What a difference a service makes.

[OwnerCS]

This weekend I performed a driveway maintenance service on my 91 Q. It went from running good to GREAT. Here's what I did for the maintenance.

1) Oil and filter with checking the fluid levels and an under car inspection. I took off the shield and did a filter change from the bottom.

2) Changed spark plugs -- I was glad to see the old plugs were all burning clean and evenly. After 10 years and almost 60,000 miles it was time for a change. I went with the NGK Iridium plugs as I have had a good experience with Iridium plugs on my Hondas.

3) Changed every vacuum hose in sight. I've only got a couple more to change when I do the timing chain in a couple of weeks.

Here's the changes I noticed listed below.

1) More pep. It has that peppy new car feel now.

2) Slightly faster starts. I just barely touch the starter and it runs. It went from good to excellent.

3) During a highway mileage test run at 60 to 65 MPH -- even with a few stoplights along the way delivered 23.84 MPG. I think I could have squeezed out 24 MPG if I hadn't hit the stoplights. I am very satisfied with the mileage.

4) I can't explain this one -- so don't flame me. The transmission feels tighter and more direct -- especially on take off. Before the maintenance the transmission was ok on regular drive take off -- but it reminded me a little of Dynaflow. Now when I take off in regular drive it feels like I could possibly spin the tires.. It reminds me of my 1969 442 Oils with a Hurst 4 on the floor that I could spin the tires when taking off in 2nd gear. I am very heppy with the Qs performance now.

PS - I didn't realize I was buying a muscle car. :-)

[NightRiderQ45]

Glad you were able to pep your car up some. I wanted to try the Iridiums plugs my last change, but I went ahead and put in the OEM plug. I plan on running the oem plugs for at least 100k. The cheaper V-Power NGK had 130k on them with NO missfire.

[qship96]

Glad you were able to pep your car up some. I wanted to try the Iridiums plugs my last change, but I went ahead and put in the OEM plug. I plan on running the oem plugs for at least 100k. The cheaper V-Power NGK had 130k on them with NO missfire.

I agree, my last set of OEM plugs were in from 69000 miles til 203,000 miles {roughly 134,000 miles of use} and came out looking good.....no change in power or MPG by replacing with new set of OEMs......basically change plugs only when valve covers need resealing as there is no additional labor needed to do them at that time. At this rate, my Q will go to grave at 300,000 miles with only having the plugs changed 2x......following "the book" they would have been changed every 60,000 miles which is a total waste of time and money.....notice newer cars with same exact plug now specify over 100,000 miles between changes.

[OwnerCS]

My thanks to the forum for some good information that made it possible for my DIY success. If I didn't have this club, I would not have attempted to change the plugs. I made a couple of trips into the house to look at the plug information page.

Hey - Qship that is a very historical name you''ve got there. I read where the Q in our car's name really originated with the Q-ships. Here's a clip from Wikipedia about Q-ships.

Q-ships, also known as Q-boats, Decoy Vessels, Special Service Ships or Mystery Ships, were heavily armed merchant ships with concealed weaponry, designed to lure submarines into making surface attacks. This gave Q-ships the chance to open fire and sink them.

The basic ethos of every Q-ship was to be a wolf in sheep's clothing.

They were used by the British Royal Navy (RN) during the First World War and by both the RN and the United States Navy during the Second World War (1939–1945), as a countermeasure against German U-boats and Japanese submarines.

[elwesso]

Interesting little history lesson!!!

Usually the main reason to do the plugs every 60k is so that the steel doesnt seize inside the aluminum head. Of course, whenever putting a fastener into aluminum you should gob it up with anti-seize... Ive heard of a few cases of spark plugs getting seized inside the head.. and of course its always #7 or #8

[OwnerCS]

I agree. I used some synthetic oil on the threads for lubrication.

Tonight I changed the diferential fluid. The old fluid needed a change. I used Royal Purple Synthetic 75w90.

[OwnerCS]

I'm sure most have seen this or equivalent before. Two itens I found to be most helpful during the plug changing process.

Removal



Installation

[goody90q45]

Since the rubber insert in my spark plug socket is worn out I've used the magnet extension for removing the plugs but the magnet's not worth a darn for putting them back in. That rubber hose on the tip of the plug looks like it works.