wes8398

iTrader: (2)

After reading all the bitching and moaning about how terrible it is to change plugs/wires in these cars, I put off this job for months and months. Last week I finally decided to bite the bullet since I was already doing some other stuff anyway. I had the hood and front bumper cover off the car (sent for repainting), and had just finished installing my new headlights (dual halos off eBay) and HID conversion (Morimoto 35w 5,500k) (https://ls1tech.com/forums/cadillac-...d-results.html); so I figured I might as well do the plugs and wires while the hood the bumper were out of my way. I don't think that made the job all that much easier though - it was just less obstructions and less worry about leaning on/over the bumper, etc.

It really wasn't that bad. I can see there being an issue for those of you with huge meat hooks for hands, but it's still quite manageable. I didn't remove any of the coil packs or anything. The only thing I removed to get to the last plug was the battery and it's tray. Otherwise, it was just a matter of using a pair of LONG needle-nose pliers to wiggle the boots off, and feeding my plug socket (usually with just a finger or two) onto the plug before adding the appropriate extension/wobble to reach it with my wrench and start turning it. Trying to fit the socket onto the plug with any extensions or wobbles already on it just didn't work. There wasn't enough room in most cases. I also found that using a "pickle fork" or boot remover tool was almost completely ineffective because there wasn't enough room to gain any leverage. It was way easier to put my long needle nose pliers on the boot and pry against whatever I could, or use my other hand/fingers to push against the pliers while they were clamped onto the boot. It's a lot harder to explain than it is to do.

Maybe it's just a placebo effect, but I'm pretty sure the car runs better with the new plugs and wires. It seems to fire up quicker, idle smoother, and run though the RPMs just a bit nicer than before. I have no idea how old the plugs/wires were (I've owned the car for ~5 years and haven't changed them), but a few of 'em looked pretty used up. I also noticed that one of the wires were partially melted and just covered in electrical tape too, so that was good to replace.

The car's at about 155,000 kilometers (almost 100k miles), so if these were the original parts, it was definitely time to change 'em. Otherwise, I just consider it preventative maintenance anyway. I'm happy I did it.

Anyway... if you're fretting this job, don't. Get it done. Just "Keep It Simple, Stupid."

Edit for a couple pics...






And just for inquiring minds...

wes8398

iTrader: (2)

By the way... would anyone make any issue of the plug that's pictured 4th from the right? It wasn't oil soaked, but the "seat" of the plug was certainly darker. It came from the forward-most passenger side cylinder, so I thought maybe this was just from me spilling a bit of oil when I refill after a change. The tip of the plug didn't really look any different than the rest of 'em, so I wasn't too worried...

bmylez

iTrader: (3)

They aren't the original plugs because OEM is AC Delco, but if they're 5 years old, and you daily drive it, that's still pretty well used.

As for the plug with oil on it (that's cyl #2), just pull the new plug after a month of driving and see if there is anymore. No valve cover leak?

wes8398

iTrader: (2)

I plan on doing that, just to make sure. No, no valve cover leak that I can see. I'm fairly confident that it's from me filling/topping up the oil without a funnel, which happens once in a while.