what a fawkn bitch this was. Me and 2 other friends were out today trying to change the #8 plug b/c ive kept on putting it off, and i thought id finally give it a try. And damn, is this thing a bitch. I cant even get the damn wire off! im sure once i got the wire off it would be easy, but i cant get the damn thing off! And theres barely any room to try to get it off. So i guess tommorow im going to go back out there and give it a try again, anyone have an suggestions?

 

lol.... told you!

 

Thought you might be talking about #8 when I saw the title of your post. You can get it from the top, and no, even though I'm in Jax I refuse to help!

 

I guess it's time you do headers . Once all the old exhaust is out of the way, #8 is REAL easy!!! (and re-installing is much easier too! )

...seriously though, #8 wasn't that bad, IMO, even compared to #6?! I think, if memory serves me correct, that using your LEFT arm works best, and don't try to SEE what you're doing ... just go by FEEL . Oh, and try to have some patience! That's my weakness, but even I (somehow) managed to find some.

Edit: I didn't specify, but do #8 from UNDER the car!!

 

It takes me longer to change #1 with the powersteering and other crap in the way than it does to change #8 from under the car.

 

#8 was fairly easy. Much easier than #6. However, I got all the sparkplugs AND wires changed within maybe two hours.. and it was my first time working on an LS1. I didn't remove anything (IE: air injection ****, etc. still all intact)

Driver side went very smoothly. Passenger side took all the time. The main thing is leverage. If you can use a bigger wrench or ratchet.. DO IT. Breaking the spark plugs loose was the hardest part. Everything else was easy. On #8 I had to use a small ratchet, but I got a wrench and put the ratchet handle through the round end of the wrench, and used it to extend the handle. The extra leverage REALLY helps out.

 

I don't know how anyone got #8 from ontop of the car, but it's 100X easier if you get it from under the car, way more space if you use a small rachet to clear the catalytic converter...

Btw I feel your pain, both my arms looked like I purposely jammed them through a meat grinder in a sudden burst of rage when I was done with my tuneup...

I pray you replaced the wires too because if you didn't, that means you're going to be back doing it all over again...

Honestly I had way more trouble with #6 and #4 than I did with #8 because #6 you can't see and #4 puts the fender in the way, not much room to pull the wire off or rachet...

 

Are you trying to do this from the top? Much easier from under the car.

 

^ under the car w/ headers is wide open. IF you are so inclined to do it up top, take the coil packs off... And/or EGR/AIR.. Might be a bit of troble to get the AIR/EGR out. Might not be worth that if you can get under it.

 

I did mine from the top b/c I don't have headers. What I did was move the coils out of the way & used 2 swivels on the ratchet.

 

I agree, Ive changed my plugs 3 times and #8 is always easier from underneath to me... But then again a have very small hands, which for the record has nothing to do with the size of other parts of my body

 

I had the exhaust logo stamped in my arm for 2 days after and it hurt like hell. I then found doing 1 at a time and taking a brief break was better than letting my hands cramp up.

 

I keep posting this everytime I read a sparkplug thread. This helps alot.
cut a peace of 3/8 diam hose. something that slips over the end of the sparkplug and grips it. Should be about 2-3" long. Use this when you are putting the new plugs back in. It works as an extension on the plug but because it has some play to it easier to thread the plug in and to tell if you are starting to cross thread or not.