How bad is it to change only some of your spark plugs?

[stic88]

Re: How bad is it to change only some of your spark plugs?

if your thing is to do a half *****ed job then dont change them

 

[windsors03cobra]

Re: How bad is it to change only some of your spark plugs?

The oil filter easy very easyt o get out of the bottom of those trucks ?
Rust on a 15 year old truck in the rust belt ? Say it aint so.

If the terminals pulled off the plug wires they are indeed junk.
I've never heard of just stuffing a ripped out terminal back into a boot but I guess its one way of doing things. I mean it came out of there right ?

I'm pretty use to working on cramped quarter V8 powered vehicles and most brands are all almost all alike as far as working on and I can change all of those plugs in about an hour.

 

[dolluper]

Re: How bad is it to change only some of your spark plugs?

I had a shop change the plugs on my caravan. They itemized the bill for me.
5 bucks for the front 3
70 for the back 3.

70 bucks for the back 3 when its as easy as the front if you remove the air box.....guess it cost 65 to move the air box and reinstall it

 

[thefairlaneman]

Re: How bad is it to change only some of your spark plugs?

It wont hurt the engine to replace several but not all of the plugs.Knowing how to replace plugs on some vehicles is why mechanics deserve to be paid. Do it all the way .You dont wash just half of your car do you? You dont drain only half of the dirty oil from the engine when you change the oil do you? Of course you dont.....Get ,read, and understand the service manual for your car. Any real mechanic will.

 

[rodbolt]

Re: How bad is it to change only some of your spark plugs?

change the plugs in an hour?
man, next time my buddy wants to do the plugs on his 98 F250 with the 4.6L v8 we will hire ya.
took us about 5 hours and most the tools in the box.
what a stupid design that cab fwd thing is/was.
some designs,both auto and marine, can simply get stupid for service.

 

[jlinder]

Re: How bad is it to change only some of your spark plugs?

Had an old Jimmy with a bad oil pump. Found that to change the pump I had to pull the engine to drop the oil pan because there was a cross brace (part of the frame) in the way.

Had an Olds van where you had to rotate the engine forward to get to the rear spark plugs. (or so they said. Managed to do it with a lot of work, sweat, and 4 letter words).

Would love to see the people who review cars add in a section on future gotchas. Point out some of the stupid designs that will bite you later. Maybe that would send a message to the designers.

Look at commercial gear where the buyers plan on keeping the equipment long enough to have to do maintenance. They look at these things and the designers know this so the gear is designed with maintenance in mind. Make a simple maintenance job a real pain on a big rig, the word gets out, and sales drop.

 

[mscher]

Re: How bad is it to change only some of your spark plugs?

i finally got all 8 changed. it took me 4 hours (with a few breaks thrown in). those swivels you can put on the socket really help.

the hardest part was getting the wire off the plug.
2 of the wires left the tip on the plug. so i had to pull the tip off the plug, and put it back in the wire boot.


the truck runs a whole lot better now. more responsive to the gas petal now.
my buddy thinks i need to change the wires too. but f-that.

Actually, four hours sounds pretty good. If you ever have to do it again, since you are experienced, it will only take you two.

Doing a good job is not always easy.

 

[j_martin]

Re: How bad is it to change only some of your spark plugs?

70 bucks for the back 3 when its as easy as the front if you remove the air box.....guess it cost 65 to move the air box and reinstall it

Must be a different one, it didn't look possible to me, and I can do an Astro blindfolded.

I had an old mechanic friend of mine tell me you have to feel sorry for the engineers that designed some of this stuff. They're going to spend eternity in hell trying to reach an adjustment that can't be reached.

 

[mkast]

Re: How bad is it to change only some of your spark plugs?

the truck runs a whole lot better now. more responsive to the gas petal now. my buddy thinks i need to change the wires too. but f-that.

Imagine what it will run like with decent plug wires.

 

[bowman316]

Re: How bad is it to change only some of your spark plugs?

i'm sure a mechanic could change my plugs in an hour or two.
They have better tools more suited for cramped spaces.
all i had was a socket, and a swivel and exension for it.

someone mentioned that marine engines are just as hard to work on...
well outboards are SO So much easier to work on.
such easy access. changing my plugs on that takes 10 mins.

 

[jlinder]

Re: How bad is it to change only some of your spark plugs?

One of the reasons I bought my Isuzu Trooper was I looked under the hood and everything was out in the open. I could get to everything.

I was getting rid of an Olds van where you almost had to rotate the engine forward to get to the rear plugs.

 

[mommicked]

Re: How bad is it to change only some of your spark plugs?

I had a tough time on a 98 S10 4.3 pickup.one plug is directly behind the steering shaft,all were hard to reach until I pulled the front wheels and went in from the wheel well.i was able to loosen the one behind the steering by shoveing a socket on it and inserting a large flathead screwdriver into it where a 3/8 ujoint would not fit,I used an adjustable wrench on the square shaft of the large screwdriver to break it free after 115000 mi.after breaking them free I shoved a piece of rubber hose onto the insulator to loosen and remove/install most of the plugs.The rubber hose works great and fast on plugs that are hard to reach.try it yourself!

 

[rodbolt]

Re: How bad is it to change only some of your spark plugs?

try the 1978-80 chevy monza with a 305,A/C and power steering.
gonna take slightly longer than an hour, or 2.
try the F350 Yamaha V8 outboard.
20 fasteners and some covers to remove before you can see the plugs.
remember from skeg tip to engine hood the motor is SEVEN feet tall.
add another 2.5 to 3 feet for trailer or work rack height and now your a painter.

 

[bowman316]

Re: How bad is it to change only some of your spark plugs?

only if you could propel a car like an outboard motor propels a boat.
you know with the motor clearly sticking out from the body of the boat.
and easy access.
like have an engine up on a pedistal, then run a drive shaft down it and have a 90 degree turn going to the wheels.

 

[thefairlaneman]

Re: How bad is it to change only some of your spark plugs?

I have changed the plugs on a ford areostar several times and after that Im not afraid of replacing the plugs ON ANYTHING. The trick is in knowing what you HAVE TO MOVE or remove first.......peace of cake

 

[dolluper]

Re: How bad is it to change only some of your spark plugs?

I have changed the plugs on a ford areostar several times and after that Im not afraid of replacing the plugs ON ANYTHING. The trick is in knowing what you HAVE TO MOVE or remove first.......peace of cake

Ahem to that brother...funny how some people would stand on their heads before they would move something out of the way.....I watched a kid try replace a termostat on an old Lincion with a crows foot...instead of pulling the dissy out ..he tired for 2 hours one bolt then I couldn't take it any longer and told him to mark and pull dissy ...took under an hour back up running