Replace spark plugs

[p4o2]

Has anyone replaced the plugs on a 2000 malibu (or similar motor)?

I wanted to have the 6 plugs on my 2000 Malibu replaced and I was told it would cost $191 to do it. Is there that much labor in the job?

[HeyBub]

Looking on the web ("spark plugs 2000 Malibu"), it seems as if the hardest part is removing the sparkplug wires - they sometimes attach themselves like a barnacle to the plugs. Plan on replacing the sparkplug wires along with the plugs.

One poster said the easiest way to remove the back three was to drive the car up on a ramp and attack the suckers from underneath.

[LSMFT]

It's an American lack of engineering intelligence. Replaceable parts should be accessible. If they were building houses you can bet they would put junctions boxes behind walls not accessible.

[Jim Elbrecht]

Is the Malibu like my 2001 Impala? I always wondered why they left that big honking 'U' of steel on top of the engine. I thought it was how they lifted the engine into place. Turns out it is to hook your come-along to in order to pull the engine far enough forward to replace the rear plugs.

The book said I'd need to drop the exhaust, remove a motor mount and unhook some other stuff, but my mechanic told me that I could probably get away without all that. He was right. The Malibu is smaller, so you might not have that 'extra' 1/2 inch. I think I'd pay the $200 today.

Even with the motor pulled forward, I felt like a pretzel by the time I got those 3 out.

Jim

[Percival P. Cassidy]

I have no idea about the Malibu, but replacing the plugs in my Chrysler

300M was a piece of cake. I don't recall the price of the plugs at AutoZone -- maybe $4 each.

In fact inaccessible junction boxes are illegal in the USA -- at least according to the last many editions of the National Electrical Code.

Perce

[snotty]

They ARE accessible. The normal maintenance interval for spark plugs is 100,000 miles. They really don't need to be super-easily accessible if you only have to change them every 100,000 miiles.

[dpb]

LSMFT wrote: ...

BS.

I can give you a list of any number of non-US manufactured vehicles that are at least as difficult if not worse for routine maintenance access items...

--

[Jay Hanig]

I don't know but on my 2000 Taurus (which is a front wheel drive vehicle) I've never even seen the back row of plugs. The firewall gets in my way. The labor in servicing the plugs on that bank is more than I'd want to mess with although I wouldn't hesitate on a rear wheel drive engine.

But the fact that you can't see what you're working on makes all the difference.... and more expensive, I'd assume.

Jay

[George]

You are placing the blame squarely in the wrong place. Having a pretty good familiarity with internal workings of companies I can tell you it wasn't the engineering dept that overtly made the crappy design.

The primary drivers of final product are the bean counters trying to make a buck while building the cheap stuff that many demand and the marketing folks world where form always trumps function.

[Jim Elbrecht]

My son's Audi seems to start every job with "Remove front bumper, cowl, and radiator.

Jim

[Oren]

On a late 60's Chevy V-8, they did not yet have the "U" for lifting.

I had to un-bolt the motor mount, use a floor jack and then lift the motor -- all for _one_ plug! Then wiggle my ears and hold my mouth right.

[AZ Nomad]

I love it when the shop manual has no instructions for just the job at hand. Ie: clutch job that has total engine removal as a step then engine removal that has total transmission removal as one of the steps. If you followed the steps you'd be taking the knob off the shifter and dismantling the dashboard center console to do a clutch job.

[jeff_wisnia]

I owned a car maybe 35 years ago which had a panel on the firewall under the dash you removed to get at one or more spark plugs.

My memory is weak, I can't recall the year, make or model, just that removable panel.

Jeff

[clare]

Open trunk lid, put downseats, put hole saw on extention, drill 3 holes in firewall. Using long extention, remove 3 plugs. Replace plugs and install firewall plugs.

[Percival P. Cassidy]

Picking on the Americans in this instance is not a good idea. Back in the 1950s, the UK _Sunday Express_ newspaper had a review of a new Rolls-Royce model on which to access the spark plugs (which in those days needed to be replaced far, far more frequently than today's

100K-mile plugs) one had first to remove each front wheel in turn, then remove an access panel that was secured by a large number of bolts. The reviewer had contacted Rolls-Royce about this and criticized the design, only to be told: "But Sir, doesn't your chauffeur look after this for you?"

Perce

[Reno]

p4o2 wrote in news:944c8425-fbe4-47a8-9e2f-bf171bbbd6e0 @j25g2000yqa.googlegroups.com:

on some 6 cylinder engines getting at the back plugs requires raising the engine up. Raising the engine is actually very easy when you know the trick. You need to find which engine mount prevents the engine from rotating - there is usually one that does that. You put the car in Park without the parking brake on, remove the bolt to the engine block and push the car forward about 2 or 3 inches. The engine will rotate upwards and forwards. You kick a piece of wood under the wheel to keep the car from rolling backwards. The engine will stay up nicely while you change the back plugs. When you are done just kick the wood loose and the car will roll back a bit and the engine will drop back down. Replace the mount bolt. That sure beats trying to figure out how to jack up the engine.

That trick wouldn't work on a Plymouth Acclaim. There was room at the back to get out two plugs but the third one was under the accesory mount. I got it out with a universal jointed socket but it was a difficult job. The plug had never been changed and was totally plugged with soot.

If you have the type of engine that rotates on it's mounts then the job is simple. If it is like the Acclaim then its no wonder the garages want $191; I would, too, because the job is a bugger.

[clare]

Just remember to do it with the engine cold and it's less than 1/10th the issue it is with the engine hot!!!!

On my PT Cruiser 2.4, remove intake manifold. On my wife's 2.5 Mystique - rem0ve intake manifold On my old 3.8 Pontiac transport, remove ignition coils and swear one blue streak. On the 2 Ford Aerostar 3.0 engines I had a few years back, 2 from the doghouse, 2 from under the left fender, and 2 from under the right fender, or put it on the hoist and with the right combination of extentions and flexes, change the whole works in 10 minutes - and mabee a couple od scuffed knuckles. Try it hot and you were asking for a trip to emerg.

[WW]

I miss my 71 Ford pickup. To change plugs (300 ci 6 cylinder) Open hood. Climb over left front fender. Stand on ground between fender and engine. change plugs. I can't even find some of the plugs on our Dodge Caravan and Infiniti QX4 ....ww

[LSMFT]

Sounds like VW timing belt. Remove wheel well, motor mount, jack up motor.

[Higgs Boson]

Does anybody remember "Unsafe at any speed", quoting the infamous "Let 'em burn!"