I've been running NGK's for the last two years. No complaints here.

Great to hear the STI's are quality. I'll snag a pair as spares next time I see a deal.

 

why use STI over Magnacore ?

 

Welcome to the forum!

Magnacore use to be good quality, now they aren't worth the +$130 cost. From reading posts on here, including mine, D2 owners state that STI is cheaper in cost than Magnacore and better quality than Magnacore.
Win, win with STI.

 

Two questions....

If I do take the IM off... what else should do/ check /replace while I have it off...

And how often does one need to replace the ignition coil? I saw a post of someone mentioning it but havent seen much about it in typical maintenance lists...

 

The upper intake is held on with 6 bolts.
Replace the gasket.
Coils can die at any time, even new ones.
No need to replace working ones.

 

There are a few here who recommend replacing the coils preventively. They're not too expensive and if you've removed the upper intake you may as well replace them.

I'm not one of those people. My truck has 177,000 miles with no sign of trouble from the coils. I'm a bit of a cheapskate when it comes to replacing parts that are performing well.

P.T. Schram, a well-known contributor on this and other Rover forums who formerly had a Rover shop in Indiana, told me years ago that DII coils fail very rarely. That said, he made that comment maybe 8-10 years ago and the trucks, and the coils, are now 8-10 years older.

YMMV

 

D2’s aren’t getting any younger & I personally would rather do the job once & be done with it for another 200k.

 

For fun - I did some searching for coils for the D2.

Not sure what to think of the $16 coil that RockAuto sells
URO and Ultra Power are both under $17. How is that even possible... ...

The Bosch is priced similarly everywhere at mid $40s

 

Kia Sportage (old one) uses the same coil so plenty of el cheapo’s out there (just have to get 2 vs 1 as the Kia is a 4 banger).

I’ve used el cheapo’s off Rock Auto/Ebay for several customers and myself. I had to slightly modify the Bosch bracket for the aftermarket coils (the ones I used didn’t come mounted to a bracket).

P.S. the el cheapo’s were NOT URO junk!! Don’t use anything from them.

 

Great little bits of info there. Where do you recommend purchasing them??

Also, can anyone have a link to the right gasket to purchase?