HOW TO Change sparkplug leads, plugs, & coil Pack

[Whoosha]

Well the ongoing sarga of #2 sons S3 SR with the oil leak fixed and the ball joint and brakes done It was time to chase down the "Stalling when Hot Syndrome" : So we assumed it was a coil /spark/electric problem, easy just replace the lot , First out was the plugs, the car has been running fine, a little heavy on fuel and apart from the stalling when hot no real problems, So needless to say I was surprised to fine this in #1 and #2 hole gees only 164989 ks on the factory iridiums


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So if you plan on replacing the lot this was how I went about it ..
things you will need '
1. set car ramps
2. small socket set
3, sparkplug socket
4.Blade/ phillips head screw driver
5. pair pliers
If you are doing the coil pack it is way easyer to get at from under the car than from the top
1. Run the car up on to the ramps ,secure and chock wheels. open bonnet and let cool. Best done when stone cold (the coil pack is along side heater pipe :
2. Remove plug leads 1 at a time, (Now the plug cups may be stuck on to the plugs and require some effort to remove as SMALL amout of grease on the new plug end should avoid this next time you have to remove them)
if they are not factory and numbered NUMBER them as you take them off (this is easy done with some masking tape just rite the number on it in texta)
3. Remove spark plugs ( if the plug starts off easy to remove then goes tight again it could have a carbon build up on the end of it just carefully wind the plug back and fowards in the hole still it frees up. alloy heads can strip threads very easy so dont give it the big heave ho)
I usually wipe a small bit of grease on the thread of the plug before replacing them as well. when tightening the plug it should be firm with out leaning on the rachet to hard.( if youe not sure run the car for a minute or so after your finished and retighten
That the easy bit now for the leads and coil pack you will notice the leads are in 2 lot 3 to the front and 3 to the rear

Unclip them from the retainers and allow to sit over the rocker cover loose
Now to axcess the coil pack remove the airbox to allow some sort of axcees to the coil and leads .this just requires the removal of 3 10mm bolts, the snorkle and the hose clamp from the aircleaner pipe remove, fom engine bay completey

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Now if you look under the manifold following the plug leads you will just be able to see the coil pack. this is retained by 2. 7mm bolts at the radiator end and 1 at the rear the top 2 can be undone from the top just remember that pipe is HOT just along side it : a wet rag wrapped around it will allow you to get your arm in there with only minor burns

Next get under the car and look up at the coilpack, to remove the last bolt,it may be nessasary to remove one of the coil leads to allow the socket to fit in there, this should have a small condenser thing on the same bolt, Remember to put it back when you refit the pack , on the outside edge of the coil pack you should be able to see the plug in loom this is easy to remove by squeezing the top in and pushing up at the same time.

All going well you should now be able to feed the coil and attached leads out through the bottom of the engine bay.

With the coil out on the ground it is just as easy to re fit the leads now rather than feed the back down from the top
The order of the pack is as follows
With the coil in its position Backrow / engine side front to rear 1...2...3..........
....................................Frontrow / gaurd side front to rear 6...5...4..........

Now this is ware is gets a bit tight to stuff all the leads back from ware they came so what I did was feed 2 bits of wire down from the top to each of the 2 groups 3 of leads
First problem was to get the horse from under the car wares she was helping






then feed them up as far as I could from the under side then gently pulled them up from the top the rest of the way
Now with the leads back up the top just refit the coil pack to it mounts including the condenser thinghy and refit the loom plug


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Back top side again take the feeder wire off and plug the leads back in to there respective plugs easy as (cause you number them rite) cliping them back into there retainers
Refit the airbox and hose all done It should take about 1 1/2 to 2 hours depending on how handy you are, Cost was about $200 all up the leads were genuine ford from fleabay. coil pack $100 deliverd Flebat again and $22 trade for the plugs .. The main point is DONT MIX UP THE PLUG LEADS there is nothing hard about the the job just time consuming and a bit fiddely.. Even to just change the leads I would probably take the coil pack out unless you have super small hands and steel capped knuckles ( there"s some sharp bits in there some ware : )
How this helps some one along the way
Cheers Whoosha