$350-$400 to change plugs and wires ??? WTF

[ericbla03]

Ok so long story short... my car starts idleing really bad at a stop light out of nowhere an my accelleration started going to shit ! Then my check engine light came on. Barely made it to a shop and after running a diagnostic they said that it was a misfire in cylinder 6 and i needed either new wires or new plugs, probably both. But heres the thing they said they need to take out my entire intake manifold (stock) in order to change the plugs and wires. It was going to take more than 3 hours and cost $350-$400.... is this normal??? If so, anybody got any pointers on how to change the ignition wires and spark plugs. Planning on doing it myself no doubt


BTW, i got a 99 LS V6

[Cali]

it is kinda of a bitch to change the plugs on the v6. the price is a little high i'd shop around a bit more if i were you.

there's a good tutorial floating around on club3g but if you've never even changed your oil yourself i wouldnt recommend trying it.

[pinoyesv6]

this tutorial should sum things up. kinda confusing but you can figure it out

[manybrews]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ericbla03)</div><div class='quotemain'>Ok so long story short... my car starts idleing really bad at a stop light out of nowhere an my accelleration started going to shit ! Â*Then my check engine light came on. Â*Barely made it to a shop and after running a diagnostic they said that it was a misfire in cylinder 6 and i needed either new wires or new plugs, probably both. Â*But heres the thing they said they need to take out my entire intake manifold (stock) in order to change the plugs and wires. Â*It was going to take more than 3 hours and cost $350-$400.... is this normal??? Â*If so, anybody got any pointers on how to change the ignition wires and spark plugs. Â*Planning on doing it myself no doubt Â*


BTW, i got a 99 LS V6</div>

yeah, the plugs/wires take about 2-3 hours to replace (depending on how fast you are).
how many miles on your car? the plugs/wires are recommended every 60K, but usually last about 100k, at which time I ALWAYS do both. its silly to only replace one worn componant when theres that much labor invovled.

[RedGalant2k1]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ericbla03)</div><div class='quotemain'>Ok so long story short... my car starts idleing really bad at a stop light out of nowhere an my accelleration started going to shit ! Â*Then my check engine light came on. Â*Barely made it to a shop and after running a diagnostic they said that it was a misfire in cylinder 6 and i needed either new wires or new plugs, probably both. Â*But heres the thing they said they need to take out my entire intake manifold (stock) in order to change the plugs and wires. Â*It was going to take more than 3 hours and cost $350-$400.... is this normal??? Â*If so, anybody got any pointers on how to change the ignition wires and spark plugs. Â*Planning on doing it myself no doubt Â*


BTW, i got a 99 LS V6</div>

Sure you can remove the intake manifold to replace the three rear spark plugs and wires. But that will probably take a few hours. Manybrews is right, on the V6 it takes several hours to do the job. The ONLY way to get to the spark plugs is remove the intake manifold.

[DryBear]

Price from https://www.mitsubishiparts.com/oe_parts_catalog.html
V6 Cap, $19.45
V6 Rotor, $13.91
V6 Cable Set, $70.76
-----
SubTotal = $104.12

Plugs are about $2.50 each for copper, $3 each for platinum, or $12 each for iridium, so that would be $15, $18, $72 respectively for 6 plugs.

Add in some anti-seize grease, di-electric grease, and a spark plug socket for about $10 or so.

All in all if you went for regular or platinum plugs, that would run you around $150 with shipping and taxes if you did it yourself.

It really isnt that hard to change the plugs, but you just need to pay attention to all the little details. Taking off the plenium is not really hard; once you know where all the bolts, brackets and hose connectors are located it gets a lot easier. I can take off the plenium now in about 20 minutes down from an hour as I've had to check my plugs so often.

The cap and rotor isn't hard to do either, but its just a pain getting to it as you have to remove the intake (not much of a problem if you have a WAI/CAI) and removing the battery also gives a bit more room.

[ericbla03]

OK now im pissed. Me and my friend spent all day changing the plugs, wires, distributor cap and rotor....... and after we got everything put back together im having the exact same problems :evil: ...... after i start my car it idles really low (about 500 rpm) and shakes really bad like its about to stall, and theres lots of white smoke coming from the exhaust that smells like gasoline. My friend things that it could be the O2 sensors, or a leak in the intake manifold..... anybody know whats wrong.... PLEASE

[RedGalant2k1]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ericbla03)</div><div class='quotemain'>OK now im pissed. Â*Me and my friend spent all day changing the plugs, wires, distributor cap and rotor....... and after we got everything put back together im having the exact same problems Â*:evil: ...... after i start my car it idles really low (about 500 rpm) and shakes really bad like its about to stall, and theres lots of white smoke coming from the exhaust that smells like gasoline. Â*My friend things that it could be the O2 sensors, or a leak in the intake manifold..... anybody know whats wrong.... PLEASE</div>

did you replace the manifold gasket when you did this service or not? If not you should have.

