first I went to a dealer and they said about $1400.00 for a tune up. so naturally I am thinking about doing it myself but want to know how hard it is to put in new spark plugs, distributer and rotor kit, and new wires. plus how much stuff do I have to disconnect please reply.

black 97 camaro z28 convertible

 

Its not very easy unless you know what you are doing these cars are not that easy to work on. That price sounds about right i just got my
Distributor-opti-spark=$700 , plugs=$100, wires=$140 plus shop expenseces and labor. THese prices are in canadain too so whatever that is in american.
The total was like $1250 candadain funds

 

what makes it hard is there is no access to the parts. Like the plugs and wires, with the stock manifolds it's a nightmare, you might actually have to drop the ypipe down for access.

THe opti, you have to take off the air pump, fans, water pump (pretty sure), one of the pulleys, it just gets involved and time consuming.

That said, I have done it myself, but it takes patience and i have an extra vehicle. If i were u, go to the auto store and look through one of those haynes or chiltons manuals and read up on the work and see if your up to it.

Brian

 

Do you need to change out the opti? If it's not broke don't fix it!!!! I did my plugs and wires myself...you gotta have skinny arms for some places and invest in a decent set of tools: socket set, swivels etc. It's not that hard. DO a search on this board and there are some very useful install guides. Good luck....and have fun!!!!

 

With the frequency that the opti sparks fail and with the problems they can cause when they do fail, if he is going to undertake a task such as changing the plugs and wires it would be stupid not to change the opti spark along with them. That is by far the easiest of the three things to do, and it will be a step in making the car run as well as it can. Change the opti no doubt, and i would recommend changing the water pump since you have to take it off as well. They have the tendency to leak when taken off and put back on with high miles and the same gaskets. A remanned one is cheap enough and will save you time when it does start to leak 1000 miles later or so if you reuse the original one.

 

I did my own within a week of buying my car. I am a new driver and used to know nothing about cars. It took me a few days to do the plugs and wires. My dad helped me a little bit. I learned a lot. I just did one at a time so i didnt have any time when the car wasnt working and then i did one side of wires at a time. I had access to good tools from my uncle and i ahve skinny arms. It wasn't too hard. If i did it again, i bet it would take an hour for me.

 

DO IT YOURSELF!!! .......take the time and do it yourself, it'll save you huge cash, and then you can also..."get in touch with your car" it really isn't that difficult, just time consuming. for a new opti, plugs, and wires....you're only looking at maybe what, 400bucks? so, get that stuff, as well, an electric water pump(200$), and you're still saving 800$!!!
.......do it yourself!
just my 2 pennies

 

I'm going to tackle the job of tuning my car up today. I'm going to pray that it all goes smooth.

 

Do yourself a favor and do it yourself chief. You will learn a WHOLE LOT about your car. The worst that can happen is that you get stuck on it and have to come here for instructions. Just remember when doing the optispark that you dont FORCE it on.

 

I second that, you really should do it yourself. it seems like a waste to pay that much for it. If times an issue. do a few spark plugs a daystarting with the drivers side, then do the passenger side (You may have some trouble with the front and rear ones on the passanger side, it helps to clinb into your hood and put your knees on the radiator shroud and lay on top of the engine make sure its cold of course). There really isnt much you could screw up and you could always come here like he said. You can talk to me on aim or icq if you need any specific help.

 

you aint a true owner untill you have changed the plugs and wires yourself itll give you a much better appreciation for the car

took me 11 hours the first time to change my plugs alone, since then my mechanic friend developed about 3 new tools specifacally labeled Z28 tools in case he ever needs to change the plugs on a camaro again



go for it

 

Definitely, due to restrictions on my cash flow I've done my own work. I've found it to be rewarding, and very cost effective. I also make sure it gets done right. I let some shop work on my car, they changed out the e-brake cable and cracked my dash while doing so. They didn't even say anything about it, I saw it on my ride home though.

I have not let anyone touch my car since. Replacing the opti is easy as pie, its just a matter of taking the time to do it.

I also wouldn't consider replacing the opti in a tune up unless you want to replace it since it is an expensive part. Dal has it for $220.

I am replacing my plugs, wires, fuel filter, waterpump, radiator hoses, thermostat, opti, and doing a transmission cooler. I'm ordering the parts tommarow, monday. I already have some of em'.

Working on your car is fun and easy! Hooray!

- Z28WannaB

 

Make things easier and get some headers too. Changing plugs is only about a 30 minute job for me. Plugs and wires would take no more than maybe an hour. Pics of my setup in my sig. Also, dont change the opti unless you have to.

 

A dealer here quoted me 900 bucks to do a tune up, and that didn't include the opti...

It was a total rip off.

I don't know how to change the plugs, I don't have the tools such as gappers etc. I also dont' know how to take the spark plug out of the wire that screws in.

 

a spark plug gapper is 99 cents from autozone...last time i bought a set of plugs there htey actually gave me one for free.

Do yourself a favor and get headers...if you get shorties it's still a pain (with my hooker shorties it still takes me like 3 horus to do a pluge and wire swap...luckily i won't be doing one again for at least 50k miles i hope). Even without headers - it's a time consuming job but it can be done. It doesn't necessarily require skill or knowledge - you're just unscrewing plugs and screwing in new ones and plugging in new wires. It's just a little frustrating and time consuming since ther eis almost no room. You will probably find you need some good extensions and swivel attachemtsn etc. to complete the job. But ask yourself is around 8 horus of labor plus maybe $20 in tools worth saving $1,400? The answer is yes in my book.

EDIT: Oh yes, and don't replace the opti unless after you do plugs and wires you are still having ignition woes. If it ain't broke don't fix it.