Its A Bitch And A Half, But I Changed Mine, I Used A 3/8 Drive With 2 10" Extensions(1 Wobble). Be Careful Though, I Had To Place A Board Across The Engine Bay And Get On Top Of It In Order To Reach(be Careful Not To Stay In One Position Long Enough To Cause Your Feet To Fall Asleep To The Point Where Someone Has To Help You Out The Engine Bay), Then I Cracked One Plug Trying To Get It In, Then I Lost My Spark Plug Socket... It Fell Off Just After I Tightened The New Plug, Never Did Find It, Not On Top The Tranny, Not Under The Intake Manifold. I Believe It Ell Thru A Worm Hole Into Another Dimension. I Have Very Thin Hands/arms With Thin Bones And Can Fit My Hands Nearly Anywhere In That Engine Bay. The Socket Is Nowhere To Be Found.

Its Possible, And Difficult

 

i changed them myself and it was a pain, i dont know if i will do it when the time comes agine

 

i changed them myself and it was a pain, i dont know if i will do it when the time comes agine

JUST LET ME KNOW AND ILL HELP... I LOVE A CHALLENGE

 

I changed mine too. It was a bitch, but I did it.

Here is a link I used --http://www.nissanoffroad.net/how_to/plugs/plug.asp

On #6 most of the work was done by feel alone. I have small hands.

 

OK - I have pics of the elusive #6...taken of the rear of the engine, w/o that pesky firewall in the way.

(I was doing an engine swap in the driveway...and it occurred to me that it might be the ONLY time I had a clear view of that plug from hell...)

If you are trying to get your bearings back there...the rear two boot guide pins, on top of the engine, make a line that is perfectly aligned with the plug below.

 

Why were you doing an engine swap? Did you put in a bigger/better one?

 

Regarding the original post:

The shop I take my wife's Honda to has done some Nissan work. The owner told me they use a 10" extension with three u-joints in it. I didn't ask if it was custom or a Nissan shop tool. He said the techs hate changing them, but they hate the ass-chewing they get if they ignore the #6 even more...

Woody

 

I had to use 4 3/8"' 3" extensions and 2 u- joints. still had a hard time getting it out and the new one in. lost my spark plug socket. The other five plugs took me 20 minutes. that one took an hour and a half. next time i'll probably get somebody els e to do it.

 

6th plug pics

Excellent pics. I think we've all experienced the plug from hell.:biggrin:

 

thanks for the pics TJTJ

 

Why were you doing an engine swap? Did you put in a bigger/better one?

Don't you remember one of his posts from earlier this year? He did the USS Squalus routine with his X.

 

Yeah, I just changed the plugs in mine and it took me about 15-20 mins to remove and replace that plug alone. It sucked.

 

I changed mine last summer - using the guidance someone posted here - was a lifesaver to reco the knuckle to get in there. Another trick that may be helpful - use electrical tape to hold the plug in the socket if you dont have a rubber insert to hold it in. Don't use too much - just enough to hold it in the socket until threaded.

If it slips out - fish it out with a magnet extension.. after 30 minutes of pissin and moaning cuz I couldn't get my hands in there to find the plug that fell out of the socket -I figured this out...

learning the hard way...

 

Jesus, what a screwy (ha ha) place to put a spark plug! And to think I used to complain about replacing the plugs on my old 'Yota 3.0L.....:aufkopfhauen-big:

 

ok, so whats the general consensus? pay someone to do this or do it yourself and enjoy the pain and pissed-off-ness of it?

 

I'd say unless you're doing it yourself you'll never know if it got changed...unless maybe you watch but that usually costs more.

 

yeah doing it yourself is an all day project of laying on top of the engine, you wake up the next morning with sore ribs and sore everything else, but hey, its your X gotta put a little sweat and blood into her

 

I changed all the plugs on my supercharged 3.3.l engine and it took me 35 minutes to do all six plugs. I honestly dont understand why someone with a decent set of tools cannot accomplish this. I used two extensions and a universal joint at the end of the extensions. I was dreading the day i changed my plugs and then when i did it i could not believe how easy it was. DO IT ITS NOT HARD

 

Changing the plugs on the S/C engine is different than the N/A motor due to having to pull the S/C to get to the plugs.

With the regular manifold on it, it's harder.

I've had people come to me and pay me to change the #6 plug out. I've also had one guy come in with the engine misfiring, and I had to remove the cross threaded plug, rethread the hole (without removing the head!) and stick a new plug back in there.

Some folks don't have it. Some do. It's nothing to be ashamed of if someone doesn't know how or physically can't do it. I'm not a good cook, but my wife doesn't belittle me if I try. Some can only change their own oil, I can still cook toast like none other!

If someone can't do it, pay someone, but don't ignore it.

 

mine was a pain too......but with enough patience it can be done. I needed extensions and a mirror i stole from the wife's collection of bathroom things.

I think it wouldn't have been so bad had there not been sand BAKED around the plug!!!

the socket wouldn't even go on and i thought it was never gonna come out!
chiseled at it with a tiny screwdriver for 20 minutes though and cleaned it out with compressed air.

makes me wonder what the owner before me got that por thing into!

 

Changing the plugs on the S/C engine is different than the N/A motor due to having to pull the S/C to get to the plugs.

With the regular manifold on it, it's harder.

I've had people come to me and pay me to change the #6 plug out. I've also had one guy come in with the engine misfiring, and I had to remove the cross threaded plug, rethread the hole (without removing the head!) and stick a new plug back in there.

Some folks don't have it. Some do. It's nothing to be ashamed of if someone doesn't know how or physically can't do it. I'm not a good cook, but my wife doesn't belittle me if I try. Some can only change their own oil, I can still cook toast like none other!

If someone can't do it, pay someone, but don't ignore it.

You dont have to remove the S/c to change the plugs. that would be ridiculous

 

How'd you get to #4 plug? Hell, #2 is hard enough.

It takes all of 10 minutes to pull the S/C off.

Unless you're a magician, fess up.

 

How'd you get to #4 plug? Hell, #2 is hard enough.

It takes all of 10 minutes to pull the S/C off.

Unless you're a magician, fess up.

Ill be doing my plugs again in about two weeks(there on there way from courtesy) If you want i will take pictures of everystep of the way that way you can guys use the exact tools i use and do it with ease. I will also see if i can video record the process as well

 

When you do, pm me and start a new thread. I might make it a sticky as well. Those with the S/C engine will love it!

 

No problem! It really isnt hard i swear, i was so mad that i was worrying about doing it after reading horror stories about it.