SPARK PLUG REPLACEMENT
(plus valve cover bolts - DODGE CARAVAN)
I presume you have a service manual, though I may include brief pointers from it to make this advice more cohesive. Do not attempt this job unless you are experienced at changing spark plugs - this work requires a feel for threading plugs in correctly to avoid damaging heads by cross-threading, and getting the socket off off the plug without cracking the insulator - for sure, as you cannot see it to inspect it afterward.
Changing spark plugs on the Chrysler 3.3/3.8 litre engine is very awkward. You can do the aft leftmost two by working from underneath on the back side of the engine (it does not take much lift of the vehicle for appropriate reach when crawling under on your back, to reach standing up would take a high lift), using a non-swivel socket with medium extension bar and preferably a 3/8" ratchet drive. The rightmost is a long reach from either below or above.
(All directions are from driver's seat. You'll be working almost blind thus it is difficult to judge the angle of the plug and your wrench. I recommend blowing air into the well around the plug to remove sand and pebbles that would fall into the cylinder once you've removed the plug.)
You may want a good wire puller, preferably that locks onto the plug wire below the bend in it and has very good grips for your hand as the tight space makes gripping difficult and there is little room to pull, though I have pulled the wires off with my bare hands. A normal spark plug socket without swivel should work, using short to medium extension bar, but wrench space will be tight and you'll need an experienced touch to start threading the replacement plug in correctly.
For the centre aft one you can get both hands in, one each side of exhaust take-down pipe.
For the aft right one some people detach the alternator bracket, but I am wary of that as the alternator has belt tension on it and eliminating that is a real bother. I find it doable from below with my left hand, just difficult to reach without long arms and fingers - and more difficult to keep a mental picture of to start threading the replacement plug than the other two.
The aft plugs are angled opposite to the front ones, as if the same head casting was used, with a bend & tab in the wire as the front ones have. Looking at the front ones you can also see how far they are recessed.
- While you are underneath reaching up the back side of the engine, tighten the centre aft bolts of the rear valve cover with a 10mm socket wrench that is not too high as space is limited. (You could try a wrench of medium length with open and closed ends, one angled with a bit of offset as is common on closed-end wrenches (as the cover has a lip around the edge). OTOH, if you want to buy tools, Snap-On has a combination of closed end wrench with swivelled socket on the other end (no ratchet).)
You should be able to reach the middle two from the back side, and perhaps one or two more that can also be reached from under the hood.
(Trying to curb oil leaks, note there is a grommet toward the right end of the aft valve cover where a hose or something goes in, it may need replacement.)
- Back around the front of the engine (well, start there first so you know which ones are left to do from the rear), you can reach these valve cover bolts:
> with a 1/4" swivel and very long extension on a 10mm socket, the right most aft bolt of the rear valve cover (through the cutout in the alternator bracket), the left-most aft bolt of the rear valve cover (with care), and with even more tricky maneuvering the front RH bolt of the aft valve cover (or try a 10mm closed end wrench with a bit of offset as is common on those wrenches; otherwise you can take the coil pack off: 4 bolts, the underneath ones on more of a pedestal than the top ones).
> with a long extension on a 10mm socket all other valve cover bolts.
- Chrysler could have done several small things to improve access to the RH side and back of the engine, such as hose clamp location, manifold pressure tap location, sensor orientation, and computer location. Kurmudgeon Keith thinks that all designers and managers should work in a vehicle maintenance shop on awkward unfamiliar vehicles for a week every two years. :-)
As well, they could have put locking devices on the valve cover bolts. They loosen, just like those on the Pontiac 4-cylinder engine that sometimes caught fire in the Fiero car. (It may be good practice to have loose fit of engine fasteners, but surely designers could have added a friction locking method.)
** NEW **
An article on AllPar web site advises to take out the front engine mount bolt by the radiator, and let the engine rotate forward. There's something about parking brake and Park transmission selector position but it is garbled. Sounds tricky.
© Keith Sketchley Page version 2009.05.17 (1837PST)
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