wow did my plugs and wires today!

Shooter_Jay

Registered User
What an exercise in patience and determination! By the way I"m 6' 210 lbs so I don't have the skinny arms they recommend! Wow that passenger rear plug is a real bitch! Got a bit scary too...test driving it after I blew a plug right out of the hole!!!!!! I thought I was screwed. I figured it destroyed the threads in the head and was probably that passenger rear plug 'cuz it was tough to be sure it was in all the way since I could barely even reach the damn thing! Turns out it was the one next to it which is much easier to get at, and kick-***, there was no damage other than the plug electrodes were touching each other. Regapped and reinstalled and then...it was running smooth then stalling and making a pshshshsh sound after it stalled...wierd. After a few restarts it started running fine. Test rode it and it seems fine now. On the bright side I got my money's worth out of AAA. 2 things I'd recommend adding to the instructions...on the passenger side if you use a bar to pry apart those hoses you can get in there pretty good, figured that out on the reinstall...and 2, put a little of that dielectric grease on the rubber part of your spark plug socket wrench so you can actually get the damn thing off the plug after you screw it in! Anyway, I feel like I just climbed mt everest or something, what a struggle!
 
I've found the 94-95 models are easier to change the plugs and wires on. The drivers side plugs are easier to get to. The pass side requires removal of a few things. All in all, I've heard horror stories about people taking 6hrs to complete. Glad to hear all went okay.
 
I find it easiest to put the car on ramps and do it from below. I drop the first half of the exhaust though. Then I can do all six in 20 minutes. The hardest one to get to from below is #1 cylinder.
 
plugs/wires

yeah total it was probably around 6 hrs, I didn't do it all in a row. I bet I could do it in 3 now that I figured out a few things. I can't imagine doing the passenger side from below without removing the exhaust manifolds like you say. I wonder how many people do it that way? The drivers side was much easier than the passenger side because you can get it from below.
 
I don't take the manifolds off, just the down tubes to the resonator. I can get my hand up there pretty good with a ratchet and deep well socket. Like I said, the only one that really kicks my a$$ is # 1 (front passenger side) from underneath. I can't see how you can do it from up top on the passenger side I can't even see the valve cover.
 
wow

well the passenger side weren't easy at all from the top but all but impossible from the bottom for me. I just followed the instructions from the mn12performance.com how to articles and jammed my arm down between the heater hoses which got easier about the 50th attempt or so! Oh ya you have to remove the intake tube(very easy) which makes it possible. What sucks is at WOT I'm still getting detonation which I was hoping the wires would fix. Could new wires but touching each other cause this anybody know or do I have a different problem I haven't considered yet?
 
I think i'm the only person I know who does the sparkplugs from above. 30 min job. And I wouldn't say my hands are small either. Strange. :cool:
 
Yah I do all mine from above and it takes me maybe 45 mins.. Remove intake top and upper ic tube, thats all I do
 
Tazer999 said:
Yah I do all mine from above and it takes me maybe 45 mins.. Remove intake top and upper ic tube, thats all I do
Where do you get the spanner wrench to remove your upper IC tube? I was going to wait for my new exhaust manifold and do them then.
 
spanner

I've heard of using a piece of 2x4 and a hammer, sounds safe enough...but I've never done it so don't take my word for it.
 
Shooter_Jay said:
I've heard of using a piece of 2x4 and a hammer, sounds safe enough...but I've never done it so don't take my word for it.
Any special grain of wood and hammer size? :D
 
I just take the top off also

Makes it much easier, no more sealing the ic tube to the top. Just remove it all as one piece
 
The issue with pounding the nut with a 2x4 is that the tube and top are made out of cast aluminum. It's brittle and doesn't take to smacking around very well. So if you're not careful you're going to crack something.

As Tazer999 mentioned, it's better to pull the 4 nuts off the top of the SC top, then lift the top off with the top tube.
 
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