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Having spent my entire career working with aluminum I found that any time you install spark-plugs or for that matter almost any threaded fastener into an aluminum assembly you are well advised to use just a touch of nickel based anti seize compound on the threads. This is especially true of spark-plugs because you might be the poor sucker who removes them on the next tune-up. After thousands of miles of heating and cooling steel and aluminum develop a very-very close relationship. Bob, I am certain that you found this to be true in the marine industry as well. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Bob Kennedy Sent: Saturday, May 31, 2008 8:21 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] changing spark plugs on my Jeep I haven't looked at that particular engine in a while but you should feel good. The coil pack replaces the distributor and plug wire though, not the plug. One thing you will learn as you work on cars. You get what you pay for in tools. And sometimes you pay for what you got if you went bargain hunting. I have a plug socket from Snap-On that swivels and is pinned to a 12 inch extension. The plug fits tightly into the socket and there is no chance of the socket ever staying behind. As engine compartments got tighter and tighter I ended up with a lot of odd lengths of extensions and so on. You'll hear Larry and me talk about our air wrenches a lot. That's because you can put a socket on one and only have to squeeze the trigger to take a plug bolt out. I'm not too big on putting plugs back in with mine because I don't like slamming a plug home with aluminum heads. Or cast for that matter. An air wrench is a bit of over kill if you don't own one but there are pieces out there you can get to do the job. You can always have a Snap-On or Mac tool person call you and you can tell them what you are looking for. They talk to mechanics daily and know what a lot of them prefer for tools. I'd bet they have just what you need if you want it. BTW, good idea to leave the engine in during a tune up... hahaha ----- 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. 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