Sparks plugs passenger side

114 Views 7 Replies 3 Participants Last post by ZumpTA, 5 d ago

JRooster

Discussion Starter · 6 d ago

I was reading a past post about changing the sparks plugs on the passenger side. My question is about the starter and the two bolts. The bolts that are being refered to are the two that hold the start to the dust cover ? If those are the correct bolts are you able to pull the started forward and get it out of the way ? This is for a 1994 trans am LT1

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JRooster

Discussion Starter · #2 · 6 d ago

Looking through the service manual it appears that's it's the two bolts that are near the heat shield / dust cover...whatever it is called. Anyways the only question I have is does it pull straight out and when it comes to placing it back in is there anything that I should be aware of ?

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Injuneer

· #3 · 6 d ago

The starter is mounted to the bottom of the block. It has two vertical bolts at the very back, near the dust cover. The starter drops downward when the bolts are removed, with a little twist downward to get the nose of the starter out of the dust cover.

Check for shims between the upper starter surface and the lower block surface. Not normally required but may have been used to correct a noise problem, or get the correct clearance on the gear teeth.

See page 6D2-6 in the manual.

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JRooster

Discussion Starter · #4 · 6 d ago

Thanks ! I was a little nervous about pulling the starter out. I had the bolts out and gave it a couple tugs but when it didn't come out..I stopped tugging and bolted it back up. I figured it's better to seek advice than to make a costly mistake. The drives side was a piece of cake so I was hoping that the passenger side would turn out to be easier than what I have read. I found out real quick that it wasn't. I had planned on new wires as well until I took a look at the passenger side. Thinking that I'll just take a pass on the wires for now. From the looks of the plugs and wires it appears that they haven't been on the car all that long.

Thanks again its much appreciated !

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Injuneer

· #5 · 6 d ago

I changed the plugs on my 94 about a year after I bought it brand new - colder plugs for a nitrous kit. Everything on the engine was still stock at that point. I remember removing the alternator, but I don't remember pulling the starter (but then my memory isn’t what it used to be

). I believe it's a bit difficult to get the starter past the passenger side Y-pipe.

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ZumpTA

· #6 · 6 d ago

Injuneer said:
I believe it's a bit difficult to get the starter past the passenger side Y-pipe.

Indeed. It can be quite frustrating. It's not always though. I suspect if you know how to manipulate the starter around in the space, it's very simple. I've struggled, and I've had it in or out like it's nothing. Just never at the same time.

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JRooster

Discussion Starter · #7 · 5 d ago

I found out that I can reach that back plug and get it out using a wrench. My concern is getting the new plug back in without cross threading it. This is without removing the starter. My arms are thin enough that I can reach up there but I'm about two inches shy of being able to thread it back in with my hands...lol.

I'm getting ready to head out and start in the passenger side again today. The drivers side I had done in about forty mins and that includes changing the wires as well. I moved over to the passenger side and took one look at it and then rolled myself back over to the passenger side and changed the wires back over to the ones I had just removed...lol. I instantly to the " hell no " approach to changing them out on the passenger side. From the looks of the wires and plugs they've been replaced some time within the last couple years or so. I just purchased the car in late April / early May and I'm going through it now so I don't have to do it later in down the road. This way I know everything is done and I won't have any concerns rolling around in my head about what's been done and not done. So far the rear differential fluid, transmission fluid & filter along with the coolant have all been changed out. I'm now onto the plugs and as I stated I was planning to do the wires as well but the passenger side appears to be a nightmare when it comes to this and I read a post by Fred stating that he had replaced his at one point with eight mm wires and didn't really notice any difference so I'm skipping that since the current wires look fine and don't appear to be that old.

Knock on wood but I've never had to replace a starter before in my life so once I had the bolts out and tried to slide it forward I kept getting caught up in something while trying to remove it along with having no idea what was behind the dust cover I wasn't sure if the starter needed to be lined up with something inside of the cover or not so I figured I'd post the question before turning one job into another job.

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ZumpTA

· #8 · 5 d ago

My mechanic showed me a trick 35 years ago. Take a length of vacuum hose, neoprene tube, or something along those lines. Slip the hose/tube over the terminal nut or insulator of the spark plug. Now you have that extra few inches. The tube/hose should slip if the plug begins to cross-thread and bind up as well, so no worries. Haven't had to do this myself since the early '90s in an '80 Camaro.

I still haven't done the plugs in the T/A I've owned for 20 years now. ...guess why?

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