Anybody here own a newer blazer or S-10 With a 4.3L Vortec?
 

i need to know the secret to removing the middle sparkplug on the driver side....

Luck and patiance. And a double jointed arm helps.

Seriously use an open end wrench to loosen it up(try from the top and bottom with the wheel off) thenl pray you can reach it with your hand to get it out and the new one in.

Oh yeah and headers make it a little easier too.

Verne

It's been a long time since I wrenched on cars but I think that's one that you can get through the wheel well. I think you have to take off the heat/splash guard. Not 100% sure on this but take a look.

If you think that's bad at least it's not a boxter. As my buddy who worked for Porsche said 15000 mile tune up.....crate engine.

.... well i got it , i was just hoping there was an easier way for next time. there's a ton of brake lines and a/c lines in the way if you go from the top... and if you go thru the wheel well the steering shaft sits right in front of it.. about 2" away. just enuogh room to slip a spark plug socket over it and if your lucky, an open end wrnch. even then you can only rotate the wrench anout an inch or two. who the hell designs this shit anyhow?

Aha, now you've disovered why I stoped working on cars for a living!! Let me apologize to any engineers we might have here because I'm about to rip you an ass. Those stupid S.O.B.'s have never picked up a wrench in thier lives!! "Oh this is a great design, this fits perfectly." Never once do they ever ask a service expert, "do you think you'll be able to work on this?" NO we're the smart ones, who needs to ask a stupid mechanic how to design something!!!


Sorry, just had to vent! :twisted:

Tell me about. I finally met my match on my wife's mini-van. I gave up trying to change the sparkplugs and took it in. $200 with parts!!!! motherfu........

OTOH, my old CBX1000 required an engine drop to pull the carbs! An engine drop required the removal of the entirestock 6-2 exhaust system. About an entire day just to get the carbs to the bench! :evil:

We've got it real good with the VTR; the entire fairing comes off as one piece, the tank/air box with just a few screws, no fairing removal to change the oil, etc. About the only bitch I can come up with at the moment is clutch replacement. Oh, and the headlight bulb is very tight too.

What kind of mini-van was it? The only reason I ask is this thread is what made me think of REAL PITAs that I worked on and the bigest one was a mini-van. It was one of the first Toyota mini-vans, (forget the name, maybe previa) it took me, no lie now, 5 hours to change a fuel FILTER!!!! Not a pump, a FILTER!!! I know you're thinking this guy must be a sh!tty mech or something. Well I actually did it 30 min. faster than the book allows!!

Did I mention I hate engineers? :lol: