inagadadavida

It took me two hours but I got it done. I followed the TSB instructions. I did it with a cold engine and let the carb cleaner sit for 30 minutes. The spark plugs closest to the front of the car came out the easiest. I barely had to use the ratchet to get those out. I was thinking it was going to be easy until I removed the first one and saw what it looked like. The most stubborn one was on the driver’s side closest to the firewall. The car is a 2005 and it's been stock all its life. I have 26,000 miles on it. Honestly, I was expecting them to be cleaner than this. If gas has anything to do with the carbon build up, I might have toswitch brands. 76 ran fine in my other cars, but I'll start using Shell and inspect the plugs since I'll be pulling them every so often to add more anti seize. California gas has Ethanol in it. Maybe that is causing the problem. Whatever the case, I got them out without breaking one so I'm happy.

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harraid5711

your plugs look like mine and everyone else's who've removed them. seems to be normal. good job on a the removal. getting that first plug to break loose is a scary moment isn't it??

washburn085

Some of mine looked worse at 10k. Mine came out no problem. I just cleaned them and replaced them, and I swear my car runs smoother. Either that, or it was the switch to synthetic that day...

inagadadavida

It was very scary. I was waiting to hear a crack or snap noise but that never happen. There was a lot of resistance and some squealing. Now they are all clean and the car is back up and running. I have to thank the people on this forum because I would have never known about this otherwise.

hammeron

glad it went well iron butterfly...

you stick around long enough here and
you'll learn things about the s197, that
you would never know otherwise

Gene K

Pull the pcv line that goes from the drivers side valve cover to the intake plenum behind the throttle body.
stick a piece of cloth in it and see what comes out. Whenever the engine is under high vacuum during engine braking it pulls oil through this line into the intake. Thats where your carbon is coming from.

Thurman

2 hrs?? Am I missing something?

inagadadavida

No. I just took my time. It took one hour to get them out, including the time to let the carb cleaner soak in. I spent another hour getting them cleaned up and put back in with the anti seize.

inagadadavida

I do alot of engine braking so that would explain it. I'll change my driving style and see if that helps. Thanks.

SANANTONIO06GT

The ones spending less time doing the preventive maintenance, are the ones spending more time doing the corrective maintenance. Good job on the work!!!!