Just out of curiousity, how much does it cost to have a shop change the plugs in an L. Not that I would ever, ever, consider not doing them myself!

 

I have been quoted from 100 to 250 dollars here in houston

 

Last time I checked it was $250.00!!!! Thats parts,labor, and the whole kaboodle. I like ta have s***!! Thats when I decided to try it myself on the Expedition first!

 

Book calls for three hours. I paid 45.00 per hour. Worth every penny! No scared hands.

Jerry

 

Compared to LS1 and LT1 cars, plug changes are simple on the Lightning.

1 1/2 hours max and the only "special" tool you really need is a 7mm socket with built-in swivel.

My handy tip: Wear latex gloves. They prevent skin-scratches and bolt-droppings. =)

 

Thanks for the Snap - On suggestion; I will get one for the next time I do the plugs.

Just out of curiosity I asked my dealer how much for a plug swap when I was getting warranty work done. $47 bucks! and I had some new NGKs with me. For $47 I went ahead and let them do the plugs.

 

When we changed my plugs, we used a small vacuum hose that would slip over the top of the plug and hold it firmly. This enabled the plugs to be installed "finger tight" without any extensions or dropping of the plugs. We installed mine in less than an hour.

It's odd that I haven't seen this mentioned before but it works good.

 

Picture of the Snap on tool in action
http://www.svtlightnings.com/svt/sparkplugs/plugs.htm

 

Silver_2000_!

Those plug with 35000 on them looked good!!! What on earth caused the split-fires to do that???

 

What have you noticed from the Densos?

NGK has also introduced some Iridium Plugs. Ha anybody tried them?

Dion

 

Silver_2000: Your last pic is of the hose coming from the PCV valve, not the EGT. The EGT is on the other side and will be extremely hot if the truck has just been shut off. Btw, those are the most helpful pics I've seen, relative to plug changes(tools, etc.).

MotorcycleMan: If you look carefully at the pic with the plug nearest the lens, you can see that the platinum 'pad' that is supposed to be on the bottom side(near the tip) of the ground electrode is worn, if not missing. Mine were like that at 18,000 miles when I did my change.

Dan

 

As you can see by my signature... I am not really running anything spectacular

Stock plugs were changed around 13k with the Denso's... I wanted to go with them because I heard good things, pending enhancements and insurance against the dreaded blown plug syndrome that seems to bite us L owners.

First off... all my stock plugs were tight.

Secondly, I was noticing what I thought was either a slight miss or transmission slippage for the last few weeks... since I had the plugs in house I installed them before I tried to diagnose anything.

It was definitely plug misfire. The plugs have made this truck run better that it has ever run before... It feels crisp at any RPM level...

I am sure the other plugs work fine but I am really sold on the Denso's

 

LIGHTNINROD


I guess I'm not use to see plugs like that, cause I still don't see it. Maybe I need new glasses. *L* I'd still like to know what would cause the split-fires to do that. Wrong heat range or to much go go juice, are what?? I have heard split-fires doing that, but never knew why.

 

Doug,

It's good to see you laid off the 104 octane booster on that second set of stock plugs. The reburn must have worked.

Nice pics.


MotorcycleMan,

It's called detonation of which 104 octane boost only masked the problem instead of fixing it. That's a good example of why 104 is crap. If you are having detonation stay out of the throttle and get a reburn on your chip.

 

SD,
Thanks for the part #


http://buy.snapon.com/catalog/search...artNo=EECS305A