steelman63

Bought my 2001 vert over a year ago. She has 81,000 miles now had 69'000 when I bought her so I don't know if the spark plugs have ever been changed. this is my first vette so I have never changed plugs in a C5 but I heard #7 is the hard one to get to. Changing plugs in the morning I should have everything. I googled it and watched a video. I have my floppy head bent handled ratchet from harbor freight. I also have spark plug socket, ten mm socket, three inch extension, swivel, anti-sieze, dielectric greese, and hinson plug wires, boots, tr55 plugs. think that should do it?

grantv

#7 plug isn't difficult, none of them really are. Sounds like you're good to go.

dbgoodwin

After reading how hard #7 was going to be, I was all prepped for it to be a pita. When I removed the FRCs I was like "oh, that's really freaking easy." 20 minutes with me doing one side, my brother in law doing the other.

steelman63

Cool thanks guys, Glad to hear that. I will let you know how it goes tomorrow.

Pounder

I never thought they were hard to change !!!!! Try a 428 Cobra Jet in 1969 Mustang !!!!!!

torchredmadness

Sounds like you are good to go. Is the car not running right? Rough idle? Hard starts? Just wondering why you are changing them. My mechanic (who is very reputable) says we don't need to worry about changing the plugs or wires until 100,000 miles unless we start experiencing any of the problems mentioned. So far the engine runs flawlessly at 65,000 miles.

grantv

So I've heard. Another tough one I know from experience; V8 Monza.

yaknow

your good to go

DrThrowBack

I changed mine recently. First time ever changing plugs on anything other than a 4-cylinder. After reading a few tutorials I was a bit intimidated. Moving the rubber AIR hose by #7 gave me plenty of room to work. The issue I ran into was that the boots were seized onto the plugs HARD. I ended up using a small pair of needle nosed vise grips on the metal heat shields to pull the plugs and shields together. It wasn't my favorite option but it worked very well. After I figured out how to do that it was a breeze. The swivel head socket made all the difference it the world. Sounds like you're set! Good luck.

Vetteman Jack

You're right, the #7 plug is the only one that is somewhat difficult to get to. With the tools you have listed, you should do just fine.

steelman63

Okay I just finished. that was easy! Took me about an hour. It seem to run fine. Just felt the idle stumble every now and then. when I took the pugs out some of the little pucks were missing so those ones were running a huge gap. Idles great now.

Lee DeRaud

I dimly recall one of those: engine mounted so far back under the cowl it looked like a V6 when you opened the hood.

LoneStarFRC

Good job!

One thing to keep in mind is now that you have installed standard (aka "old school") copper plugs, you will not get the extended life span you do with iridium or platinum plugs, and they will require more frequent replacement.

Btw, the newest generation of iridium or platinum plugs, regardless of brand, have much improved durability with regards to "missing pucks". The OE platinum tipped plugs that GM installed in C5s (made by Denso), had numerous reports of missing "pucks" over the years whenever owners performed their servicing. I recall that being the case with me as well.
I personally recommend continuing the use of either platinum or iridium (preferred) unless there are specific performance reasons (supercharging or turbo charging) not to. I have been using Autolite iridiums (which I initially bought due to the excellent rebate program) over the last few years with excellent results, in my very modified, but naturally aspirated, engine. I'm using the plugs that are recommended by Autolite for my particular application, and not some specialized "racing" application.
I would feel equally comfortable using iridium plugs made by Delco, NGK, Bosch or Champion as well.

HTH

Pounder

you had to undo motor mounts and jack up the engine !!!!!!! I have seen where some drilled 11/4 holes with a hole saw in the inner fender on both the Monza and Mustang ?????

striper

When I had an '83 Z28 it took 2 1/2 hours. My friend who was an extremely talented and experienced Chevy tech told me that was a good time. My 2000 ZR2 S-10 is real easy. I do it from outside the truck through the wheelwells with a very long extension. The truck is high enough that I don't even have to jack it up to do that. The Vette is a piece of cake in comparison.

SilverC54me

I have replaced the originals in my 02 coupe at around 70k and changed again at around 120k. They came out easily.

Just helped a friend replace the original plugs on a 02 Z06 that has about 60k. These were almost seized into the block.

I would not leave any plug in an engine for 100k. Too high a probability of the plugs seizing into the block.

Gary

grantv

I owned 2 V8 Monza's (1st with a 262 auto, mild mods. 2nd with a built 350LT1 manual) in my younger years. Never drilled any holes, never lifted the motor. Just a very thorough set of tools, a lot of patience, plenty of blood and plenty expletives.

c6miller

Changed plugs and wires on my 2003 for the first time last summer.(30,000 miles) The hardest part was getting the old wires off the plugs. Took me 2+ hours for the drivers side and about 40 minutes for the passenger side. I was not in any rush and it's satisfying to do it yourself.

Mike Green9

C6 Owner's manual says change plugs and inspect spark plug wires at 100,000 miles.

At 11 years and 34,000 miles I will pull mine to ensure they won't seize in place. Easy job, although getting a torque wrench on some of them my be a problem. I've purchased a 1/4 drive torque wrench (small) and I will see how that works out. Previously I just torqued by feel - no issues.

M...

Yello95

wow..
where did you find this 4- 1/2 year old thread?...just sayin...