I am about to swap spark plugs and coils and have heard from numerous sources that bumper removal is not neccisary. Does anybody here have any input or a DIY link for this?

 

I too would like to know if there is an easier way of doing this without taking off the bumper

 

I watched my shop do mine few years back and if I remember correctly he just loosened two bolts the motors mounts & drop d engine few inch's, of course he supported the engine while doing this on a car lift. He never touched the bumper.

 

if you have an aftermarket exhaust, all you have to do is remove that and the rest just requires a few u joints a 3" extension, an L-shaped allen wrench and a torque wrench. Took me about 3 hours my first go. If the exhaust is factory, the bumper will have to come off, I believe.

 

at a lift with lowered engine it is no problem to swap plugs without removing the rear bumper

you only have to remove the two heatshilds left and right and the cover over the coils left and right...

insert the new spark plugs carfully. ..you dont like to do it twice

without a lift it is another game

 

Winfried is correct, but I will add that I do not lower the motor or remove the exhaust to do it with a lift. Everything remains in tact, I just remove the heat shields and go...less than 1 hour and I'm done!

 

John,
Can you share some pics of how you do it please?
Thanks

 

I would, but I don't have any. I will say this, if you have the car on a lift, just look at it and it's right there - it's really very simple, I am not sure why shops are removing IC's and bumpers, if they are...I suspect a lot of shops may charge the "book" time, then do it my way and make a ton of money off the plug change.

 

Thanks alot for all the info. I do not have access to a lift, but I am gonna give it a try on jack stands.

 

Thank you much John.

 

You're both welcome!

I think it can be done on jack stands. As long as you can get your body and head under there and are able to look up, you should be fine. Use a good light and I think it will go quickly...Personally, I don't like being under a car with jack stands, even though you know it will never fall :-)

 

It can be done on stands. It's how I do it here when needed(I don't use lifts). You need the car up in the air about 18" and you're golden. A stubby 3/8" swivel head ratchet and some misc 1"-3" extensions make your life alot easier.

honestly I think the most difficult part of this entire job at times is getting the damn electrical connectors to unlock and slide off the coils on some cars. Those things can stick like a **** when grit/dirt get's in there.

 

Yeah, mind over matter! Lift for me... should the earthquake strike when I am under...

 

Okay, so tonight I changed my coil packs and spark plugs. I followed John's technique (minus the lift) and could not get to the f-ing heat shield bolts from under the car. I wasted so much time that I got frustrated and just pulled the bumper and intercoolers did it that way. My car has a modified stock exhaust, so is it possible that this is complicating the procedure? I just see no way to get to the bolts needed with a stock exhaust unless I need some special modified tools to do so.

 

Did it solve the misfire issue?