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08:03:31 - 04/25/2024
V6 Dakotas
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TuckerLudlow
Dodge Dakota
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7/05/2004
00:05:13
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 Subject: &^%$!!!!! Number 5!
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Finally took the time to swap out the factory plugs in my 02' Club Cab with right at 36K on it. What should have been a 15 minute job wound up taking me all freaking afternoon, because I could NOT get to #5, and ALL of them puppies must have been put in by a gorilla at the factory. Actually, I had the first 5 done in about a half hour, even though they were all difficult to remove. It was #5 that was the bitch!
3 of the 6 wound up with broken insulators coming out, and #5 (also broken) was the last one. Man, there isn't a heckuva lot of room to get to #5! I wound up having to go to four different places (K-Mart, Auto Zone, Advance, and finally Sears) to get a one inch extension for a 3/8 rachet just so I could get in there, and still had to put a short piece of pipe over the wrench handle to get enough leverage to break it loose - and THAT was after letting WD40 work on the plug for 15 minutes. (You know, I used to have a one inch extension, and more than one rachet set - until my son got married and moved out. Wonder what happened to them, you reckon? Surely you boys wouldn't THINK of snatching your dad's tools, would you?)
Pulling it out, it slipped off the rachet and clanked down in there somewhere - and I couldn't find it. Found the remains of the broken plug on the ground, but couldn't find the socket and extension. Finally had to jack the thing up, slide under the truck, and feel around. Finally found it on TOP of the tranny. Talk about weird bounces!
And Oh! Yeah! I know that it's dangerous to have one just sitting on a bottle jack, but I loaned my jackstands to my gook neighbor six months ago so he could work on his junk Datsun - and from where I was lying on the ground I could see MY jackstands still holding up HIS junk. With him gone for the 4th, too. Probably couldn't have got them back, anyway - he doesn't speak "EEEEGLIS", and I don't speaky-sing-song.
Then, for a finale, my danged plug socket got stuck in #5 after I got the plug replaced and I couldn't get it loose - again, because there is no room to get in there. Finally, in utter and complete frustration, I pulled the heat shield thingey off (don't know what you call it, but it's the little pipe-looking thing that covers the the plug boot, and which it goes down into), yanked the socket out with a pair of slip joints and then threw it as far as my 58-year old arm could throw it. Then later - to my embarassment - a neighbor kid about ten years old had seen me sail that sucker, tracked it's flight, and brought the #!@@#!!!! thing back!
I put the boot on the plug, put the heat shield thingey in the glove box, QUIT and got me nice, big, icey Jack and Sundrop.
Oddly enough, the old plugs (Champions) either had been gapped at about .045, or they'd burnt off that much. I gapped the new ones at .045 since I've seen several of you gapping them at that, and the truck seems to idle a heckuva lot better, and at a lower RPM than it previously did. Don't know yet what kind of mpg increase I'll see, but it's bound to be some, because the trip computer is reading 16.9 right now, and it usually is around 15-16 around town. I haven't been but about 10 miles since I put them in. I'll be doing a road trip this week of about 200 miles, so I'll see then what kind of increase I get, if any.
Sorry for rambling - the real intent of this post was to see if any of you guys have come up with an easy(er) way to get to #5? I don't guess it'll hurt anything to temporarily leave that heat shield thingey off (I plan on putting it back - just not today)? It DOES just press in there, doesn't it? Does DCX have a special tool or something for getting in to that particular plug? Do any of you have any special tricks for getting in there?
Boy! I just can't wait for my wires and cap and rotor to get in, so I can get my MSD6a project going. (If you believe that, I got this beachfront property in Arizona I want to talk to you about. After today's experience, I may just PAY somebody to take that project on!)
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hmmm
Dodge Dakota
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7/05/2004
02:38:06
|  RE: &^%$!!!!! Number 5!
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Sounds familiar. I didn't have trouble getting at the plugs but they were tighter than a ducks arsehole. I too broke off 2 insulators and shed some skin on my hands.
BTW, same for the oil factory oil filter. Why so friggin tight, DC?
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GB2000
GenIII
7/05/2004
03:27:59
| RE: &^%$!!!!! Number 5!
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I didn't break off any insulators, but I dang near had to get stitches in the palm of my hand from my plug breaking free and sending my hand across a nice sharp zip tie... a ZIP TIE of all things is what injured me the most!!!
Anyway...the easiest way to get to the plugs is get a U-joint for the socket set. It doesn't work real well on the #5 plug but it helps some if you hold it right.
I feel your pain though...I decided to change my plugs a couple weeks ago and while doing it I wanted to remove all my heat shields. All my shields came out fine except cylinder #2...that puppy was totally rusted to the engine. After about 4 hours of grinding, pounding, prying, bending, and anything else you could think of, I got it all the way out...in about 20 pieces. Pain in the ass!
