Hi,

I've had my car serviced at the mechanic for the longest time... though with an oil change coming up, I want to do it myself for a change. I've done a ton of search and back reading, so... can you guys confirm that these items will fit my car and are at a good price? If not, can you recommend a better alternative? I'm a broke college student, so I'm trying to make every dollar count.

Car: 05 MCS Convertible JCW

-- OEM oil filter $9
-- 1 Gallon of redline 5-30W $43.95 (WMW seems to only have the 5/30W redline? I was looking for 5-20W...)
-- NGK JCW spark plug $50

What else do I need to do a tune up? My MPG has been suffering as of late. Instead of the usual 29-32 combined MPG, I've been getting 24-26 MPG. I just did a compression test, and it was 160 PSI across all cylinders, so the engine is good. CEL is off, so O2 sensor is good.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

I am not sure where you live but 5 20 is really light. My 03 mcs doesnt like anything less than 5 30. I use that and 0 40 depending on the month.
I also purchased waymotorworks ignition package you get the ngk plugs 8mm wires and a screaming demon coil for a great price. I felt a good difference after I put those in. But my plugs were shot and wires had 110k miles on them so that may have been it too.

 

I live in south California. The coldest weather we get is probably in the low 50s... and that only happens in the morning.

I forgot to mention that my car has 78k on the clock. The spark plug was borderline okay, hence my order for one set. How do I check the ignition coils?

I saw that motor works ignition pack too, but it's a bit out of my range. I only have about $100 to play with. If you think it's a super good deal, I can probably stretch it to $200, but really, I'd rather spend the money where it really counts.

My paycheck comes in two weeks, so it's tough balancing the checkbook.

 

Some people say the stock coil is better but like I said I feel it made things smoother but it could of been me. One thing with the stock coil is the number 3 electrode can ger corrosion on it. Pop your wires off the coil and check each one for corrosion. If there is some a brass brush to get it off.

I am in nc and its starting to get warmer out so I am switching to 0 40 this week. If it was me I wouldnt go any less than 5w 30 its not worth it to go to a 5w20 with spring time down here.

 

Okay, 5-30W it is. I did more searching, and it does turn out that it should be 5-30W all along. I don't know why I thought it was 5-20W.

I checked all coils. They were clean, no rust at all. Although... coil one had a very small amount of oil on the outside of it. The inside was squeaky clean though, so I have no idea where the oil is coming from.

 

Yes those are all for your car. If you do want to save some money and don't particularly need the redline oil you can pick up some 5w30 full synthetic oil at your local parts store.

 

Thank you, I was thinking of getting this one:

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/acc...er=692533_0_0_

It's close and I could pick it up.

 

For about $40, pick up a 5 quart jug of mobil 1 5w-30, or some other FUL syenthic oil.
Many higher mile oils are blends...
check your pcv valve?
The stock wires are so short, i would save my $$ unless the boots are loose/dried out. Same for the coil..if $$ is tight, it is good till it is bad. Upgrading it is mostly for looks.

 

Are those sparkplugs okay or can I use any other ones? I'm reasonably sure that the JCW package also included better sparks? I'm not sure.

 

Mobile-1 is good juice, though I go with 0W40 (vs. 5W30).
My '08 MCS manual is somewhat ambiguous calling for "5W30 and 5W40 oil classes". Since viscosity degrades with heat over time, I err on the side of wider range and use 0W40.
http://libraryofmotoring.info/reference/manuals/

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