Mother in Law is getting me to service her 380, dropping the oil and changing the filter is fine.

How hard is it to change the plugs? I know they are a coil on plug, like my wifes puddlejumper, but, any specific way?
Is there a MAF or similar sensor on the air intake?

It has thrown up a CEL, looked at some threads and it could be a few things, I'm guessing because it hasn't had a proper service from the previous owner I'm leaning towards throttlebody/MAF sensor.

Any other ideas?

The 380 has a wonderful system of error collecting. No need to guess what the problem is, just get the ECU scanned for errors and take it from there.

Changing spark plugs on the 380 is not an easy job, best study the manual and search this forum for the process. If you have changed the plugs on a Magna, you are half way there.

Changing oil is a piece of cake...use 10w/40 Castrol or similar.

Do the oil filter...never know when it was last done....also a piece of cake.

how many kilometres has the car done? (makes a difference to the advice you seek.)

Changing rear bank spark plugs isn't hard, takes about an hour as long as you don't wreck the reusable plenum gasket.

Forget the air flow meter..probably nothing wrong with it.

Check the battery...that causes random check lights when it starts to fail.


The plenum comes off by disconnnecting air intake...leave throttle body on...
Two 12mm bolts at rear holding onto head.
6 or 8 12mm bolts holding plenum down, a map sensor on drivers side...and thats about it (hoses etc of course)

Big mistake to overtighten the plenum bolts...its all alloy and strips real easy.

use a long screwdriver to locate plenum and gasket initially cause gasket can get fouled under plenum.

have...fuuuuun..


cya

Ye as Zilo said it's not that hard to change all 6 plug just take your time and don't rush in taking the air plenum out.

Thanks for the advice guys
Did the Service, Penrite Oil, filter, air filter, new brake pads all round and bled.
Cleaned the throttlebody and a good degrease. Plugs will be done at the next service, ran out of time.
CEL still remains, battery is good, no labouring on start up. A member here has a Code reader that I can borrow any time. Car runs fine so, thinking it might be the O2 sensors need replacing.
It is a 175000km car that has had a questionable service history before being purchased by my mother in law.

Questionable service record? You'd better check if the cam belt needs doing! (I'm kind of paranoid about cam belts)

Also, with the new pads all round, did you take the car for a bedding in drive? I've found the pads I buy (cheap ones) have bugger all retardation when fresh, so I just do one end at a time, give them a few 100 km to bed in, then do the other end. I don't know if all pads do this since asbestos was removed from the mix, but it's a potential problem for the MIL.

EDIT: The code reader should tell you which plug is misfiring, or which oxygen sensor is misbehaving, whatever the problem is - the system on the 380 is good like that.
Post up any error codes you get if they don't make any sense, and hopefully someone can translate them into understandable form for you.

The pads are repco branded ferodo, so there good for her. They got a good bedding in As for the cam belt, she knows it needs to be done. Just getting everything done as funds permit. Apart from the cam belt, it's minor little leaks and other small stuff to slowly work on. Apart from that, it's a nice car to drive