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How to Change Plugs

mainecrab

mainecrab

New member
It might be posted on here somewhere. And maybe I missed it in the How To's but did not see one.

How do I change the back 3 plugs? I have not started, but heard different things to do and wanted opinions on what is the easiest and safest.

Thanks

Mainecrab
 


You will probably get a variety of answers. But the most common way is to remove the upper motor mounts and rock the motor forward. There is an eyelet on the bottom of the passenger side motor mount and you can rock the motor forward and then run the bolt through the motor mount bracket and that eyelet and that will hold the motor in the rocked forward position and give you a bit more access to the back side of the engine.

Hope that helps out. Those plug wire boots can be tough to get off sometimes, so just remember twist and pull and keep doing so until it comes off. It may fight you a bit but they will come off.
 
Just don't give up. The first time you do those back three, cursing and throwing things will likely be on your mind. I just put in my Brisk plugs and it took me about 15 minutes to do all 6.

I don't have the round black alternator bracket or the engine brackets installed which makes doing this easier. Without these items removed do like Scotty said and consider rotating the engine forward for easier access. You can remove the two dogbones, push the car forward and set the e-brake, thus rotating the engine forward.

The other thing is to make sure you put a thin coating of dielectric tune-up grease on the inside of the spark plug boots, before reinstalling. It's makes removal the next time ssoooo much easier.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. Yeah I have been in tight spots on changing plugs, on my 2.3 Ranger it has 8 plugs and and they were a ***** to get to, but I was able to with some sockets and joints
 
mainecrab said:
Thanks for the suggestions. Yeah I have been in tight spots on changing plugs, on my 2.3 Ranger it has 8 plugs and and they were a ***** to get to, but I was able to with some sockets and joints
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The hard part will be twisting and tugging on the plugs boots to get them to break loose. I used a 3 inch extension on plug 4 and 6 and a 1 in extension on #2. Having had headers for a while, I don't remember what I used when the stock mani was on there. I know the O2 sensor can get in the way a little, with headers that's not the case.
 


Ill go ahead and do this when Im off. I am getting terrible mileage about 20 MPG highway and city, I hope that this helps. I dont know if they have ever been changed.
 
the back three are just in a tight spot. sometimes you just gotta deal with working in tight spots. i work on saabs all day. talk about a PITA! lol
 
Well I got them changed out the other day. Mileage went up a few mpg and im happy with the results. acceleration is also better.
 
mainecrab said:
Well I got them changed out the other day. Mileage went up a few mpg and im happy with the results. acceleration is also better.
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Wow, you really needed new plugs didn't you.:th_thumbsup-wink:

Reptile, I thought anti-seize was only needed with aluminum heads. I never use that stuff on my plugs. Of course my plugs come out quite often.:o
 


I used the anti-seize stuff anyways. Luckily wasnt too hard to get the old ones out, at least the part of actually loosening them. Getting to the back, is another story. But the pushing the engine forward did work. Was actually the fastest plug job I ever did. Which is fast to me considering I havent done much at all to this car.
 
IndeedSS said:
Wow, you really needed new plugs didn't you.:th_thumbsup-wink:

Reptile, I thought anti-seize was only needed with aluminum heads. I never use that stuff on my plugs. Of course my plugs come out quite often.:o
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Just ask Geddy what happened to my hand when I changed his plugs.
:th_angry-censored:
 
i replaced my plugs with champion double platinum. figgered better stick oem for the time being. any suggestions for plugs to run in the 3.8l non supercharged?
 
I used the NGK TR55 Split V Copper. There were copper plugs coming out so I didnt think it would hurt to put them back. Guy at the counter told me iridium is OEM. The plugs that came out were Delco Copper and with only 69 thousand miles when I got the car I doubt they had been changed.
 
mainecrab said:
I used the NGK TR55 Split V Copper. There were copper plugs coming out so I didnt think it would hurt to put them back. Guy at the counter told me iridium is OEM. The plugs that came out were Delco Copper and with only 69 thousand miles when I got the car I doubt they had been changed.
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someone changed them, GM hasn't put copper in anything since the mid 90's that I am aware of (and copper plugs at that mileage would have been so worn it would run like it had 3 cylinders)
 


There's nothing wrong with the plugs you put in if they run fine in the engine. GM simply started using platinum plugs purely for the longevity.
 
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