Took a peek under the hood was gonna change the plugs. Looks like things could get rather exciting. What are some exact tools that make the job easy. Extensions? Swivels? ect?

 

AutomagicLS1
The best way to replace the plugs is to go thru the wheel wells. Pull off wheel, there is a rubber flap in the center of the well, lift up and you can almost kiss your spark plugs. The middle drivers side is the bad boy here, just take your time and use your extensions andswivels, and you will get it...Remember to use AC Delco Plat's only........

Good Luck

 

sometimes the steering column/shaft gets in the way of the driver side middle plug. even going through the wheel well. so what i do is use a 3/4 ratcheting box wrench or a simple open end wrench(3/4) around the hex head of ur 5/8 spark plug socket. and then of course make sure u have a gapping tool. and apply anti-sieze lube to the threads so next time u wont run into any problems like a locked plug or having the porcelain crack.

 

Thanks guys im gonna give her hell tomorrow. Hopefully its not near as hard as my LS1...well the only hard part is the #8 plug!!

 

Isn't there some sort of "flat spot" on the steering shaft. I heard that you turn that till the flat spot is on the bottom or top side supposed to make that easier. Haven't tried myself yet.

 

also you can raise the steering shaft. it is easy. there are several posts on other forums about this method. your remove the ones 10 mm bolt which is under a plastic cover. slide the shaft back toward the steering wheel, about an inch or so. when it is clear raise it upward and you have access to the center plug. the steering shaft is keyed and spined so it will only go back together one way. doing that made thecenter drivers side plug the easiest to do as compared to the other 5. it is easy!!!

 

I just searched the information here and used it to form my own solution. Here it is:

1) Raise car, set on jack stands, remove front wheels.
2) Work through wheel wells.
3) Carefully twist plug wire boots on spark plugs, then carefully remove wire from plug. (I had a 12-inch pair of needle nose pliers with curved ends I found in the bargain bin at NAPA - they work great for grabbing plug boots.)
4) Passenger side spark plugs came out with 5/8" spark plug socket and 8" wobble extension. (I added a second 8" extension when re-installing to make it easy to torque the plugs properly.)
5) On driver's side, front and rear plugs are not a problem. My center plug was precisely behind the steering column - I couldn't even get the spark plug socket on it.
6) I reached in through the wheel well and pulled the orange rubber cover on the shaft down towards the front of the car. This exposed the white plastic coupler, which I learned from this forum, has flat sides.
7) I turned the steering wheel to a position where one of those flat sides was in line with the center spark plug. This gave me just 1/8" more clearance, but that was enough to get the socket on the plug.
8) Here's the new twist on the spark plug job: I had a set of crow's foot open end wrenches that have a 3/8" extension fitting. I selected the 11/16" crow's foot and it slid nicely over the hex end of the spark plug socket; then I simply inserted a 3/8" drive extension and popped the plug loose.
9) I removed the plug by using a 19mm open end wrench; it took some time because the room to turn the socket is very limited.
10) I used Anti-Sieze on the threads of the new plug, and it went in much more easily than the old one came out.
11) Using the crow's foot on the end of the socket, I was able to torque the spark plug to the appropriate spec.
12) Don't forget to pull the orange rubber cover back up into position on the steering column shaft. I did, so I'll have to go back in next weekend and pull it back up.

If I hadn't searched this forum, I wouldn't have figured out the small flat area on the shaft. THAT was the thing that made it work. It's an area where a tiny difference in clearance makes a big difference.