Jenner

I want to take out my plugs and look at them, possibly clean or replace them. I've been running rich for a month or two now, and I have a feeling the plugs could be fouled/covered in carbon. Audi is *supposed* to replace them at 30k I believe, but I doubt they did. I'm going to check with my service department to find out what the deal is. In the mean time I would like to take them out and use a wire brush to clean them off if they are covered in carbon. I've heard horror stories of people mistreading a plug and having costly repairs or screwing it in to far and having the piston or something hit the plug and destroy the engine. Is this something I should do on my own(not sure how complicated this is with the 1.8T) I have the bentley cd for reference.

Thanks!

smallTTs

It's cheap insurance, and you can learn more from the unmolested old plugs.

I'd be most interested in any signs of detonation.
You don't want to see little silver (alum) flecks on the insulator.

Just follow the torque spec, and anti-seize if the manual says to. (CD not here now, sorry).

My $.02

IslOMan

Absolutely. And if you reuse, don't use a wire brush to clean them. Use a plug cleaner.

droptoptt

them, don't worry about damaging your "pistons" as you can't screw/insert them too far. What you can do though, is torque them down too much and damage the threads. You also would damage the metal seal that the spark plug may or may not have, depending on brand & design. It only takes 10 - 12 ft. lbs. normally to tighten a "plug". Consult your CD manual first for the correct torque.
The only way to have your pistons hit your spark plugs is for the timing to be waaaay off. And that is assuming this motor is designed such that it could happen.
I know Nissan designed some of its engines like this.