spark plugs
good luck!!!
TECH Regular
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 452
Likes: 0
From: Sacramento, CA
you have headers? all i can recommend is have at least two different size spark plug sockets.. One normal one short.. Just take your time and removing the stuff in your way as oppose to working around them will save you a lot of time
it all depends on the engine bay or at least what you have left in it/ the headers you have/ and how much pain and twisting your willing to do with them...me personally i have pacesetter long tubes and it takes me about 1/2 hour to pull and install from top only with a regular sparkplug socket and a 3/4 gear wrench with the exception of #5 which i use the socket universal and ratchet..
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Teching In
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 49
Likes: 0
From: Rcoky Mount, VA
open car door
start car, close door
put in reverse back out of driveway
drive to the closest shop and pay $$$
but in all seriousness, i usually have someone help me out, ill do the plugs and my friend will do the wires, or ill be the one under the car getting those and my friend be getting the ones you can get from the top.
start car, close door
put in reverse back out of driveway
drive to the closest shop and pay $$$
but in all seriousness, i usually have someone help me out, ill do the plugs and my friend will do the wires, or ill be the one under the car getting those and my friend be getting the ones you can get from the top.
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TECH Fanatic
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 1,740
Likes: 2
From: Nebraska
They suck but what I did for my car is took one of my spark plug sockets and cut it down to about a 1/4 of its length and bored out the square for the ratchet so the plug could slide through it and then used the 3/4" wrench to remove and replace some of the tighter ones. This is with my headers but i'm sure it would help on stock manifolds also. I've never done them on stock manifolds personally.
A cut down socket and a box wrench make the job a heck of a lot easier, that and a swivel socket for the ones you can actually get to. Removing the starter is a popular move to grab 6 and 8 depending on header configuration.
But on a less serious note; with headers plugs were done with a socket and a wrench, because the ratchet wrench wouldn't fit. Gotta get number 6, 7, and 8 from under the car... Should be able to get the others from the top... By the time you posted and read the replies, you probably could have had them done with your own tricks down your sleeve.
The method I use is patience and knowing when to walk away from it for a bit if you can't get to a plug. Seriously, it isn't as bad as you think. I remember having issues with routing the plug wires on the passenger side, as I had trouble squeezing them into the wire separator, I recall some trouble on the left because of a heat shield and of course the infamous #8 plug but trust me, with patience and an open mind you'll get it done.
Oh and I got all or most of my plugs out from the top...
Oh and I got all or most of my plugs out from the top...
, I paid 50$ for the change of gear oil, plugs and wires. I felt bad for the guy who changed them, the passenger side plugs took 80% of the time, they're dreadful even from below. 
Use a socket with a wrench. not a rachet. do everything from the bottem, if need remove the alternator or starter, but with small hand like I am, i got everything from the bottem.
I bought the SLP socket, which is a short spark plug socket, double jointed ratcheting wrenches, a ratchet, a few universal joints and a normal spark plug socket.
I have pacesetters and still cant get all of them from the top, last time I pulled the starter, ps pump, alternator, and dipstick tube to do it. Dont remember what was pulled of for plug and what exactly i pulled off cause i was doing the wires to.
Its no easy task but it does get easier after doing it a few times.
I have pacesetters and still cant get all of them from the top, last time I pulled the starter, ps pump, alternator, and dipstick tube to do it. Dont remember what was pulled of for plug and what exactly i pulled off cause i was doing the wires to.
Its no easy task but it does get easier after doing it a few times.
Driver's Side:
1,3, & 5 - Top
7 - Below (NOTE: You may or may not need to remove the Y-Pipe for access to #7)
Pass Side:
First, Remove Alternator, then 2, 4, and 6 from Top
If your arms are skinny, you can do #8 from the top as well, but most drop the Y-pipe and then the Starter to access #8 from below.
As stated by others, the SLP short socket helps alot.
1,3, & 5 - Top
7 - Below (NOTE: You may or may not need to remove the Y-Pipe for access to #7)
Pass Side:
First, Remove Alternator, then 2, 4, and 6 from Top
If your arms are skinny, you can do #8 from the top as well, but most drop the Y-pipe and then the Starter to access #8 from below.
As stated by others, the SLP short socket helps alot.