Spark plug change

[stanjk3]

How long should it take for the dealer, or any good mechanic to change the plugs & wires on our cars??
Took my car in Monday for: a new intake gasket, coolant flush, tranny fluid & filter change, front brakes & rotors AND had them change the plugs & wires. But get this, if I'm deciphering the bill correctly, they list 2.2 hours labor for plug & wire change!!! wtf Shouldn't it be 1 hour tops?? Unless the mechanic was an idiot and didn't take off my STB. They also charged me $90, which IIRC is full price for a front brake job even though I brought my own parts (Brembo rotors, PF-CM pads). Worse still, they are the ones that screwed up my brakes in the first place. Had it in 2 weeks ago for state inspection, brakes barely passed but afterwards they made a loud grinding noise - loud enough to hear over my stereo.
Total was $626, I was expecting closer to $400.

Anyone know of any good mechanics near West Chester, PA?? Anyone been to Coley Pontiac in Exton, PA??
I used to trust the dealer (Faulkner, West Chester PA), but not anymore.

[X-ception]

I just had my wires and plugs changed. I took it to monroe. I already changed the front plugs but for the wires and the back 3 plugs, It took like 20 minutes after the engine was cool. They charged me $15 but I'd rather pay that than get mad start hitting things.

[StarFire]

I can change our plugs in about a good 30 minutes (depending on how tough the old ones are to get off). It's pretty darn easy to do, you just have to be good at working on something without seeing it. This quote comes to mind, "Let your fingers do the walking." That about sums it up. All you have to do is follow the wires and you should be all set to go. Make sure you have a sparkplug socket (cuz it will grip and hold it) and an extension...then it's pretty easy. Heck I did Tonyyanks in about 20 minutes (the back ones) while he did the front.

[mshu7]

What size socket ?

[phantom505]

I'm slow and stupid with mechanics most of the time and it took me 45min to do all plugs and wires. This includes 10 min of trying to figure out the stupid plastic clips so I wouldn't break them.

[GTluver]

how much would a dealer or mechanic charge for labor of putting in new plugs/wires and oil change, oil filter? just for labor......ill supply everything......i wanna change them on my car since it still has the originals since when the car was new ( plugs/wires )

[Greed4Speed]

I did mine in about an hour and that was with custom cutting the plug wires to length.

[Gramp's GT]

Aren't the plugs good for 150,000km (about 93,000 miles) before GM suggests changing them?

[Blackrider]

I did the frount ones in 5 Min and the back ones in 10 Its Soooo Easy to do.

[Greed4Speed]

Aren't the plugs good for 150,000km (about 93,000 miles) before GM suggests changing them?

Yes, you can go 100k miles or more but you lose a lot of power, efficiency and produce more emmissions. The plugs will work for that many miles, but I'd rather change them earlier and keep my power, etc. I went about that long before I changed mine (it got high milage quick 107k+ mi. on a '01)...never again. I'll change them much earlier, probably around 60k miles tops. It was almost like a new engine. I know I lost several thousand miles of wear off my tires afterwards.

[GTluver]

yea ......i will most likely do mine too.....since they dont seem that hard to pull out/install........last nite, i was looking to see if i could see the back 3 plugs........and yea......a good flashlight.......a ratch w/ an extention and it will do the trick........i will have to remove my STB tho.......I just wanted to know a rough estimate on how much dealers/mechanix charge for the labor in case i get super lazy at the last minute ........

[Greed4Speed]

What size socket ?

5/8 deepwell, get a sparkplug socket and it'll have a rubber bushing in there to pad/hold the plug terminal.

[Molson]

And use anti-seize on the new plugs. You'll thank yourself next time.

[GTluver]

Originally posted by Molson
And use anti-seize on the new plugs. You'll thank yourself next time.

what is this anti-seize thing? im thinking its sorta like grease.....to keep em lubricated and dont 'marry'? and where can i get it? any auto parts store? where do i appply this stuff to.....the plug threads?

[PGsGT]

You can get it at any parts store....Autozone, Advance Auto, or Pep Boys just to name the big ones. They will usually tell you when you buy the plugs....Its pretty cool looking. The stuff I use is metallic silver and you just put it around the threads. Don't use to much, you don't want it floating around or anything.

[Molson]

Originally posted by PGsGT
You can get it at any parts store....Autozone, Advance Auto, or Pep Boys just to name the big ones. They will usually tell you when you buy the plugs....Its pretty cool looking. The stuff I use is metallic silver and you just put it around the threads. Don't use to much, you don't want it floating around or anything.

Yup, thats exactly the stuff. Light coat to the threads will do.

This weekend I had a freind replace most of my plugs and wires. He did the front three and 1 of the back. problem is, 2 of the back boots are apparently stuck. We had 3 diffrent people try unplugging these boots, and they just wont budge. So now I'm driving around with 4 high preformance plugs and wires and 2 factory ones. I was just going to take it to the shop tommorow and pay to have it done, but after reading this post on how easy it is, I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions?

[GTluver]

just keep trying.......they seem to be like they werent meant to come off but they will.....keep pulling down there w/ whatever little space u have........I just did all plugs on my car thursday.....took me like 3 hours for oil filter, oil change, spark plugs, spark plug wires.....it seems like a long time but i took my time....and it was the first time doing it to this car so......i did screw up one of the old spark plug wires.....it didnt wanted to come off so i said what the hell.......imma sure new wires so i pulled from the wire and not the boot.....thats when the wire came off but not the boot......then i tried the boot and the boot came off but not the metal part inside the boot.....so i was like damn it.......the way i got it out is take some needle nose pliers and pry it out slowly....(btw, the wire from cylinder # 3....one of the back ones )......to put them in were easier then pulling them out.....good luck

[Greed4Speed]

Cut them off if you have to. You're changing wires anyway. Just slit the boots up the plug and they'll come right off. Then the terminal should come off easier too.

i just changed my 3 front wires...custom fit msd's. super easy crimping and super easy cutting..this was my first time doing something like that so i was reluctant at first...if anyone is not sure about it, i highly recommend giving it a try..you'll be surprised how easy it really is....however, i had a hell of a time getting at the last black clip holding the back wires in place...i ended up giving up on those for fear of breaking that clip. think it would help if i raised the front end of the car on ramps? im going to have to wait till this coming weekend to give it another go.

**EDIT** after work today i decided to give it another go. i was finally able to unclip that last black clip in the back...and replaced 2 of the 3 wires before it got dark. ill do the last one today. great stuff!!