Sounds like you may have been using a wobble extension that are made to let the socket wobble around a little to help get into some tight areas. Bob ----- Original Message ----- From: Scott Howell To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, May 31, 2008 8:55 PM Subject: [BlindHandyMan] changing spark plugs on my Jeep
Well, this is for sure one handi-man project. I have never tried changing plugs on a vehicle, but thanks to the designer of the Jeep Grand CHerokee with the 4.7L V8, it is possible to reach all 8 plugs. Well ok, I've changed 6 of the 8, but had to stop as I couldn't get all the way in to the final two on either side. They are partially under the point where the passenger cabin begins and there's a lot of crap in the way. I couldn't even get a universal socket attachment including my extension in there so a friend of mine is going to look and see if I can use his spark plug socket that has a universal attachment on it. In any event, I feel pretty good about doing something like this as I really had little idea what the hell I was doing. The Jeep uses coil packs and these are about 6-8 inches in length and it takes the place of the spark plug. The tricky part is not just unbolting them from the mounting, but you have to pull them out and either set them aside or unplug them and completely pull them out. Then you have to get down into the point where the spark plug lives and that's in a hole that is about 2 or 3 inches deep. So, you have to do all this without loosing the damned socket in the process as it sometimes wanted to stay behind. Of course taping it to the extension helped some, but it was still interesting. It sure would have been easier if I could have pulled the engine perhaps, but that would be overkill of course. grin So, hey, just had to tell the group how much fun I had and trying to get this all done between storms. I guess if I could have taken more time, I probably could have found some way to get at the last two, but it just means I get to go buy a new extension and socket if this universal type works. The extension I had was kind of cheap and the socket didn't want to hold on quite as well as it should have. It had some odd flared end so it starts a little wide, then narrows a bit to the shaft. I think the idea is that the socket would be less likely to come loose, but in fact if it does, the socket now wobbles about and I'd rather just have it pull loose than be wobbling about and possibly cause more problems. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
