Mump,

What kind of plugs did you use, and where did you get them? Also, the only mod ive done was the test pipe, do you think the car would run rich becuase of this?

-thanks,

 

NO.

 

I used NGK plugs - see sig. I got them from Lancershop for around 30.

 

I ordered these from here:
http://www.jscspeed.com/evo/evo_base.html?/evo/evo.htm

I went 1 step colder but if all you have is a test pipe, then stock heat might be the way to go. JSC Speed is a vendor here - the price/customer service is great, I plan on stocking up on plugs and they are the place I am going to go to first.

 

Have you done any other mods apart from the test pipe? flash? catback? downpipe? ... if not, then as others have said try changing the spark plugs ....

 

Go with the NGK BPR7ES.. way cheaper than the iridium picked mine up for like 7.00 bucks at local auto parts store.

 

I am thinking it about that time to change my plugs and I have only around 18000 miles on my o4.

 

spark plugs are cheap and easy, they can tell you alot about your car, and you can gap them easily to what your car prefers and potentially make your car run better. a test pipe will not make you run rich, nor will it make one cylinder have bad detonation. get new plugs and a gap tool then search around the boards about gapping properly and see if that helps and gets rid of the code.

 

If it was your test pipe or CEL fix- you would have got the p0420 code. I think its your sparkplugs. You will be very surprised when you pull them out and check the gap on them!!! I bet they are open way more than recomended and are probably color silver around the tips. I changed mine out at 12,000 miles and they were way out of gap. I bought the ngk bpr7es model#2023. Four of them for $8.50. Make sure you have diferent size sockets for the spark plugs because the stock plugs are a diferent size. There is a how to section on this for the spark plugs. I gapped mine at .28.

 

I'll go out and buy some of the NGK's. Is .28 sufficient for the evo? I keep hearing about people running a cooler spark plug, what does this mean and does climate affect this. I love in ohio and cant have the car not starting in the winter.

I dont have any other mods, just the Perrin test pipe and the CEL. I've had 0 problems guys for the cars life, i dont run it hard or nothing, no autox, no races.

It's weird too that the light cam off and on like that after a few days. After the first time when the light came on, I full throttled it 1-2 and the light went away. Then 3 days later on the highway in 5th gear going 80 I stepped on it for a second and the light came on...

I will try the plugs first, but I only have the factory warranty till the end of the year, so i need to get this crap fixed. Also, im not having trouble with the tranny but I hear 2003's are notorious for tranny trouble. Do you think its worth getting that fixed too?

-thanks!!

 

Well since you have warranty then just take it in. Make sure the car is stock though. You might want to jack up the car and put your stock cat back. Mitsu is VERY picky about mods. The one step colder plugs are more for heavily moded evos running way higher boost. Not the ones for you. Check the manual for the proper gap size. I think .27 is the biggest they recomend. My car runs great at .28. As far as the tranny- my evo is an 03 too. 13,000 miles and no problems yet. I bought it with 8,000 miles and a mechanic said it might have had the clutch replaced already because a bolt that holds the clutch looks like its been messed with. I doubt mitsu will get into your tranny if its not leaking oil or grinding.

 

btw,

Whoever referenced me to JSC Speed.com, the plugs cost $28 for (4). Lancershop.com has them for $12.95 for (4). Is this the kind that I want?

http://www.lancershop.com/customer/p...ctid=169&cat=8

 

I would recommend these:

http://www.lancershop.com/customer/p...5&cat=0&page=1

Those for 12.95 will work, but will need to be changed more often.

The one linked above are better and will give you a better spark.

 

Yeah those are it. NGK BPR7ES. I bought mine localy at napa for $8.50 all together. You might want to go to the dealership and have them checkout your car first since you have waranty. If you put plugs now they might blame it on that.

 

I can't take the car in to look at in stock form because I bought the car with the Perrin test pipe already on it. I was thinking about putting the stock one back on...period. How much are stock cats?

I also hear some people saying the plug gave them a temporary change and the CEL came back on a few hundred miles later.