With the economy not getting any better DIY car maintenance looks better each day and I've found a lot of information on the web to help a noob like myself.
What I now plan to do is change the MTF, the battery and the spark plugs, but there's some questions I have not found the answer for.

1) Which are the right spark plugs to use for my '06 civic si?
The dealer recommends Denzo platinum at $19.32 each, but I've read in different threads of people using Denzo Iridium, or NGK which are a lot cheaper. I see a bunch of threads that say the car comes with Denzo Iridium so why is the dealer telling me Denzo platinum? If you can answer this for me I'd appreciate it. (include size, type or model for the plugs)

2) My battery needs to be changed and I want to upgrade it or at least get a better one so I wont have to worry about the battery being drained if I have the radio on for a while with the engine off. Anyone knows what battery I should get?

In case you're wondering my car has 96k miles and though the plugs last I think 100K it felt right to do these maintenance before the winter gets bad.

 

Go with the iridium plugs, they seem to be the more popular. The dealer will always try to upsell you into the higher priced items, they make money that way...

You must ask yourself about the way you use the sound system in your car, is it modified? Do you run it at high volume for long durations without running the car to recharge? If so, you need a good quality battery, but try and stay away from the deep cycle batteries, they need a very high powered charging system to keep them charged, and they don't charge well in small vehicles ( personal experience with Optima Yellow tops)...

Have fun and good luck...

 

I just changed my plugs and the guys at Auto Zone said that the Si's need the Lazzer cut iridium, not iridium.

 

You do not need 20 dollar spark plugs, regular platnium plugs work just fine for a 1/4 of the price.

I changed the plugs in my 06 last year being the car had just hit 100K, I took out the originals, the car had slightly more power and the same fuel mileage afterwards.

Don't waste your money on spark plug hype, buy an new air filter or something else with the money you would have wasted on 20 dollar spark plugs,the 5 dollar ones will do the same job and at that price you can change the more often.

When buying a battery look for one that has the most cranking amps now days 800CCA is a very decent battery, Walmart Battery's work well and they are priced right, I always use them.

 

am i missing something on the plug change? i have an 07' k20 civic Si. the sparkplug hard plastic boots hit the cowling and don't come out to get at the plugs.It appears the motor has to be dropped 2'' to get them out. say it ain't so.

 

Just stick to what plugs were in there. You get what you pay for. And if you care about your car you would buy the best. The coil may not be coming out because you have to take off the metal piece under the cowl. It should be held by I think 3 10mm bolts.