EliteCM.net

Tools/Items needed:

Spark Plugs (NGK IZFR6K-11 or Denso SKJ20DR-M11)
10mm wrench
10mm socket wrench
Ratchet
6" Extension Bar
5/8" Long Socket and a magnet extractor tool OR a 5/8" Spark plug socket wrench
Anti-seize grease (optional)
Torque wrench (optional)

Time needed: Less than 30 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Start by removing the four bolts holding the spark plug cover to the cylinder head.  Use a 10mm socket wrench and a ratchet.  You should be able to brake the nuts loose and finish extracting the nuts with your hand.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3003/2421437263_dd6a942384_o.jpg)

Next, use your 10mm socket/ratchet set to remove the bolts holding the ignition coil.  I had to use a 10mm wrench to loosen nuts 2 and 4 (pic 3)
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3019/2422250620_bfeeb3f65e_o.jpg)
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3252/2421437303_37410f82dd_o.jpg)

Pull out the ignition coil slightly, press the locking tab and disconnect the wire connector.  Pull on the connector, not the wires!
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3059/2421437355_3e8f73c7a6_o.jpg)
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3257/2421437383_bb957d3519_o.jpg)

Remove the ignition coil
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3141/2421437407_f6fe39264c_o.jpg)

Remove the spark plugs with a 5/8" spark plug (or a deep) socket and a 6" extension bar.
 
I had to use a magnet extraction tool and a regular deep socket because my spark plug socket wasn't deep enough but you may have better luck.
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2239/2422250774_660250772b_o.jpg)

Check our your old plugs and compare them to your new ones.  My plugs were 10 miles shy of 85K miles and they looked abysmal.
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2154/2422250786_90f12810ee_o.jpg)

Put the new spark plug into the socket, then screw it into the hole.  Screw it in by hand so you do not crossthread it.  Torque the spark plug to 13 lbs-ft.  (If you do not have a torque wrench, tighten the spark plug two-thirds of a turn after it contacts the cylinder head.)

Install the ignition coils into the hole and connect the wire connectors to the coil.  Make sure it locks in place.  Push the ignition coils down all the way.  Install the bolts.  Reinstall the coil cover and tighten the four nuts.  Start your motor and be amazed by how much smoother your engine runs!

The spark plug gap should be 0.044 inches. I just put NGK's in my car last week and they didn't require adjustment, but you should always check the gap before installation just in case.

man i should probably do this one as well...getting close to 90K on the clock...these things are going to be nasty! is there any spark plug upgrade for us?

PulseStar has dyno results, however I doubt it'd be more then a horse or two on the high end in our cars. They seem to produce more power with higher piston speeds where accuracy is crucial. they have write ups about them in Import Tuner all the time, check the back of the magazine where they install aftermarket parts on cars and pull them on a dyno after every mod, the pulstar plugs are ALWAYS there.

It should be noted that there are different gap spacings for California emissions Accords and the rest of the 49 state Accords.  I'll have to look it up, but I know for a fact that they are different.

i know there are those, but i don't know if their gains are going to be noticeable in our cars. but i don't know how much it's needed for higher revving engines. im asking on K20a to see if anyone has used them on a K series, so that will give me some info there. if there's a decent gain then i'd consider them, but really at $25 a pop, i don't know if it's worth it. isn't there some other plug i could upgrade to?

also know that the iridium plugs shouldn't be gapped as they are very easy to scratch.  They are supposed to come gapped from the factory, and for $12-20 each, they better be.

The pulsestars are not worth it.  They will make a bit of power compared to old plugs, but make no difference compared to new oem plugs once the ecm has calibrated to them.  The oem plugs are about as high end as you can go already.  There really isn't anything to upgrade to.  You can upgrade your ignition system, but that will cost you > $700

yeah ill just grab some OEM replacements tomorrow after class and throw em in...my car will probably appreciate it...can't wait to see how nasty the ones in there are lol

Good info on the Pulstar plugs.  I may have to pick a set of these up since I can benefit from their performance by tweaking KPro.

