Suck, squeeze, bang, and blow. A quartet of crucial and hilariously suggestive actions that make your engine go. Today we’re focusing on “bang,” arguably the most important step in a gasoline engine’s journey through combustion. Don’t worry diesel drivers, we’ll deal with you later. Your spark plugs — the proverbial bang as it were — are what ignites the fuel in your cylinders after it’s been sucked in and compressed. But spark plugs past their prime can lead to poor combustion, misfirings, and generally less-than-stellar performance. So let’s swap them out! If you know your spark plugs are past their service interval or you want to perform a general tune-up, you’ll need a few things. First, get the recommended spark plug flavor from your favorite auto parts store. In the case of Jake’s 2004 Acura RSX Type-S, that means four iridium plugs to keep this high-revving four-cylinder singing. You will also want an appropriately sized socket for removing the igniters in question. Now that can mean a dedicated spark plug socket that grabs onto the plug, or a regular deep socket and a magnetic tool to grab and extract it. Grab some anti-seize too for the new plugs to ensure they don’t permanently mate with your cylinder head. After everything is torqued properly, you should experience some top notch banging that Edmond Berger would be proud of. (That’s the guy who invented the spark plug). You’re welcome!
