2006 R500 Spark Plug, Coil Pack, Wires and Alternator Replacement
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Oct 2020
Posts: 4
Likes: 5
R500
2006 R500 Spark Plug, Coil Pack, Wires and Alternator Replacement
First time posting, but I've been reading here for a number of years.
Our R500 appeared to have the original plugs in it, and after 190k miles it needed new ones. I used FR8DPP33 plugs for the replacement. Ordered as a pack of 16 off of ebay, they weren't too bad at $79.99 delivered.
Plugs
I order coils and plug wires here:
Wire and Coil Set
Total for these was $170 or so delivered.
Alternator was $130 or so delivered from here:
Ebay Alt
The alternator was no longer charging at the correct voltage and was original to the car. The spark plugs and coils were recommended to be replaced by the dealer who had the R500 in for a coolant leak that was tied back to the coolant tank.
I started off with the plugs, coils and wires. Relatively straightforward job, two plugs for each cylinder did double the work. Interestingly the Bosch plugs which state they are gapped to 0.040" actually all measured 0.045"-0.050" out of the box. Everything I could find suggested 0.040" was the correct gap, and the box said that as well, but they were set higher and also not consistent. As a note, some of my plugs should quite a bit of ash build up. The R500 does burn some oil on startup after sitting for awhile, I'm guessing valve stem leakage or something similar, she is getting up there in mileage but it isn't enough to need adding between service intervals. When measured, they all showed gap erosion to around 0.055" or so, so a good bit of the electrode was gone. Any other thoughts on my plugs?
Another issue to note about the wires, the lengths were longer overall than the factory wires pulled off. Didn't seem to create any issue but they were longer for sure. They seemed to be decent quality overall. The coils were un remarkable, and fit as required.
I cleaned up the mating surface under the coil packs and used a thin layer of dielectric. The small connectors to the coil packs were almost all in good condition surprisingly. I forgot to reattach #3 for some reason, which of course set the CEL, but was quickly remedied and cleared.
The alternator was good fun to remove, both bolts came out ok, and I dropped the radiator fan and shroud to make it a bit easier. I also moved a small electric coolant pump to gain more access for removal. It came out with the pulley facing upwards with a bit of jostling around. The new one went back in the same way, now the running is in the low 14V range, so I'm happy on that point.
All and all it went well, the engine is noticeably quicker to accelerate and the idle speed is back up where it should be. (600RPM before R&R, around 800RPM now when cold)
Our R500 appeared to have the original plugs in it, and after 190k miles it needed new ones. I used FR8DPP33 plugs for the replacement. Ordered as a pack of 16 off of ebay, they weren't too bad at $79.99 delivered.
Plugs
I order coils and plug wires here:
Wire and Coil Set
Total for these was $170 or so delivered.
Alternator was $130 or so delivered from here:
Ebay Alt
The alternator was no longer charging at the correct voltage and was original to the car. The spark plugs and coils were recommended to be replaced by the dealer who had the R500 in for a coolant leak that was tied back to the coolant tank.
I started off with the plugs, coils and wires. Relatively straightforward job, two plugs for each cylinder did double the work. Interestingly the Bosch plugs which state they are gapped to 0.040" actually all measured 0.045"-0.050" out of the box. Everything I could find suggested 0.040" was the correct gap, and the box said that as well, but they were set higher and also not consistent. As a note, some of my plugs should quite a bit of ash build up. The R500 does burn some oil on startup after sitting for awhile, I'm guessing valve stem leakage or something similar, she is getting up there in mileage but it isn't enough to need adding between service intervals. When measured, they all showed gap erosion to around 0.055" or so, so a good bit of the electrode was gone. Any other thoughts on my plugs?
Another issue to note about the wires, the lengths were longer overall than the factory wires pulled off. Didn't seem to create any issue but they were longer for sure. They seemed to be decent quality overall. The coils were un remarkable, and fit as required.
I cleaned up the mating surface under the coil packs and used a thin layer of dielectric. The small connectors to the coil packs were almost all in good condition surprisingly. I forgot to reattach #3 for some reason, which of course set the CEL, but was quickly remedied and cleared.
The alternator was good fun to remove, both bolts came out ok, and I dropped the radiator fan and shroud to make it a bit easier. I also moved a small electric coolant pump to gain more access for removal. It came out with the pulley facing upwards with a bit of jostling around. The new one went back in the same way, now the running is in the low 14V range, so I'm happy on that point.
All and all it went well, the engine is noticeably quicker to accelerate and the idle speed is back up where it should be. (600RPM before R&R, around 800RPM now when cold)
