my older cars. The spark plug replacement process goes like this:

1) Open hood.
2) Pull wire off of the plug you're changing.
3) Replace spark plug.
4) Put the wire on the new plug.
5) Close hood.

Even the newer Volvo only adds one step to that: remove the stupid plastic cover.

Vee engines in FWD cars are a royal pain.

ZV

When I bought my srt I made sure maintenance would be easy on it and it is. Spark plugs easy to access and everything has tons of room. Lots of these cars I see have tons of crap you have to remove just to get to simple stuff. If people want to to maintenance on their own cars they need to make sure things are easy to get to.