My Maintenance Schedule has stripped a gear...

[jgillott]

I just had a horrible flashback of a certain 2.3L Ford engine...

And....Anyone ever change the plugs on a 5.7 Hemi?
That's alot of plugs.

Oh yea. Our 2010 has 16 spark plugs with the 4.7L. The plugs come out easy. The wires and coil packs.....well....now that's a different story.

 

[Wayne M.]

I just had a horrible flashback of a certain 2.3L Ford engine...

And....Anyone ever change the plugs on a 5.7 Hemi?
That's alot of plugs.

Yea I’ll be looking at plugs in my 5.7 in the future. I’ll yank a pair to have a look at em.

 

[Shiner]

And how many folks know about such things!

Makes me think of my neighbor. Kid - mid 20's - working out of his garage as a "mechanic" (as his main job). Keeps asking me questions about things. The type of questions shows he has no clue. The best was the mid 70's Chevy truck, not running right, he just replaced the carb with an aftermarket AFB style. I said sure bring it over. I asked about vacuum, what he did, what he checked, etc. Basically just replace the carb and expect it to run right. I look at it and said I see you also replaced plugs and wires, are you sure they are correct? He said he didn't replace them, the owner did. I said he needed to check firing order, he didn't know what it was, so I told him 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2. He looks at me surprised. I then said he needs to check the points too. He asked "what are they"? sigh, after a brief description and showing him the "window" on the side of the distributor I wished him well. Oh yea, he also has no manuals or access to them. Doesn't own a scanner, etc. Wow, this is a "mechanic".....

The worst part of that, I've not used my dwell meters in 5 years or so (last was my 57 plym). I dug them out and on 2 of them the wires were all bad - the insulation was brittle and falling off them. Luckily the MAC engine analyzer had better wires and all were still just fine. Sorry, didn't offer them to him, This is the same guy who used a torch to try and remove a stuck lug nut from a jeep with an aluminum rim.

That's funnnnny!

 

[Shiner]

I totally agree, you gotta start somewhere! I did, everyone did! The thing that irks me is just what you stated - he doesn't have common sense, and refuses to tool up and knowledge up to be good. It was MANY YEARS before I ever took one class on auto anything. But I read, read, and read. I understood how things worked. I bought tools, etc. I bought cars just to take them apart (not fix). Mom was amazed when I finally brought a car home that ran!

When my boys were growing up and they wanted help fixing something I'd ask them....Do you know how it is supposed to work? If not, you can't fix it! Then I'd explain how it was supposed to work (or let them figure it out) and then work them through a troubleshooting process to figure out what to do.

When they were in Jr High/highschool, we renovated a shed for them to use however they wanted. I taught them drywall, wiring, flooring, painting, etc.

When my son's work was being renovated he was layed off for a few weeks. He went to a camp to hang out with a friend. He told me he got to do some drywall patching cause no one else knew how to do it. Made me proud of him!

I did the same with my son. Best thing to do. Kinda like teaching a man to fish instead of giving him the fish. Many thumbs up!

 

[Shiner]

Sadly, yesterday the transmission went south on the Ranger. Just what is needed with all the snow lately. Oh well, it has forced me to get back on schedule as far as maintenance. Seems that I had neglected to put plugs in it awhile back. 104k and they show it. Many things happened/manifested themselves, very close together. I knew my mileage was going down, but I let it idle a lot to keep man's best friend comfy. Also found coil was majorly cracked, as they like to do. Will remove and rebuild trans next week. Yeah fun. Wouldn't mind it but these snow storms are wearing on the mind. Equipment starting to show displeasure too. Starter went out on plow truck. Truck buried in snow. Open station tractor is plow vehicle for now. Not too bad unless -10 and windy. Anyway, when I bought the ranger in 2009, I had a 1994 with close to 300k on the clock. I said to my buddy if this new one makes it to 200k it would be something. The new one is not nearly as robust. Well, me thinks I got a clue with the trans letting loose. I originally wanted a manual and got this one by mistake. The 94 only needed the usual external stuff. It had never been apart or had any trans work except for fluid and filter changes. Rant done.

 

[JR]

Are they still using a standard 30k mile plug on the Hemis or did they finally change to an Iridium or something similar?

 

[Ozymandias]

I just had a horrible flashback of a certain 2.3L Ford engine...

And....Anyone ever change the plugs on a 5.7 Hemi?
That's alot of plugs.

The Hemi is the easy one, all plugs on top - go for a 4.7 Mopar, thats a lot of fun with the second row from underneath into the head.
I think there are people around they just dont know their whole life long that this engine has 16 plugs.

 

[Ozymandias]

Are they still using a standard 30k mile plug on the Hemis or did they finally change to an Iridium or something similar?

I think mine is 90K intervall, but i changed them anyway after the half time, my dealer told me to better do so, it seems they bake into the cyl. head after 90K and ar hard to change then.

 

[jgillott]

On the 4.7L, one row is standard, the other is Iridium. I replaced all of them with Iridium when I did the 1st plug change.

 

[JR]

I think mine is 90K intervall, but i changed them anyway after the half time, my dealer told me to better do so, it seems they bake into the cyl. head after 90K and ar hard to change then.

Yes I think this is the main problem with the Ford 4.6 and 5.4, by the time people hit the 90-100k interval they are welded in place. I do mine at 50k.

 

[Shiner]

Yes I think this is the main problem with the Ford 4.6 and 5.4, by the time people hit the 90-100k interval they are welded in place. I do mine at 50k.

How about the "lifetime" air filters they used in the focus?

 

[Dan_69GTX]

Back in the 80's I had a 83 Nissan Stanza 4 cyl and it had 8 plugs. Was interesting trying to figure out why it would miss sometimes. Ended up being the ign module. One bank always fired, the other was supposed to cut out under certain conditions. Found out that both did - hmmmm.

 

[TFucili]

Back in the 80's I had a 83 Nissan Stanza 4 cyl and it had 8 plugs. Was interesting trying to figure out why it would miss sometimes. Ended up being the ign module. One bank always fired, the other was supposed to cut out under certain conditions. Found out that both did - hmmmm.

I didn't know Nissan used Lucas ignition...

 

[mwilson]

I didn't know Nissan used Lucas ignition...

Lucas systems........electricity going anywhere but where it is supposed to.....

 

[Dan_69GTX]

Lucas ignitions worked fine until the wire insulation cracks. Then the smoke escapes and it stops working.

 

[Wayne M.]

I didn't know Nissan used Lucas ignition...

Lucas. The prince of darkness.

 

[Dan_69GTX]

Lucas. The prince of darkness.

I thought that was Darth Vader.

 

[TFucili]

I thought that was Darth Vader.

Ozzy Osbourne

 

[JR]

Ozzy Osbourne

Ozy should have been the spokesman for the D.A.R.E. program. After listening to him babble incoherently for 5 minutes not a kid in that classroom would be "curious" anymore

 

[mwilson]

Ozy should have been the spokesman for the D.A.R.E. program. After listening to him babble incoherently for 5 minutes not a kid in that classroom would be "curious" anymore

All I can ever hear when he talks is babbling with an occasional "Sharon" thrown in the mix......