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2004 Accent doesn't start on cold mornings

2K views 25 replies 3 participants last post by  Xion 
#1 ·
but it will start later in the day or when the temp is above -15°C (5°F) the car has a one year old battery, it has synthetic oil. Should we change the spark plugs? the car is 10 year old and they have never been changed.
 
#3 ·
I will try that. Last year we changed the timing belt, the alternator, power steering and AC belts, the oil pan, the front brakes, the transmission fluid and the battery. The car has less then 49K miles so we wanna drive it to the ground if we can.
 
#5 ·
Thanks for telling me that. The Accent is my wife's car, she bought it used in 2008 and never did maintenance on it, I had to explain her about maintaining a car LOL I'm sure the spark plugs have never been changed in 10 years.
 
#7 ·
yeah i was skeptical about the plugs - usual go-tos aren't usually the issue, diagnostics nazi here - but 10 years?? yeah that would do it.

if you want to be cheap and use copper plugs, this is my method:

i pull the plugs once a year and clean them with a wire brush, inspect visually. if i see rounding/wear of the electrode or anything else abnormal, replace. otherwise, i'll just regap the things. copper plugs can last far longer than 30k - but they have to be cleaned and gap must be reset. its a bit of a judgement call.

easy way is to replace i guess. copper plugs aren't expensive after all. but, i'm cheap and lazy. don't want to go to the store unless i have to.
 
#8 ·
Thanks, I bought NGK Iridium plugs yesterday, $20 a set of two, wow. I hope it's the problem. Now my fear is aluminum on steel tend to corrode. If the plugs have never been removed in 10 years they may be stuck in place. I don't wanna strip the threads.
 
#9 ·
its less of an issue that you may think. you might get some good squealing out of the threads though :) no worries. if they were installed with anti-seize lubricant like they should have been, it won't be too bad.

use some on the plug threads for installing the new ones and put some dielectric grease on the wire connector tip. that will prevent the wires from seizing to the plugs. i've had to destroy a wire in the past because of someone ignoring this step...

whatever you do, just make sure the engine is stone cold.
 
#10 ·
Thanks zero_gravity, I did like you suggested to me, I removed the old plugs, was easy. I set them to the correct gap, put some anti-seize and dielectric grease. Finally I think they have been changed in the past, the old plugs are NGK and don't seem that bad, judge by the picture. What do you guys think? I also did an oil change, synthetic with OEM filter. The car is ready for another spin :) I poored some injector cleaner in the gas tank. thanks for your help guys.
 

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#12 ·
well its no mystery what i think of the fuel/injector cleaners (*cough*crap*cough*) but good job with the plugs.

those are badly fouled, looks like the car might be running a tad rich by the colour but consider they've never been pulled you can't really say.

either way, those needed to be replaced badly. they look in good shape other than the colour. the plugs being so old could have caused the black fouling in itself.

if you want to get cheap later and if you're using COPPER plugs you can always pull them, clean with a wire brush and regap. just reapply the anti-seize/dielectric grease after. never try this with platinum or iridium.
 
#14 ·
except that those cleaners are already in the fuel you buy. i'm not saying the cleaners are bad, just completely unnecessary with almost all the pump fuel out there now.

my school of thought on this is if the injectors are that badly clogged, its probably time to pull them and clean them properly. set up a reverse flow clean system with some tubing and a small compressor. ultrasonic bath is a great way to do it if you have access to one.
 
#16 ·
^^^^ This.

Unless the car sits for long periods of time without running and you buy good fuel there is no need for the stuff, at least not in North America.

The SeaFoam treatments where you suck it right into the intake and then let the car sit have some merit. This will mix with the pcv waste oil that is pooled in the intake and get it out.
 
#20 · (Edited)
Over time it builds up on the valves and valve stems. On my Coupe I have a catch can and the intake stays clean. I usually take the intake off sometime or another. But my Accent is nearing 100k miles and no catch can. I doubt if the blow by is as bad as on the 2L turbo. But I plan on pouring some lacquer thinner into the intake while it's running and clear 'er out!!!
 
#21 ·
lol. by the time that happens, the car can go to the graveyard for all i care. if i wanted to keep it, i'd rather pull the head off and regrind the valves. it takes a LONG time for that kind of buildup. usually well over 300k kms in my experience. sure there's a few exceptions, but not that many.
 
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