[Brady Young]

I was wondering how much it cost those of you who have had their spark plugs replaced in their 5.7L's at a Dodge Dealer? I don't have the tools to do it myself and I don't fully trust myself yet or else I would do it myself.

 

[58710]

plugs will run ya 7- 10 buck ea plus labor..... an hour should be enough. id guess in the 250 range

 

[Brady Young]

plugs will run ya 7- 10 buck ea plus labor..... an hour should be enough. id guess in the 250 range

Thank you! That's what I was expecting what it would be around but just wanted to get some more input on it.

 

[BilletAG]

I don’t know how many hours the dealer charges but it takes about 3 hours for an experienced person to change the 16 plugs.

 

[58710]

Yeah I guess I dealer would prolly milk it... I did my 6.1 hemi myself... didn't take nowhere near 3 hours....was my 1st hemi plug change,,, but hey I was rebuilding engines at 17 lol I looked it up and going rate is 4- 500 bucks.. yikes... seems like it wouldn't be that bad of a job if ya had 10 or 20 under yer belt....?? anyhoo lots of good mechanics out there,,,,,deosnt have to be a dealership...but if that gives you piece of mind I guess that's worth the xtra cost... good luck to ya... id help ya do it if I was yer neighbor

 

[djalbin]

Local dealership quoted me $500 for spark plug replacement. I think the cheapest non-dealership quote I got was $350. I replaced them myself for the price of the spark plugs.
.

 

[BilletAG]

There are old threads on changing plugs. Just don’t drop the screws for the coil packs!

 

[gapi]

Mercy. If you were local to me I would show you.
If you do get help try Rock-auto for the plugs. Get the same that came in the car. Don't try to be smarter then the MOPAR engineers.

Below are the tools I use.
Screwdriver for the coil pack wire connectors.
Two short 3/8" drive extensions because of clearance issues and to help spin them out by hand.
1/4" drive ratchet and 10mm socket fore coil pack removal.
Long handle 3/8" drive ratchet to break existing ones loose easier. A regular length handle will work.

I did mine the 2nd time in an hour.

Good Luck.

 

[Brady Young]

If it does end up being that much to replace them, then I will just try and tackle it myself. My dad has done many on older foxbody mustangs so I'm sure I could ask him to help me try it

 

[HellDuster]

piece of cake on a Hemi....on my '66 Chrysler 440 the engine had to be raised to access some plugs...

 

[BilletAG]

Not as easy as a classic 426 Hemi with 8 plugs! Don’t figure it’s only going to take 1-2 hours because you will need more time even if you were experienced. Here’s some estimates. First, on my 5.7, you do not have to disconnect the coil pack wires to pull out the coil packs and position them where they won’t interfere with removing the plugs. Removing the wires is a pain and not that easy so I do not remove the wires. Be careful not to get any debris down in the spark plug tubes. If you think they are dirty, it would be good to blow them out before you remove the plugs. Also, you need to go by your local Autozone or other car parts store and get a tube of dielectric grease for your boots. It is recommended to clean the boots and put a light coat of dielectric grease to keep them from sticking to the plugs from the engine heat over time. I usually just do this a little around the inside lip of the boots. As far as it being a piece of cake, it is doable for a first timer but just take your time. Figure you have to open the boxes and check 16 plug gaps before you install them. If that just takes 2 minutes apiece, it’s a 1/2 hour. Then you have time to remove and install 8 coil packs with 2 screws each. At an average of 3 minutes to remove (and clean the old grease out of the boots) and 3 minutes to install (and grease the boots) that is 6 minutes each total (again including the time to install and tighten the screws) that’s 48 minutes but figure more like an hour. Say 2 minutes each to remove and 3 minutes to install and torque the plugs (and you do need to carefully torque them with an in-lb torque wrench) x 16, that is another 1 1/2 hours. Some are a little harder to access than others especially the rear ones and it takes more time than you think to figure out what extensions and swivel or no swivel, etc. sometimes the spark plug socket sticks to the plug and comes off the extension and you have to fish it out, etc. These time estimates add up to 3 hours and are realistic averages not counting the time to line up your tools, scratching your head time and cleaning up time. Changing the plugs on a 5.7 is a 1/2 day marathon! Have fun! I miss my old Hemi (photo attached). It only took me minutes to change those plugs.

