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Spark Plugs

214K views 305 replies 43 participants last post by  DEVOURS 
#1 ·
DEVOURS is back from his holiday and is keen to replace his spark plugs. The job seems overly complicated but I am sure he will find an easy way to do it, and pass the info back to us.👍 I am sure it is not a job we wish to perform to often nor pay the dealership to do, so lets find a way to lessen the pain.

Questions for all in the forum

1) Has any one had any long life spark plugs installed in any car they have owned?

2) What brands seem to work the best?

3) What is factory plug and gap?



I owned a Toyota Van that had long life plugs from the factory, but can't remember what brand. Pricey but lasted the life of the Van.

Bill
 
#30 ·
They all sound reasonable gripes to me. I found that headlamp lhd to rhd lever (switch) a bit of a problem to start with but now I do it without mirrors by feel alone but as you say, DEVOURS, It would not have taken much to thought nor additional expense to have designed it easier to work on ie mount it outside the headlamp unit. When I first asked about it they said to take it into a M/B dealers and they would do it. You bet at £100+ per hour. I'm afraid the B is designed as a dealers workshop car & not a home mechanics car.
 
#32 ·
Years ago especially in the fall, everyone raked up the leaves and then opened up the car hood. The spark plugs were changed, new points installed, new air cleaner ( the old oil bath cleaners had fresh oil ), new anti freeze, and new winter thermostat installed. Along with an oil change it took part of a Saturday afternoon and you where set until the spring.

Now I don't even see people opening the hood to put windshield washer fluid into the car. People don't do their own maintenance anymore ( or very few ) so the manufactures have no pressure to make servicing easier.. Even the car wash is done by machine and the wax job is done at the detailer's.

To quote the great Canadian Red Green " if the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy"


OOOps showing my age again, but how many of you ever owned a car with an oil bath air cleaner????

Bill
 
#35 ·
DEVOURS, post: 3079489, member: 82449"]So true Keith, they could have done much better.

We know the B is great in many ways, but they were definitely sleeping at the switch on some basic fixes.
My 2¢ -The B isn’t perfect but I don’t think the engineers were asleep I think it’s more a matter of how do they get all that is ‘Mercedes’ such as safety features, electronics, comfort features etc. into the small and safe package that is the B. It may be called an entry level Mercedes but it is still a Mercede$$$;). Today’s cars are full of parts that we didn’t have years ago and they have all have to fit into some rather small and awkward spaces. It’s not just the B or Mercedes vehicles in general that are built like puzzle boxes today. (How about needing an engine hoist to change the belt on a PT Cruiser)

While I enjoyed working on my 65 Mustang I gladly give up being able to change the spark plugs for safety, comfort and yes I admit a really cool car. I just wish Mercedes wasn’t so damned secretive about the B.:bowdown:
 
#38 ·
My 2¢ -The B isn’t perfect but I don’t think the engineers were asleep I think it’s more a matter of how do they get all that is ‘Mercedes’ such as safety features, electronics, comfort features etc. into the small and safe package that is the B. It may be called an entry level Mercedes but it is still a Mercede$$$;). Today’s cars are full of parts that we didn’t have years ago and they have all have to fit into some rather small and awkward spaces. It’s not just the B or Mercedes vehicles in general that are built like puzzle boxes today. (How about needing an engine hoist to change the belt on a PT Cruiser)
Yep Chrysler latest design has been pretty bad also (maybe that's the daimler mark ??), on the 95-00 sebrings if you want to change the battery, you need to take the front wheel off and dismantle the fender !!

Renault 5 had a bad reputation for this ... the starter was especially a tricky one, and here in Canada when they first came, most mechanics did want to work on them and says : I'm not a clockmaker !

I think the problem comes more to the design that's made out of computer, and by ppl that don't really need to service the car. They need to fit everything in place in a smallest footprint as possible.
 
#37 ·
Ok so they hide away all the serviceable parts, plugs, filters, etc so you can't do the the job yourself, but you say to yourself well it's not so bad because it only needs to go to the dealers every 18 months to 2 years or 15-20,000 miles.
Then some fat cat in M/B comes along and says "we are loosing money on servicing here guy's" and drops the service interval down to once a year or less if you are a higher mileage driver.
Thats where the real gripe is.
 
#39 · (Edited)
My 59 Bug naturally had an oil bath air filter, and so did my 69 Bug. Never had a problem with them.
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All of your points are well taken and I accept them..... But these are Mercedes engineers :teach: :read: and have tons of experience building cars.

Why dismantle the interior to change a license plate bulb?? :confused: etc...etc...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes , the secrecy is very frustrating for the home mechanic. Thank goodness that we have this forum.

Nadine, you've spent you life watching and working and learning with your family while working on cars.
Please tell me that you'll do the spark plugs. I know that you can.👍
 
#41 · (Edited)
Daniel, No thanks necessary, I just hope that some of you find the courage and time to do your plugs also.

I'd like to see the view from the front looking down when viewing the Turbo B. The regular B is quite open and I haven't had the opportunity to see how tough the Turbo is.

Keith assured us that he can perform brain surgery in his engine compartment,... it's that clean.
Bill feels that my engine is clean enough to eat off of and he's right.👍
Just make sure that you're having French Fries,... and it's not because of my last name or because of where I'm from. It's because ....you won't need to add any salt to them. :crybaby2::crybaby2: It's already there!!:big laugh:
 
#43 · (Edited)
Bill...That Wikipedia truly has everything. The full history of poutine and much more.