You might be able to, but essentially they do the same thing as a hotter plug, which is why you can't use them for turbo apps (ask some sti and evo owners who badly damaged their engines about that).  You'd probaby get a bigger advantage advancing the timing a little bit on stock plugs, since that is essentially what hotter plugs do (causes the combustion to start more rapidly, so it's like the spark timing is advanced slightly)

I'm not a pro, but I was going to buy the pulsestars but figured I browse for a couple of hours and see what performance was experienced on other cars (I'd actually ordered them already, but cancelled), and every case where they compared to new oem plugs, performance was the same or went down with the pulse stars.  Peformance went up compared to well used ones, but that is to be expected.

Edit:
I know levi had them on his car, but he also had a ignition upgrade and even then he couldn't really notice the difference.

Some photos would be helpfull.. I have been dying to do this myself...  good write up JDM guru..

???.  His article is full of photos.

It's a good thing that I'm sticking with a n/a set up and can also adjust my timing.  When it comes down to it, I'm willing to spend an extra $20-30 on plugs to see if there are any advantages.

Heres some dyno results from spark plugs.com  You'll notice that they are an improvement over basic champions, but have pretty much no improvement over high end ngk iridiums, and our laser iridiums are a step up from the regular iridiums so in my opinion, oem ftw.

(http://i356.photobucket.com/albums/oo5/Sworkhard/pulstardyno.jpg)

If you do get these plugs though tim, please dyno new laser iridiums and new pulsestars.  I'd be willing to donate $20 to the project if you were willing to go through the trouble of comparing them on our cars.

yeah i found that there were gains to be seen, and on a tuned engine there were better gains (compared a stock C6 Corvette to a C6 Corvette with heads and cams). the tuned Corvette produced better gains than the stock, but the stock C6 had a nasty spark noise or something with the Pulstars in it. here's the page for that forum: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-tech ... -test.html (http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-tech-performance/1827136-tampa-fl-c6-needed-for-pulstar-test.html)

but i did also see a share of bad reviews, here are two from Amazon.com

"i tried these plugs thinking it may work well for my Honda Accord. the car ran very rough after installing, i did not drop any plugs upon installation, but my car sure was missing. i had to pull them and replace them with the old plugs until my order for the NGK's came in. i called the manufacturer to ask if the packing they were sent in was adequate since they make a big deal out of not dropping them and i was told that was normal for them to be shipped in the plastic twin packs. the gap was correct, i can not explain why they were so bad. the way my car ran if seemed as if atleast two plugs were bad, it would barely run. good luck if you decide to get them, the NGK's (factory replaements) are great by the way." -David A. Barrows (from Amazon.com)

"2006 Acura RSX-Type S, 2.0l I-VTEC 4cyl. I followed all instructions, they installed fine, started engine and the plugs immediately threw a CEL. Engine idle timing dropped to 150RPM, car sputtered and stalled, big puff of black smoke from the tailpipe. Started up again, same issue, jumped on the gas and attempted to drive around the block. Stalled twice, idle would not go above 1000RPM (engine has a 7900RPM rev limit). Immediately took them out, replaced with stock IR Denso, which my car was grateful for. All better now, but I don't know what the heck these plugs did. They did not work at all in my car." -jdbtx (from Amazon.com)

after reading these i decided to stick with the stock plugs. i mean it could be worth it, but im not putting plugs into my car that could potentially mess it up.

So after reading this and a few other threads, does anyone have a preference based on value and performance in regards to which plugs are the best to get for an i4?  I'm going to be purchasing some new plugs soon, and it seems that it's a toss-up between the NGK Iridiums and the Denso Iridiums, both of which I assume are considered OEM replacements (although maybe only the NGKs are).  Thoughts?

Denso and NGK are OEM depending on when and where your vehicle was assembled.  Either one will be fine for you to use.  One of the tuners I went to previously was saying that OEM RSX Type S plugs were the best to use on K Series motors.  For 99% of the people on here, OEM replacements will be the best plugs to use. 

RSX Type-S plugs??  Do elaborate (even though I'll prolly just stick with the NGK's or Denso's anyway, but I'm a curious person by nature).

For whatever reason they were trying to convince me they were the best plugs to use for a "built" motor.  They were also trying to rip me off on the price.  Honestly, you don't need anything more than OEM plugs.  Let's just leave it at that.

2 year thread bump!

Just thought I'd post a pic of the old vs. new plugs for reference.

(http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/6619/20130302171913.jpg)

It's hard to see, but the tips look kind of like the OP's, but the very end is like black. They're the original spark plugs, and have 97k miles on them. I'll get a closer shot of the tips tonight.