 

[Brady Young]

Not as easy as a classic 426 Hemi with 8 plugs! Don’t figure it’s only going to take 1-2 hours because you will need more time even if you were experienced. Here’s some estimates. First, on my 5.7, you do not have to disconnect the coil pack wires to pull out the coil packs and position them where they won’t interfere with removing the plugs. Removing the wires is a pain and not that easy so I do not remove the wires. Be careful not to get any debris down in the spark plug tubes. If you think they are dirty, it would be good to blow them out before you remove the plugs. Also, you need to go by your local Autozone or other car parts store and get a tube of dielectric grease for your boots. It is recommended to clean the boots and put a light coat of dielectric grease to keep them from sticking to the plugs from the engine heat over time. I usually just do this a little around the inside lip of the boots. As far as it being a piece of cake, it is doable for a first timer but just take your time. Figure you have to open the boxes and check 16 plug gaps before you install them. If that just takes 2 minutes apiece, it’s a 1/2 hour. Then you have time to remove and install 8 coil packs with 2 screws each. At an average of 3 minutes to remove (and clean the old grease out of the boots) and 3 minutes to install (and grease the boots) that is 6 minutes each total (again including the time to install and tighten the screws) that’s 48 minutes but figure more like an hour. Say 2 minutes each to remove and 3 minutes to install and torque the plugs (and you do need to carefully torque them with an in-lb torque wrench) x 16, that is another 1 1/2 hours. Some are a little harder to access than others especially the rear ones and it takes more time than you think to figure out what extensions and swivel or no swivel, etc. sometimes the spark plug socket sticks to the plug and comes off the extension and you have to fish it out, etc. These time estimates add up to 3 hours and are realistic averages not counting the time to line up your tools, scratching your head time and cleaning up time. Changing the plugs on a 5.7 is a 1/2 day marathon! Have fun! I miss my old Hemi (photo attached). It only took me minutes to change those plugs. View attachment 91788

Well, I'm gonna have to find a day where I am free all day! Thank you for your write up and time estimates on it all! Definitely did not think it was such a challenge to change them! Why can't they all just be like they used to be. It would make all of our lives a lot easier that's for sure!

 

[djalbin]

Why can't they all just be like they used to be.

Just wait until you get into a discussion about installing headers.
.

 

[gapi]

Interesting. My 2nd time took an hour. I did check my gaps a week or so before so factor that. I disconnect my coil packs to keep from flexing or disturbing the harness and boots as much as possible.
Also factor I have been pulling wrenches since the 70's.

 

[BilletAG]

You are a super fast mechanic! That’s less than 8 minutes per cylinder to remove the coil packs, remove the plugs, install and torque the new plugs, grease, install and bolt up the coil packs. I guess you could skip the grease but that could cause the boots to stick to the plugs the next time?

 

[SXT+yellowjacket]

Mercy. If you were local to me I would show you.
If you do get help try Rock-auto for the plugs. Get the same that came in the car. Don't try to be smarter then the MOPAR engineers.

Below are the tools I use.
Screwdriver for the coil pack wire connectors.
Two short 3/8" drive extensions because of clearance issues and to help spin them out by hand.
1/4" drive ratchet and 10mm socket fore coil pack removal.
Long handle 3/8" drive ratchet to break existing ones loose easier. A regular length handle will work.

I did mine the 2nd time in an hour.

Good Luck.

View attachment 91786

I’m curious, why 16 spark plugs? Isn’t a V8 1 spark plug per cylinder? What am I missing?

 

[gapi]

The HEMI engine has two valves per cylinder as well as two spark plugs per cylinder. The two spark plugs help to solve the emission problems that plagued Chrysler's earlier HEMI engines. The two plugs initiate two flame fronts and guarantee complete combustion.

 

[djalbin]

What gapi said ...
Dual fired plugs on each cylinder allows the firing to take place closer to top dead center and then again when the piston is on the down-side of the power stroke. The second ignition provides additional power in the down stroke and more fully burns the hydrocarbons. This lowers the need for restrictive catalyst plates in the catalytic converter. It adds some horsepower ... but not much.
.

 

[58710]

Ford had a cple 4cyl engines with 2 plugs per hole... or at least they use to...