That's a good thing... do you use any additives to your fuel or run anything higher then regular?

 

wow i only got up tp post #3 before i did it. but yeah, got it done sat morning. and # 8 was a pita!!!!. but once you get it, the rest is a breeze!. and i know i mention i inspected one of them and they did need changing but they were surprisingly not that bad at all. i even questioned myself wether they had been done recently??? bought the truck with 90k now has 110k.

the new plugs i had were ac delco 41-110 and the old ones were ac delco 41-985 which had me a little worried because they appeared slightly different in size, so i had to recheck i had the right plug. turns out these were the "new" plugs gm was using so i went with it.

took me a while to figure how to get #8. And there's also some kind of metal shield under the ac components that are cluttered in that area. man that thing is sharp! what a knuckle buster! smh. then there's also the ac lines that you have to wiggle your hand and forearm through to reach back there.

first i used a needle nose with a 45 bended tip to remove the boot grabbing it by the metal shield and wiggling and pulling which was one of the challenges. then i reached in using a 5/8 socket wrench and sliped it over the plug. then reached in with the swivel extension(man i hate these things i don't trust them). i had a 24" straight extension that i connected to the swivel and used a regular ratted to twist. to my surprise it broke free with minimal effort. then i removed everything except the 5/8 socket and slipped in with just the ratchet and gave it a couple more twists and it was out. left hand knuckles scraped up and bleeding! but it was worth it! lol

All in all, not that bad, and yes i would do it again. After that the other 7 are cake. And WOW what a difference in response. hope this write up helps anyone in the future looking to to the tune up. i'll try to post some pics of the tools i used later to help

 

Sweet! at least you know they are new now, so if you have any problems its one less thing to suspect or wonder about..

 

as far as additives, i did run bg 44k through my fuel system about a month ago and don't know if that made a difference in the plugs but i definitely felt a difference in how smooth the throttle got with the 44k

 

I bought it with 99k miles in May so I don't know what they used but I'm betting they went cheap. The vehicles shows 'cheap' all over. Cheap tires, cheap battery, etc.

 

Pic of the plugs

 

Here's an anecdotal story about a bad plugs that look good. I had a Kawasaki Jet Ski (4 cycle) that after 10 to 12 hours, it would start idling bad and would no longer hit the red line. I'd pull the plugs out and they would look like new. Then I would replace the plugs and it ran fine for about another 10 to 12 hours. I finally started using alcohol free gas and the problem went away.

 

Too bad for us in NY...no such thing as alcohol free here

 

I used a 1-inch 3/8" extension with the Spark plug socket and a normal 3/8" Ratchet for the #8 Plug. Laid across the engine and pieced the 3 together because you can't just snake it in there.
1. Put socket on plug(mostly by feel, you can't see it)
2. add 1-inch extension to socket.
3. slide ratchet in and remove.

I didn't try a swivel, was too afraid to tweak something.

I had a harder time getting the boot off the plug itself. No room to gain torque with your hands. Twist it off worked best.

 

i only had a 3 inch 3/8 extension so that didn't work for me but sure that'll work too if you have a 1" laying around. that's the only reason i used the swivel-i try to stay away from them but i do have them. gotta work with what you have sometimes