Josh
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Ozric
Dodge Dakota
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7/05/2004
14:38:52
| RE: &^%$!!!!! Number 5!
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I changed my pluges out about 2 weeks ago. I dont remember it being too much trouble. I did 1,3,5 then 2,4,6. I remember 6 being the bad one, but just maybe I was over it by then. The heat shield on my odd side exhaust manifold is gone so maybe that helped a bit.
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daknblk
GenIII
7/05/2004
22:21:46
| RE: &^%$!!!!! Number 5!
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Boy, now I'm REALLY looking forward to changing mine...lol!
John
03cc w/ 3.9 V6
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Chris
Dodge Dakota
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7/06/2004
02:52:43
| RE: &^%$!!!!! Number 5!
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If you run the truck for a min or to i find it will not be as tight you can try that and see if it works for you.
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IntenseDak39
*GenIII*
7/06/2004
08:46:41
| RE: &^%$!!!!! Number 5!
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if you think that '02 is bad, you should try a '97 or '98 Dakota V6... they have a larger diameter brake booster and you have less room to deal with. What i would do is put the socket on the sparkplug and then attach the ratchet while the socket was already set.
While you have the sparkplug out, try to pull out the heat sheild. That will make for easier future sparkplug changes.
"a ZIP TIE of all things is what injured me the most!!!"
Josh, you should see the scar i have on my wrist. It's still not completely healed but i have a 3" long scar going across my wrist that looks like i tried to kill myself. I was tightening a lower shock bolt with my air ratchet and when it tightened up, it pulled my hand and slid my wrist over the lower control arm cotter pin...
stupid cotter pin.
6.6 Lt. Big Block, 727 TF shift kit, 452 heads, edelbrock 750 cfm, .513/.513 284/300 crower cam, comp cams springs, comp cams pushrods, 1.5 roller rockers, dp intake, mopar ignition, mopar windage tray, dual exhaust w/ 40 series flowmasters, 4.10 gears, coilover drag suspension, approx, 3500 lbs
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GB2000
GenIII
7/06/2004
19:59:35
| RE: &^%$!!!!! Number 5!
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Ouch...
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another mark
Dodge Dakota
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7/06/2004
20:48:05
| RE: &^%$!!!!! Number 5!
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i can picture that, ouch !
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TuckerLudlow
Dodge Dakota
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7/06/2004
22:24:27
| RE: &^%$!!!!! Number 5!
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Ozric - for # 6, I took the air hat and the air tube off from the airbox. Otherwise, it would have probably been just as much trouble as #5. That danged brake booster hanging over #5 won't come off, though - looked to me like it was riveted to the firewall.
Intense - what you describe is exactly what I had to do. I had to put the 1" extension on the plug socket, drop them both in, and then fit the rachet to the extension. Otherwise, there wasn't enough room to get the wrench in there. Shoulda seen me trying to get WD40 in it! I used a drink straw stuck down in there, with the WD40 being directed into the straw. I DID take the heat shield off of #5, but they're all still in place elsewhere. They're there for a purpose, so I'll probably put it back in - eventually.
For all of you with busted knuckles - ask the guy in the meat market at your local grocery store if he can get you a "boning glove". I had a butcher buddy (dead now) that gave me one years ago, and it comes in real handy in saving skin. Your knuckles will still be sore, but most of the skin will be there. You'll still get a nick or two, but they're small compared to what CAN happen. It's a steel mesh glove that butcher's use to keep from cutting their fingers bad when they're taking the bones out of meat. I don't have any idea what they cost.
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IntenseDak39
*GenIII*
7/06/2004
23:29:24
| RE: &^%$!!!!! Number 5!
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yeah those gloves would help a lot!! I had to use them when i was working in the market.
The booster for the 97-98 is a pita to get off. It's got a bracket inbetween the fire wall and booster and you have to remove it seperately. But you dont need to remove that bracket from the booster just to get the booster out of there. First just unbolt the booster from the firewall from under your dash (15mm socket, long extension, angle joint)... then remove the two bolts holding the master cylinder one (13mm)... unplug the vacuum hoses and shes ready to remove.
The '99+ boosters dont have that bracket and just have long studs coming out of it and a brace.
6.6 Lt. Big Block, 727 TF shift kit, 452 heads, edelbrock 750 cfm, .513/.513 284/300 crower cam, comp cams springs, comp cams pushrods, 1.5 roller rockers, dp intake, mopar ignition, mopar windage tray, dual exhaust w/ 40 series flowmasters, 4.10 gears, coilover drag suspension, approx, 3500 lbs
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