plug leads ???

[Shark]

changed the oil, filter and plugs yesterday on my FD, even put in a new battery as the old one was starting to leak a little and corrode the brace holding it in place!

I had a lovely new set of magnecor leads to put in too, courtesy of Clive and Shy auto pulling out all the stops to get me the NGK 7\'s and 9\'s as well as the leads in time to do the work at the weekend (Cheers Clive :wave )

I hit a snag though, got everything done except the leads.
I can;t see any way to replace the plug leads without taking the throttle body off to get at that end of them.
One of the trailing plugs looks like the oil filler nech needs to come off to swap that out

Can anyone help me by either confirming my assessment or telling me how to do it before I resign myself to taking everything apart and the associated risk of sheared bolts in important places!?

PLEASE!

[Adam]

if i remember right mate, you do need to take the filler neck and the other bits mentioned.  It is a pain in the arse but pretty straight forward.  Good luck anyway

Cheers

Adam

[Fish]

Yes you do need to remove the throttle body to change the plug leads.

Fish

[Shark]

cheers guys, will apply some WD40 to a few of the bolts next friday night and try and do it on the Saturday.

Gregor

[wookie]

you won\'t need to wd40 the bolts they SHOULD come undone without much agro however you MAY need a gasket for behind the butterfly, (the block which the throttle cable is attached to) from memory "some cars" the early ones i believe have paper gaskets so either get some gasket paper or possibly a new gasket before starting.
I think you can tell by looking before removing anything if you have a metal gasket or not.

[Shark]

hadn;t thought about gaskets.  booger.

why is nothing simple?

anyone know what was standard on the 96 cars?
looks like anothe call to Jimmy\'s tomorrow then.

I know the throttle body is just a couple of fairly obvious bolts, but how do I remove the filler neck?  The mazda manual is fairly misleading.

Also, the manual seems to indicate the plug leads behind the filler and immediately below the throttel body are for the leading plugs, but muine seems to be connected for the trailing and judging by the look of it, I don;t think the plug leads are long enough to be fitted any other way than they currently are :confused:

any thoughts?

[wookie]

The throttle body and the snorkle are fitted with four bolts each two on top and two under.
When the throttle body is off, the filler neck is two bolts that are visable these are easy one either side of the filler neck, and one under the filler pipe toward the front of the engine this one you cannot see and is a sod to get at.
Front and rear coils are trailing, middle one with two plug wires is leading.
oh yeah there\'s an "o" ring under the filler neck which you should replace but if it\'s soft and comes off with the filler neck then i would\'nt worry but if you\'re getting a gasket then get an "o" ring as well  
oh yeah nearly forgot change ONE plug lead at a time so as not to get them confused, cos it will run like shite if you do and you\'ll be taking it apart again

[Shark]

Excellent!  Cheers mate.

Your description of the coils is interesting as that is what the manual says too, but mine appears to be laid out differently :confused:   maybe they changed it on 96 cars?

Will have a chat with carl when I see him tomorrow and then get onto jimmy\'s for a gasket and an o\'ring.

[Matt.Wild]

Why not jack it up and go at them from underneath?  Don\'t need to remove anything as you have direct access to the leads

JD - easy peasy :p

[Shark]

Originally posted by Matt.Wild
Why not jack it up and go at them from underneath?  Don\'t need to remove anything as you have direct access to the leads

JD - easy peasy :p

Cracking idea mate, but that\'s only one end of the leads - it;s the other end that\'s the pain in the bum.  

[Fish]

When I did mine I found that I did not need to remove the oil inlet pipe.

Fish

[Shark]

gotta sort a couple of funding things and then contact Jimmy\'s next week - too much on this week to sort out the bits to change the leads this weekend.  

Will try to remember to take some pics and post up this time though.

[Shark]

Job done!  Didn\'t need to take the oil filler neck off, loosening the two bolts that are accessible allowed enough movement to get the lead behind the neck changed... but only just.  I would advise removal of that last bolt and the whole filler neck but I simply couldn\'t get anything at it.  A ratchet spanner (not drive) would have been handy and may have helped but I don\'t have one.

The others were not as bad but I picked up a couple of cuts from the bolts on the plenum trying to get the plug underneath it!

For info, the 96 car has the coils in a slightly different setup to the earlier cars.  The trailing plugs go to a point behind the filler neck and the other under the throttle body.  The two leading plugs go to the same point (one above the other) underneath at the back of the throttle body.

The upside...
This has seriously changed the way the car feels though.
It feels a lot tighter and perkier than before.  Probably down to the combination of warmer plugs for winter, a new battery, and better leads all done in the last couple of weeks.

All things considered - a very worthwhile exercise :bandit and I found and sorted the boost leak that\'s been bothering me for a couple of weeks at the same time!!! :cool

[sadgoth]

well, you have been busy!

Did you have a go at the back box?

Do you fancy having a go at my plugs and leads now that you\'re an expert? :p

[Shark]

If you discount my next order suitably, I\'d be happy to.

God I love the idea of a barter economy.