Made that #7 spark plug my B$%*&
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 155
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From: Oregon City OR
Made that #7 spark plug my B$%*&
Well, thanks to all the research I did on other people's posts about replacing the spark plugs on a C5. It was no big deal. It was a challenge, but with all the different lengths of extensions I have, it wasn't bad at all.
What was bad was the condition of the old plugs. At 63K miles, the plugs and wires had not been replaced. The wires were completely brittle, and came apart. My suggestion to anyone who is going to replace their plugs for the first time, buy the wires as well.
Oh man what a difference in power! The plugs were completely burnt down. There was no small part of the sparker, it was just all almost flat.
Anyway, thanks everyone.
What was bad was the condition of the old plugs. At 63K miles, the plugs and wires had not been replaced. The wires were completely brittle, and came apart. My suggestion to anyone who is going to replace their plugs for the first time, buy the wires as well.
Oh man what a difference in power! The plugs were completely burnt down. There was no small part of the sparker, it was just all almost flat.
Anyway, thanks everyone.
Racer
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 281
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From: Cape Coral Florida
plugs & wires
OMG....been there ...dun that...bout 2 weeks ago. plugs and wires...... i found 2 kinds of plugs and wires....because its no picnic of a task....you guess which ones were different...i think the 2 AC Delco`s were original. i think it took around 3 or 4 hours to do,but man it runs much smoother. and I KNOW all the plugs match and so do the RED MSD wires
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Nice to get those plugs and wires swapped out with new ones.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 155
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From: Oregon City OR
I used BWD Select "it has NASCAR on it, so it must be gooder!" When I find some good MSD wires I'll swap them out, but just wanted to get some good wires in there.
Used NGK Laser Iridium premium plugs. I read the reports and heard they were a great plug. No I don't think they are god among plugs, but they did make my car run a whole lot better, and I've heard from personal experience they don't foul out as easy as other plugs.
I wouldn't worry about the swivel attachments, just get yourself a 2" and a 6" extension. That's all I used.
Used NGK Laser Iridium premium plugs. I read the reports and heard they were a great plug. No I don't think they are god among plugs, but they did make my car run a whole lot better, and I've heard from personal experience they don't foul out as easy as other plugs.
I wouldn't worry about the swivel attachments, just get yourself a 2" and a 6" extension. That's all I used.
Instructor
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 187
Likes: 6
From: Lutz FL
Just did mine last weekend. Took me all day. Here is the best advice I got from Czarvette: Bosch Iridium plugs and MSD wires.
Twisting seems to be the trick to breaking the boots loose.
Good Luck!
Here's a little trick I discovered when I changed my plugs back in June (factory plugs in '98 with 60 K miles): Use a pair of hose pliers to grasp the heat shields around the indented ring near their tops and pull with a firm, twisting motion. Plug boots came off with a few seconds of effort, and all 8 wires were reusable (ran the car two months before replacing wires with set of red GMPP wires).
Oh, and trick #2: spend 2 minutes to unbolt the AIR valve on driver's side near #5 cylinder and pull off the 1" rubber hose running to it. You can then tuck rest of the AIR hose assembly out of way underneath the power brake vacuum canister, making access to cylinder #7 a lot easier.
About $10 at Tractor Supply. Harbor Freight also sells these.
Oh, and trick #2: spend 2 minutes to unbolt the AIR valve on driver's side near #5 cylinder and pull off the 1" rubber hose running to it. You can then tuck rest of the AIR hose assembly out of way underneath the power brake vacuum canister, making access to cylinder #7 a lot easier.
About $10 at Tractor Supply. Harbor Freight also sells these.
Good Luck!
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Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 155
Likes: 0
From: Oregon City OR
That's funny because the pliers is exactly what I used, and they did work great. Only took me 2 hours to get them all done. I'm kind of mechanical, I always work on my own cars, so some times you learn tricks that carry over from older cars.
You are right, carefully twisting the boot breaks them loose. And if you just gently apply pressure and wiggle them, most of the time they'll come right off.
Oh, even though GM doesn't recommend using anti-seize, I did anyway, but just used it sparingly. I use the copper colored stuff. Also used a little anti-corrosion stuff for the boots going onto the plug and onto the coil.
You are right, carefully twisting the boot breaks them loose. And if you just gently apply pressure and wiggle them, most of the time they'll come right off.
Oh, even though GM doesn't recommend using anti-seize, I did anyway, but just used it sparingly. I use the copper colored stuff. Also used a little anti-corrosion stuff for the boots going onto the plug and onto the coil.