Just finished taking care of this on my ls2 as I didnt want to wait to 100k and have the plugs seized up in the heads.

Ive seen numerous threads on this and wanted to leave some notes for others to use:

Total time should be 1 - 1.5 hours.

Wire set was 59 bucks from Autozone Bosch #09840

Plugs were 7 bucks apiece ACDelco iridium #41-110

You are going to need to replace the wires with the plugs - especially if its the first time doing plugs on this engine - the boots are going to be stuck and youre likely going to break or loosen them.

Youre going to need thick gloves like mechanic gloves to remove the wire boots from the plugs, unless you want to cut your hands up

Remove the wire connector from the coil pack first then go after the one on the plug

Twist the one on the plug and try to move it. this should free it up enough to pull it off, otherwise you can use some normal pliers

Always grab the boot not the metal because youll need to reuse the metal section

If the boot comes out but the wire end is stuck to the plug end, just pull it off with the same pliers

In order to remove the plugs, youre going to need a swivel socket wrench and a small extension

Use anti seize on the plug threads but only a very tiny amount and make sure it doesnt go anywhere else. make sure that your hands are clean before screwing the plug into the head

Torque is rated 11ftlbs, but thats dry (without anti sieze); with anti sieze, youre going to need to go lower I decided to go with hand tightening, then used a socket wrench until it felt tight

The wireset from bosch comes prelubed with dielectric grease, but there is an excess in the boots. use q tips to clean it up before installation.

Make sure the wires click in when installing - they can be a pain to push in

Hope this helps some folks out!

 

nice writeup.

 

Good info. Thanks

 

Thanks for the tips.

 

you could have got MSD wires for $65.00, and since you don't want to run the iridiums till their toast you could have put NGK'S for 1/4 of what you spent{their very good} AND YOU NEVER REPEAT NEVER PUT ANTI_SEIZE repeat!!! NEVER on spark plugs. PERIOD!!!! says that right on the box! torque is not nessesary make sure your not cross threaded put them in by hand tight and the a 16th to a 1/4 turn or just very tight with ONE hand, finally if you have to read a blog to learn how to change a spark plug, you probably should not change them or at least make sure the blogger KNOWS what he's talking about.

 

got the ac delcos for 20 bucks off at autozone plus acdelco was running a 2 dollar off per plug deal up until the end of dec, so cost wasnt much concern and ngk makes many plugs - some have been reported to not work well in these cars. Im not familiar with the factory equivalent ngk, but it would be good to post that part number - all the ngks I saw available for these car were platinum plugs...

putting them in by hand should be a given - I dont think you could start all the plugs with a socket wrench without it being really awkward and tedious

anti seize is a great debate; some are for it and some arent... if you think youll get anti seize everywhere on the plug or it might cause you to over torque the plug, then dont use it. many others have used it successfully with no problems. It prevents the plugs from getting stuck. Ive gone without it and gone with it on other cars, but for something that rarely needs plug changes Id rather have the extra insurance

 

Been using anti seize on my plugs for years and will continue to do so with aluminum heads. Never had a problem. Wait until you try to remove plugs from an aluminum head with carbon build up on the threads and rip the threads out of the head. You'll wish there was anti seize on the threads. NGK warns you against anti seize so you don't over tighten the plugs. Just don't over tighten the plugs. They also use a special coating to prevent corrosion.

http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/pdf/tb-...1antisieze.pdf

 

Just replaced the plugs on my GMC Denali at 100k, the boots were tough to remove, at least the first couple were. Very difficult to get enough leverage to pull them off. I turned to the internet for a boot removal tool, I figured if they were that difficult to pull off there must be a tool available for the job. I found a couple of references for something like 150 bucks then found a very enterprising idea using a shoe lace. The other 6 boots came off more quickly. There is still a high level of effort, but the plug wire comes off usually within the first couple of tries. Just make a loop with the shoelace, the lace will ride in the groove on the outer metal cover, then pull straight off, trying to keep your pulling effort in line with the plug. What took 15 minutes of grunting straining and pulling takes about a minute with the shoelace method.

I didn't use anti-sieze on the threads and on the Denali, I was able to get a torque wrench on each plug, tightening to 11lbs-ft. I was able to re-use all of the plug wires too. The plugs looked perfect, just worn. There was a spot of corrosion on the inside of the tip. This vehicle is maintained to a high standard and runs like new with 100k on the odometer. Absolutely amazing.

 

I pull mine around every 30K and use 400glass bead in the blast cabinet with low pressure to clean them up, and check the gaps before putting them back in.

The plugs are good for 100K, or when they start to look questionable during a clean up.


Ditto on the boots, and if you learn the trick, will not cook a set of wires by cleaning the plugs.


Anti-seize on the plug threads, and dialectical grease on the plug boots here myself.

Really, with a clean up and knowing how to pull the wires so you don't destroy them, no reason for either not to last 100K trouble free.