Jepht20

iTrader: (10)

well, i live south of boston and i'm sure most of you know how the weather has been lately in the north. my buddy and changed my spark plugs in his garage a few nights ago. i went with ngk coppers and gapped them accordingly. now however, i'm experiencing a rough idle that's moving back and forth, not crazily but enough to notice. does this mean something might not have been replaced correctly? maybe a plug or a coil isn't sitting properly? i'll try to check them all when i get the chance but the weather has just been so bad i can't even stay outside for more than a few minutes. i also read something about pcv valves as a possibility? maybe i'll check that out or just change it if it's cheap because i haven't since i've had the car.

my other problems were that two of the plugs had oil on the threads. it wasn't oil fouled as they say in the chilton's book but it had enough to tell it was oil. the tip of the plug didn't have any on them, just the thread. they were the back left and middle plugs(i'm not sure which number those are). i was really worried when i first found this but when i got on here today, i searched and read a few threads stating that it might not be as bad as i had thought. does anyone have anything to say to help me with this?

another issue or two i need to take care of is that my starter has been sticking and sounding funny. it still starts up first turn of the key, just sounds like it's struggling. this is probably because of the 5 degree weather. i want to regrease it but as i said the weather is so bad so hopefully i can do this soon. how much would a shop charge for this?? also, my car has been stalling again as it did a few winters ago. i changed the engine coolant temp sensor and it went away about two winters ago, but now is stalling again. i know i haven't changed/flushed the coolant in forever so could this possibly help? i imagine if the coolant has been in there for a longgg time and with this arctic weather, this could possibly be the problem. i want to get that, and the tranny fluid flushed asap so hopefully those will help the car feel better.

sorry this was so long and hopefully someone can help me.
cliff notes - have rough idle after changing spark plugs, oil on two plugs, car stalls sometimes but starts right back up with no cel.

twiggy144

greasing starter: 1.5 hours, 2 at the most.

gabex

iTrader: (2)

Maybe no CEL yet, but there could be an error code stored waiting to pop-up. Check it out anyways.

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

I just don't understand why you guys bother using any plug other then NGK Platinums.

Make sure all your coil packs are seated down on the plugs nicely and all the electrical connections to the coil packs are secure. Also make sure you didn't knock off a vacuum line someplace. The oil on the threads indicates the valve cover seal is weaping some oil into the plug cavity. Thats not a big deal at all. In the spring time change the valve cover seals.

For the stalling, I'd start off by cleaning your throttle body and making sure the cold idle linkage is adjusted corrected and the cold idle plunger is operating. The Haynes manual has a nice writeup on that. If your still stalling after all that, check your ECTS with an ohm meter to make sure it's in spec. Again, the Haynes manual has a temp/resistance table for reference. If all that checks out OK and your idle is still a bit rough and you stall, definately get the Coppers out of there and run the Platinums.

You might also consider having the entire fuel system serviced. 3M makes a complete intake and fuel system cleaner or try the BK44 stuff. You want to get your intake deep cleaned and the fuel injectors cleaned as well.

Good luck, stalling is not fun.

Black95Se

iTrader: (2)

Get NGK platinums like you are supposed to. I have heard of bad things happening when using different plugs than the plats.

Ian

Jepht20

iTrader: (10)

thanks guys for the suggestions, especially tom.

i ran the coppers because right now i'm somewhat strapped for cash and read that so many people on here use them, and once i saw dave b recomend them, i figured they have to be fine to use. i wanted plats but the ebay seller never emailed me back and hasn't been selling them for a while, and i wasn't going to pay the $50+ for them from the dealer.

i'm gonna go browse through the maintnance forum on which fuel & intake cleaners are the best for the buck. i can't wait for a warm front to come in because this weather is making it really difficult to do anything, especially take care of my sick car.

Sin

njmaxseltd and Black95Se, you guys couldn't be more wrong about using copper plugs. Copper is a much better material for use in spark plugs in terms of combustion. The only reason why Nissan recommends platinum spark plugs is because the platinums last about 3 times longer.

Go do some research on copper vs platinum plugs.

bosa1

Plats last twice as long, come pre-gapped to .044.

Get the big Chevron with Technatron for the twenty gallon tank. .org approved. My car seemed happy after using it.

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

Perhaps your correct, I have my reasons to always use Platinum. I've yet to see any prof that going from Platinum to Copper on the VQ gives you better performance.

Jepht20

iTrader: (10)

i think one(if not more) of my coils are bad because on the highway i got that bad hesitation/fuel cut feeling a few times last night and the rpm needle would drop a decent amount.

i haven't been able to check everything out yet but will hopefully do that today in my friend's garage.