Center caps are collecting dust in my shed
Sike. I plasti-dipped them and put them back on. Looks a little better I think:
I changed out my spark plugs in an effort to up my gas mileage. The old ones (85,000 mi) didn't look bad at all. That's expected with the 120k mi change interval:
I was able to change them without removing the whole airbox by using different wobble extensions (only had to remove the top part). The hardest part was getting the wiring harnesses to unclip from the coils, which was still a breeze.
One thing I noticed which was very unsettling was this:
It's obviously been like this for a LONG time, possibly the entire life of the vehicle. I've never removed this portion of the intake before, I know Carmax didn't, and I know the previous owner wouldn't have. The throttle body was spotless but who knows what could have gotten in through this gap.
I used some C-clamps to "re-mold" the rubber back into place and it fit up nicely...shouldn't be an issue.
Anyways, it runs much more smoothly with a slight increase in mileage after the spark plug change and intake fix.
Next up will be cleaning or replacing the PCV.