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Ford Explorer Community - Maintenance - Modifications - Performance Upgrades - Problem Solving - Off-Road - Street
Explorer Forum Covers the Explorer ST, Explorer Sport, Explorer Sport Trac, Lincoln Aviator, Mercury Mountaineer, Mazda Navajo, Ford Ranger, Mazda Pickups, and the Ford Aerostar
Can anyone tell me how to get to the spark plugs one the left side facing the car. I could change all but 2. I messed with it for a while and I cant figure it out.
If you are replacing the wires as well, i found it really easy to go through the wheel well and slice the boot off the plug with a sharp knife, and then go from there without an extension. you cant really see it, so youll reall have to guess and feel around!! hope this helps!!
Go through the fender well. lots of sockets and different extensions are a must. If I remember I used a socket on the wrench flats of the plug socket to get the right clearance for the rachet on 2 of the plugs.
There is an alternative, but that requires pulling the engine.
+1 for wheel well
just remove the rubber flap in the wheel well and go from there, if you don't want to remove the wheel you may be able to turn hard left to get enough space for the rear passenger side plug but it's easier to just remove the wheel. The first time I did them it took me 2 hours to change the plugs and wires (that's 1 hour for 5 plugs, and 1 hour for the rear pass. plug). Now that I know the ways I need to unnaturally bend my hands and the combination of universal joints, wobble extensions, and wrenches it only takes 1 hour.
I did all of mine from the top. Just use a swivel headed socket wrench. The back one was the toughest of them all, but was still able to change them all out in under an hour. 1/2 an hour for 5 and 1/2 an hour for the right rear.
Welcome aboard. After about 2-3 hours of frustration scraped knuckes, and various cuts and bruises, yes the "easier" way would be to remove the wheels and rubber flaps,the fender well if you have the time and go at it. Thats cyl 3 I believe is in a really tight spot and unless you have just the right ratchet extention or really tiny hands it can be a real pain and very time consuming!
