I've heard of a couple people doing it, and I don't want to be one of them!! Is this a common thing on our cars? It technically should be an easy swap, but is there anything I should watch out for on these cars?
Thanks!
By the way, 2004 a6 2.7T

 

how on earth would you break a spark plug by unscrewing it? i want to shake the hand of the "couple people" who managed that one.

dont use a hammer and chisel, use a spark plug socket wrench and you wont break anything

 

^^ x2 i haven't had any problems even when a sucker took a few min to break loose

 

I just replaced all 6 plugs and the air filter on my 2.7t and there was no problems. Just don't "drop" the new plugs in, instead guide them with the plug socket so you won't risk damaging the tip.
With new plugs and a new K&N filter I immediately noticed better gas mileage! Then again the PO neglected the car and the old air filter looked like crap, was filthy, and started falling apart when I removed it.
More power and better mileage! What else can a guy want? :-)

 

This just made me think of a little experiment I tried back in high school.

If you break off a finger nail size piece of the porclein that coats the spark plug and gently toss it at a car window it will spider crack the entire glass. Without making a sound.

My buddy owns and operates and salvage yard in Philly, we used to do all kinds of fun things. Never used this technique for anything but proving someone wrong. It turns out I was wrong. It does work!

Oh yeah! Just dont overtighten and strip the plugs when your installing them. You should be fine

 

Maybe I should've been more specific. I was referring to installing/tightening them, not removing them. Evrything went fine, though, cars runs better than ever!

 

jaymac - That's not a dumb question..

In the past sparkplugs that were in aluminum heads would sometimes get stuck. In some cases they broke off when you tried to get them out and it was a bitch to fix the problem. It was because of thermal expansion differences and galvonic action. We used to put a high quality anti sieze compound on the plug threads to stop the problem. I believe that they have made some changes in the metalurgy to fix the situation.

as for ghost6303 - I guess you haven't been around cars very long cause I can introduce you to more than a "couple people" who have the broken spark plug problem.

 

I always warm my engine a little before changing plugs, and use a little anti-seize on the threads. BENG