We survived pretty well down here in St. Croix (USVI) unlike our neighboring islands. But post storm my 2003 LR D2 with 76k miles is sick. She's not running right and popped up a p0300 and p0308 code.

I pulled the plug from cyl 8 and it's an old champion. Wire didn't appear damaged. Cant see anything obvious.

My valve covers leak like a white house aid so I figure I might as well do a major, replacing gaskets, wires and plugs. I know this involves quite a tear down but I'm not sure what else I should replace at the same time. Also I usually order parts from rockauto because they ship (usps mail) down here.

For plugs I'm not sure which type copper;plat;dbl plat;iridiam or which brand.

For wires nkg blue look cool, and there are acdelco, beck arn. etc but all look to be 7mm. not sure which wires I should be looking for.

For valve cover gaskets there are uro or beck arn. rubber, fel-pro molded rubber, mahle rubber, and beck arn. cork.

Should I buy new valve cover bolts (long/short)?

I see intake manifold gaskets with end seals - do I need this set or something else?

and if I'm going in that far, what else do I need, or other maintenance should I perform when doing the valve cover gaskets, wires & plugs. New coil pack? or .....

Down here on island I need to make sure I order everything I need in advance. Can't just pop out to the local auto parts store for stuff for the LR D2.

Thanks,
Scott

PS. My valve covers are looking a little tired - what is the best way to clean these up?

 

Well, Ill be following this thread. I have similar situation at the moment and wires, coils, plugs changed several times and still showing those codes. As I read earlier in one of the 2014 post, O2 sensor could fix it even no O2 codes are showing. Well, i got to check later. I have a spare O2 and experiment.

 

If you still have the number 8 plug out please let us know what numbers are on it.

There are a lot of people out there and on this forum selling snake oil. It's not that complicated.

As for new plugs, the DII is designed to use double-platinum plugs. Champions came in the DII from the factory. The Champion 7070s in my truck have 56,000 miles on them and are still going strong.

As for wires, the three brands most talked about here are STI, Magnacore and Kingsbourne. All three are 8mm. The STIs in my truck have 70,000 miles on them and are still going strong.

You can bet that when it comes time to replace the plugs and wires in my truck I'll use Champion 7070s and STI wires.

As for valve cover gaskets I don't think it matters. They all leak. And yes, the RAVE says to use new valve cover bolts but I've never understood why, nor do most on this forum change them.

Your next question was about the intake manifold gasket. If you choose to remove the upper intake to make it easier to change the plug wires you need only the upper intake gasket. The one with the end seals is the valley gasket, for the lower intake. I changed my wires without removing the upper intake but I have small hands. I wouldn't try to do it without removing the upper intake if the truck has SAI.

So, you need plugs and wires, plus the upper intake gasket and the valve cover gaskets. That should do it. Good luck.

 

" And yes, the RAVE says to use new valve cover bolts but I've never understood why, nor do most on this forum change them. "

Probably because the O Ring gets brittle/torn. But you and I both know those bolts are sold both ways, with and without the O Ring.
When I replace valve cover gaskets I replace the bolts (they don't cost much)....but maybe that's just me???

 

Champion copper plugs are fine. Never used anything but those in the old Rover V8. I do prefer for cheap wires STI and for good wires Kingsborne

 

Copper Champions might be fine in the "old Rover V8" but not in a DII. Actually, they will run just fine, but only for 12,000 to 15,000 miles. Do a little research on the wasted spark system used in the DII. If you want to change your plugs every 12,000 to 15,000 miles the coppers are just fine. I prefer to spend a little more, use what the truck was designed to use, and get a lot more life out of my plugs.

 

My current plugs are champion RC11PYPB4.
I tried swapping the #8 and #2 and I still get the P0300/P0308 so it looks like wires.
My 03 LR D2 has SAI so it's the full teardown.

Is there anything else that I should do as maintenance when I pull the upper manifold and valve covers etc?

Should I consider replacing coil?

 

Just wondering where you get STI wires. I see lots of other brands listed on all the normal, and a few not so normal, sites. But, I can't seem to locate STI wires.

 

try searching Karlyn.

 

I just ordered sti wires on ebay, bosch iridum plugs and valve cover gaskets and upper intake (plehnm) gasket from rockauto.

I tried to order gaskets from atlantic british (roverparts) but they didn't have a shipping option (usps priorty) for usvi. even though they were more expensive I wanted to order from them because they put out good helpful videos. unfortunate they don't ship to the us virgin islands.