• The site migration is complete! Hopefully everything transferred properly from the multiple decades old software we were using before. If you notice any issues please let me know, thanks! Also, I'm still working on things like chatbox, etc so hopefully those will be working in the next week or two.

Changing Spark Plugs on a 2004 Grand Prix



See that little metal sheild that is over the plug boot, you can see that one thats by the oil dipstick, that comes off with the plug boot and the spark plug is right undernearth that.


DSC00059.jpg
 
Thanks. I need to know if I need to twist and pull on the metal heat shield to get the plug wire off? Do the heat shield and plug wire come off together? I don't want to damage the wires.:th_winking:
 
Clarkie59 said:
Thanks. I need to know if I need to twist and pull on the metal heat shield to get the plug wire off? Do the heat shield and plug wire come off together? I don't want to damage the wires.:th_winking:
Click to expand...
Yes you can twist and pull on the metal shield, and yes the heat sheild is will come off with the plug boot.

The fronts are gunna be easy to change, but the will be a little harder to do because of the tight space. Some people just un-bolt the dog bones AKA ( front motor mounts) they should be black and right in front of your face when you open the hood. Then they rachet strap the engine forward to give them move room in the back to change the plugs.
 


the plugs are crazy hard to change the first time I rotated the motor because you can't even see the back ones untill you do that plus those wires dont come off easy lol:th_laugh-pointup:
 
You're going to break the wires if they're stock. Just go get some stock replacements from your auto parts store they're usually only $35 and come with lifetime warranty. Like others have said you can unbolt the front mounts and take a ratchet strap to pull the motor forward slightly. It will give you a little more room in the back but even then you're still mostly going to be doing it blind. It gets alot easier after the first time and I would recommend putting some dielectric grease on the plugs to make it even easier for next time. It also helps prevent corrosion.
 
You don't need to move the engine around at all to get to the back 3. Sure it may be slightly easier, but in the time i takes to take off the two dog bones you will have been half way done with the back plugs.

The only reason you would need to move the engine forward is if you have huge gorilla arms.
 
I find if you push the shield toward the head, you can gain a little more space on the boot to grab and twist to break them free to remove. Strong fingers help if there's 50K+ miles on them since they were changed.
 
Yeah the stock wires break real easy , spark plug wire pullers helped me a lot when I changed mine the only way to get them off is to twist and pull
 


NoBoost91 said:
the only way to get them off is to twist and pull
Click to expand...

Actually I have other ways. But they aren't for the faint at heart.
Thats because theres a potential that part of the plug can drop into the cylinder. It's a small risk as the plug is metal and has the tab on it to keep things from going in. Take a hammer and large screwdriver/prybar and break the wires/plugs at the base. Then pull the stub out and you are ready for the install.
 
BillBoost37 said:
Actually I have other ways. But they aren't for the faint at heart.
Thats because theres a potential that part of the plug can drop into the cylinder. It's a small risk as the plug is metal and has the tab on it to keep things from going in. Take a hammer and large screwdriver/prybar and break the wires/plugs at the base. Then pull the stub out and you are ready for the install.
Click to expand...


Let me reword it then the easiest way to get them off is twist and pull, if you feel like taking a risk then beat them with a hammer and screw driver lol
 


Lol to get my back boots out in the back I used vice grips and a breaker bar. Worked like a charm but I broke my vice grips :[
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top