I promise that I've never had poutine :eek: and for me it's hard to keep my supper down when looking at those pics of poutine. :poopbanana: Yeeech!!

Plus, none of the descriptions include my engine compartment ingredient.. salt
 
#44 ·
I’ve gone back and re-read DEVOURS' extensive post on the proper care and feeding of the B’s spark plugs and reviewed the ‘how-to’ video and have come to two conclusions -
A – I would never attempt to change out the plugs in my B with out access to a lift:surrender:
B– DEVOURS has way too much time on his hands:rolleyes:

As far as MB engineers and their expertise of building cars…it is a well known rumor that the Mercedes is a tad bit more expensive than many others cars out there and the people who buy them new will more than likely never do their own maintenance or do more than pump their own fuel (raise your hands if you check your tire pressure and oil regularly – and I don’t mean once every six months) so there is no real reason to make it easy for changing out the spark plugs or oil or even a light bulb with out special tools and workshop manuals.

All this secrecy now makes sense, until these cars hit the used car market in much bigger numbers and the salvage yards become full of B’s there will be no such information available to the general public…why bother. Unfortunately DEVOURS has made a bit of a mess of this excruciatingly slow progression by crafting his own tools and releasing this spark plug information to the public:nono:

And because you asked here are a few pictures of the turbo engine.

BTW – there are two things on your list that I can’t get here in the US. The spark plugs (I’m still on the hunt) and The Red Box (are substitutions allowed on this one?)
 

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#46 · (Edited)
Boy Oh Boy!! What a clean engine.:goojob: I would die to have mine looking like that.
Those great pics seem to suggest that space is very limited if working from above on the Turbo B. :mad:
One winter here and all that shine is forever lost. :crybaby2:

Can anyone in Canada show an engine bay as clean as CA-B200's? 👍

I don't own Q-Tips small enough to have it as spotless as that..... and who has too much time on their hands!!!;);)
:D

PS: CA-B200:
Rules of order, "No Red Box or substitute until the job is done.":beerchugr:

In the WIS look in doc..15.10 or search "spark plugs" at the bottom and click... 2 items should come up.
They don't show the Turbo, so it's not much help. They were lucky enough to have an engine that's out of the car in their pics. Some help!!:bowdown:

If you look at my pics and the video, you get a much better feel for the job than anything in the WIS.
 
#51 ·
This info may be of help re part number etc

These are on ebay:- SPARK PLUG NGK MERCEDES BENZ A B CLASS A150 A170 B200 on eBay (end time 16-Aug-09 16:12:23 BST)

1x NGK SPARK PLUG
BKR6EZB
THIS VEHICLE REQUIRES 4 PLUGS

FITMENT

MERCEDES BENZ
A150
A170
A200
B150
B170
B200
O.E NUMBER

004159300326

PRODUCT INFORMATION

SSPECIFICALLY DESIGNED FOR MERCEDES THIS ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT PLUG HAS 14MM THREAD DIAMETER AND 19MM THREAD REACH.THE CENTRE ELECTRODE DIAMETER IS SLIGHTLY LARGER THAN NORMALAND HAS A V GROOVED DESIGN.THIS INCREASES LIFE AND IGNITION QUALITY.




The shipping fee you see on each listing is the fee for UK mainland Only.
Excludes highlands of Scotland, Inverness Offshore Islands, Channel Islands and any remote postcodes .We also deliver to all the other areas of the UK and worldwide but may incur an extra charge. Please contact us if you would like one of our items but are not from the UK mainland 01924 369000.
 
#53 · (Edited)
These are on ebay:- SPARK PLUG NGK MERCEDES BENZ A B CLASS A150 A170 B200 on eBay (end time 16-Aug-09 16:12:23 BST)

NGK SPARK PLUG
BKR6EZB
THIS VEHICLE REQUIRES 4 PLUGS

FITMENT

MERCEDES BENZ
A150
A170
A200
B150
B170
B200
As Keith has shown, these plugs are the very same ones that I removed on my B200.
Cardoctorparts.com on ebay has them at 14 pounds sterling and also has the pollen(cabin)(by fram for 16 pounds sterling) and engine filters(fram). The shipping for 4 plugs and pollen filter is 12 pounds sterling to Canada.
That's less than 1/2 the local stealers price.👍

For the few of us that might be inclined.
 
#57 ·
I had the dealer change mine today during a B service.

Total cost for the plugs was under $142, including labour. The plugs themselves were about $18.60 each.

It's hardly worth fretting over $60 worth of dealer labour to save that tiny amount of cash.
 
#58 ·
Spark plug change on B200-T

Australian $400 parts and labour. First mistake we made was buying the turbo, I think the second may have been keeping the Car....

This is via a dealer , so it serves me right . I will now get more involved with the wife's car.
AND it is a wake up for me and my SLK R171.

To be honest though, it is beyond me to do what DEVOURS has done. I am still getting over the shock....
 
#265 ·
I have found that if you buy a cheap 17 mm open end spanner and bend the first 2 inches (5 cm) it just fits over the plug cap and then wedge against the head and with a slight bit of pressure towards the head pops the plug cap easy without damaging the HT leads. These can be pritty tight some times. N.B. don't pull on the HT leads to remove the plug caps or you can well pull the leads out of the caps. M Bannister
 
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