aclass

Approaching 40k and the recommendation from Audi service is replace the spark plugs. Anybody do their own yet? Any gotchas or helpful tips?

Nexus15

You need a 14mm 12point thinwall socket. Get oem plugs. The hardest part I had trouble with were the middle ones where wires were covering. Be gentle, don't force. If you have to force, you didn't unclip properly

aclass

When you say 'unclip' are you referring to removing the coil on plug connector over the plug itself?

Nexus15

You'll see it, it's a bundle of wires that go over the middle of the packs. Encased in plastic. I snipped the zip ties and reatrached some later. You don't need to if you're careful.

RCPrato

@Nexus15 what did the original plugs look like when you took them out? Seems like the plugs the SQ5 use should have a longer replacement interval than 40K?

czechm8

I found this very helpful when I changed the plugs on my '18.

Nexus15

Honestly they didn't look bad at all, but once i went stage 2 tune I started getting misfires here and there under low load into boost. Changed them out. Gone. Sorry, the pics are burried in my phone if I find them I'll post up

aclass

Finally got around to changing the plugs on my SQ5 this morning. Passenger side is a piece of pie, drivers side not so much due to the wiring harness and ECU.
I popped the ECU out of the housing, cut a few zip ties and managed to fondle things enough to gain access to all three on the drivers side. The wiring harness is never really out of the way but it moves enough to manage.

Did the plugs while changing the oil so maybe somebody can make me feel better by telling me how much money I saved at the dealer.

.

Jester7677

I was getting the behavior without tuning and without error codes. No dealer could diagnose. Changed plugs and all better.

IMO we need better plugs than OEM.