spark plugs...

[Guest Boxhead]

hey guys, my grandfather gave me the hint that it woudl be cheaper to clean my platintum plugs then replace them, but... you see, i dont know where or how to get to them, my grand father used to be a mechanic, but retired some 20yrs ago, he knows how to clean them, but has no idea how to get to them on my rb20de.. can someone help me out? pics woudl help alot too.. thanks guys

[Guest Boxhead]

its ok peoples, i found them, its only coz i assumed they would be in this nice easy to access part... but when i think, its bloody nissan, they will be hard to get to, there you go, was right there!

[JimX]

I found them under that panel on top of the engine too, but the panel is a biatch to get off without taking all the stuff above it off first. I basically unscrewed it but couldn't get the panel out because of everything else in the way.

Is there a quick way to get at the plugs or do I really have to take all the plenum hoses and stuff off first? This is going to be a big job just to *check* the condition of my plugs.

[Guest Boxhead]

yes, thats what my problem is too now, i saw tghem and gone .. oh damn.. so i gave up on em.. i might have a go on saturday

[JimX]

Haha that's funny. Oh well I'm glad I'm not the only one!

[Guest Boxhead]

mmhmm looked at the plugs again today with grandfather.. showed him where they are, he called it a bastard of a job, so i have given up, my car is due for service in 2000 kms.. so they can do it then...

[JimX]

Boxhead, can you let us know how much the mechanic charged extra for changing the plugs? I wanna know if it's worth the effort of doing it myself

[Zer0]

Only takes about 30 mins to take everything off, change the plugs and put it all back together again.

I did mine recently. Pretty easy really.

Disconnect the BOV from the return hose, losen off the hose clamps and take off the intake pipe that goes over the top, from memory you have to take off a couple of other hoses as well but it is nothing tricky, just remember where it came from and put it back there after.

Then you have a few bolts to get the black panel out. Under that you have the coil packs, they should be on brackets in groups of three. Disconnect the cables going to them and pull the, out, be careful with then as I have heard that they are fragile.

and hey presto there's your plugs!!

Give the intake pipe and the rocker covers a quick clean and polish while you have it all in pieces, only takes a few minutes.

[Guest Boxhead]

ahhh, BOV??? right.. its na mate.. so yeah, i guess i will just leave it, i cant be bothered, and anyway mum comes home tomorow and hopefully car will go in mondya with any luck...

[Zer0]

its exactly the same if it is NA just you don't have to bother with the BOV return pipe. the only reason you disconnect it is because the BOV is attached to the intake pipe that goes over the engine and you need to take that off

[Guest Boxhead]

so by the black plate thingo, you mean where it says nissan twin cam on top?

[Zer0]

Yep thats the one.

[Blitz]

Zero: thanks for the info, i have been putting off doing mine for a while.... might do it sat arvo...

already started polishing the rocker cover so its a good excuse to finish that off

[Cubes]

I had major problems with spark plugs not so long ago so i consider myself an expert at getting to the suckers.

I am able to get everything off and plugs out in around 15mins.

It really is easy.

Don't stuff around trying to get around the cross-over intake piping just undo the clamp pull off a couple of vacuum hoses undo the bov return pipe rubber hose clamp and fling the intake piping to 90degree's then undo the Ignitor thingo majig (black square thing at the back of the motor) and then use an allen key to take the plate off.

No skinned knuckles like the other VS V8 I had.

I prefer to do the plugs on this motor than all of the other cars I have owned.

250 TE 4 Speed Cortina

VL 3ltr 5 Speed Commodore

VS V8 5 Speed Commodore

It really is very easy. Grab a cold bear and start to pull things off with the radio going

30mins max In and out.

[Guest Boxhead]

ill give it a go when i get the car back, thanks for your help guys... if i get stuck i will come back on here.. but i shouldnt...

joel, when are you coming to the gold coast next? i will see if i can put myn off till then haha and you can show me how to do it.

[Cubes]

Just get stuck in there..

By the sounds of it u may have to buy a screw driver a size 10 or 12 (can't remember) spanner/ringy, allen keys spark plug remover or a socket set and maybe a few other things I've forgot.

[Zer0]

Originally posted by Boxhead

ill give it a go when i get the car back, thanks for your help guys... if i get stuck i will come back on here.. but i shouldnt...

joel, when are you coming to the gold coast next? i will see if i can put myn off till then haha and you can show me how to do it.

If you want to drive it to Brisbane I will help you out and show you how to do it.

[Guest RedLineGTR]

Originally posted by Zer0

Then you have a few bolts to get the black panel out.  Under that you have the coil packs, they should be on brackets in groups of three.  Disconnect the cables going to them and pull the, out, be careful with then as I have heard that they are fragile.  

and hey presto there's your plugs!!

Give the intake pipe and the rocker covers a quick clean and polish while you have it all in pieces, only takes a few minutes.

Just when you disconnect the cables, the coil packs are on the metal brackets bolted on, do you unscrew the bolts of the brakets or the screws on the coil packs???

And do you just pull them off the plugs or what?

Thanks

[Pawley]

is your grandfathers cleaning method a family secret or will you share it with us???

[JimX]

RedLineGTR, the coilpacks are held in by small bolts. There are 4 holes on each mounting bracket, but mine were only held on by 2 bolts each. I don't know if this is like that from the factory or if the previous owner CBF'd putting all 4 back in. Two on thediagonally opposite corners is more than enough anyway.

Once the bolts are out, gently pull the coil pack up and off the plug. It's held on by a rubber moulding similar to what holds normal leads on plugs. You should probably unplug the wire from it before doing this, but in the interests of minimising the amout of stuff removed I left each coil pack hang there off the wire, doing one at a time.