Do you have a SES light on?

[4-G-rim]

If you are smelling gas from your exhaust you are most likely running rich. This could result in:

-Faulty O2 sensors
-Faulty MAF sensor
-Maybe ECU related

Since I am assuming you are not running any type of A/F controller like a SAFC your ECU is dumping alot of fuel which could result in very poor idling (Flooding the cylinders).

WHen you pulled your plugs...did you smell them? If they smell like fuel thats a pretty good sign too.

[ericbla03]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(RedGalant2k1)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ericbla03)</div><div class='quotemain'>OK now im pissed. Â*Me and my friend spent all day changing the plugs, wires, distributor cap and rotor....... and after we got everything put back together im having the exact same problems Â*:evil: ...... after i start my car it idles really low (about 500 rpm) and shakes really bad like its about to stall, and theres lots of white smoke coming from the exhaust that smells like gasoline. Â*My friend things that it could be the O2 sensors, or a leak in the intake manifold..... anybody know whats wrong.... PLEASE</div>

did you replace the manifold gasket when you did this service or not? If not you should have.

Do you have a SES light on?</div>

Yes the check engine light has been on since the original problem (diagnosed as a misfire in cylinder six).

We didnt replace the manifold gasket because he said it didnt look like it needed to be replaced, but can a bad gasket really be cuasing such severe and sudden problems? Like it seriously happened out of nowhere while i was driving, its not like its been getting gradually worse overtime. It was sudden.

How do you check if the sensors are bad and how do much does it cost to replace O2 sensors and MAF sensors?

[Cali]

the gasket isnt causing your problem. did you change the wires? if so, are you sure you plugged them back in the proper sequence?

[ericbla03]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Cali)</div><div class='quotemain'>the gasket isnt causing your problem. did you change the wires? if so, are you sure you plugged them back in the proper sequence?</div>

Yea, i changed the wires. I didnt try to reconfigure the plugs. I dont think thats what it is cause my car is having the exact same symptoms as it was before i changed the plugs/wires... (which obviously were in the right position before my car starting acting up). See what im saying. I will definately try it out tomorrow though.

[RedGalant2k1]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ericbla03)</div><div class='quotemain'>
Yes the check engine light has been on since the original problem (diagnosed as a misfire in cylinder six).

We didnt replace the manifold gasket because he said it didnt look like it needed to be replaced, but can a bad gasket really be cuasing such severe and sudden problems? Â*Like it seriously happened out of nowhere while i was driving, its not like its been getting gradually worse overtime. Â*It was sudden.

How do you check if the sensors are bad and how do much does it cost to replace O2 sensors and MAF sensors?</div>

Not that the gasket was bad, but a good opportunity to replace it since it would be out anyways. But yes a gasket failing can seem like it causes a issue all of a sudden, but truthfully thats because of missed signs.

Do you regularly add coolant? Is there any kind of fluid leakage??

[ericbla03]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>Do you regularly add coolant? Is there any kind of fluid leakage??</div>

i had plenty of coolant.

[SkylineG1]

Check pm

[4-G-rim]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>Yes the check engine light has been on since the original problem (diagnosed as a misfire in cylinder six). </div>

Hmmm...it could be a bad coil for this cylinder. Get a spark tester...they usually cost no more than 20$. Hook it up to the cylinder #6 spark wire plug and crank it over. If you don't get a spark then it could be a bad coil.

I would also pull out cylinder# 6 plug and smell it...if it smells like fuel, then you are definitely not getting a spark to ignite the fuel. Pretty much flooding that cylinder with fuel would could explain the "gas" smell from your exhaust and poor idling.

[ericbla03]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(4-G-rim)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>Yes the check engine light has been on since the original problem (diagnosed as a misfire in cylinder six). </div>

Hmmm...it could be a bad coil for this cylinder. Get a spark tester...they usually cost no more than 20$. Hook it up to the cylinder #6 spark wire plug and crank it over. If you don't get a spark then it could be a bad coil.

I would also pull out cylinder# 6 plug and smell it...if it smells like fuel, then you are definitely not getting a spark to ignite the fuel. Pretty much flooding that cylinder with fuel would could explain the "gas" smell from your exhaust and poor idling.</div>

When you say a bad "coil" your talking about the ignition wire going to cylinder six right? If so, i changed all those, and the distributor cap and im still haveing the same probs.

[RedGalant2k1]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ericbla03)</div><div class='quotemain'>
When you say a bad "coil" your talking about the ignition wire going to cylinder six right? Â*If so, i changed all those, and the distributor cap and im still haveing the same probs.</div>

Its possible. But I'd recommend getting the car scanned again, there may be another issue.

[manybrews]

did the car actually run poorly at first?
I ask because software may have been the initial issue, but now its been made worse by someone that didnt know what they were doing.

[ericbla03]

Has anyone had to do this ^^^ And where do you get your "PCM" reprogrammed ??