'00 gp 3.1 SFI Plug & wire change question

[gp00kris]

I need some help! I have been reading threads it seems like forever, looking to see if someone else posted my question, and have not found it yet.

My car has 95,500 mi & was put on the computer at the local dealer and they diagnosed it to needing: plugs, plug wires, fuel injector cleaning, fuel filter and air filter. They wanted $1,100 dollars to do these repairs. I don't know what all this would cost in the mainland but in Hawaii they charge an awful lot for car repairs. Needless to say, my old mechanic who worked on all my cars back in the mainland is going to do the repairs.

He needs a question answered though, as he has not worked on my particular car type before and asked me to check and find out if the spark plug wires need to be threaded. I don't know what he means, therefore; my post.

Can you also tell me are there any ways to make this change process easier, etc, as I understand the plugs can be hard to get to?

Any help is appreciated.
Thanks,
Kris

[BNaylor]

Welcome to AF.

$1100 for what appears to be a basic tune up? Man, I need to move to Hawaii and open up a repair shop

As far as threaded I've never heard of the term before.

If you stick with the AC Delco OEM ignition wires (Premium Silicone 7mm) they are are custom fit and a direct replacement. With the right spark plug removal tools and patience the job is not that difficult on the 3100 engine. Some people remove the front engine mount dogbones and tilt the engine forward but it is not a requirement.

[gp00kris]

Thanks for the welcome and answers.

The mechanic said the same thing you did, one he started in on the replacement of the plug wires. What a rip off. Believe me I was shocked when they quoted me the price and you are right you might need to open a shop here... And if your prices were more reasonable you would be so busy your head would spin.

The wires are threaded in tubes. And as for tilting the engine, he said if he just climbs up on the engine they are not that hard to change. He is pretty tall, so maybe that makes a difference...

Thanks for the info. If I need more info I will definitely check in here for some help.
Kris

Originally Posted by bnaylor

Welcome to AF.

$1100 for what appears to be a basic tune up? Man, I need to move to Hawaii and open up a repair shop

As far as threaded I've never heard of the term before.

If you stick with the AC Delco OEM ignition wires (Premium Silicone 7mm) they are are custom fit and a direct replacement. With the right spark plug removal tools and patience the job is not that difficult on the 3100 engine. Some people remove the front engine mount dogbones and tilt the engine forward but it is not a requirement.

[gp00kris]

I now have another question. regarding ignition coils. My mechanic noticed one coil in bad shape and another so so, but he just cleaned them up and I was going to purchase some dielectric grease, well this morning when I drove the car it started herking and jerking really bad and backfired twice. The mechanic is back went back to his island and can not change out the coil for me. He suggested I get the engine warm, turn it off, disconnect one of the wire and see how rough it runs if worse than before it is ok, if the same then that is the bad coil, etc, until I check out both of the questionable ones and find the culprit.
My question is how many screws are there on one of these things, the mechanic did not pay that close attention to the number of screws. It said it is actually easy to change and he could walk me through it, but I wanted to see if someone could tell me before I get in too deep.
Thanks for any help I can get!
Kris

Originally Posted by bnaylor

Welcome to AF.

$1100 for what appears to be a basic tune up? Man, I need to move to Hawaii and open up a repair shop

As far as threaded I've never heard of the term before.

If you stick with the AC Delco OEM ignition wires (Premium Silicone 7mm) they are are custom fit and a direct replacement. With the right spark plug removal tools and patience the job is not that difficult on the 3100 engine. Some people remove the front engine mount dogbones and tilt the engine forward but it is not a requirement.

[BNaylor]

Originally Posted by gp00kris

My question is how many screws are there on one of these things, the mechanic did not pay that close attention to the number of screws. It said it is actually easy to change and he could walk me through it, but I wanted to see if someone could tell me before I get in too deep.
Thanks for any help I can get!
Kris

The coils are easy to replace. Each coil is secured by two screws to the ignition control module (ICM). I recall the socket you will need is less than 5-6mm on the 3100 engine. However, a SAE size of 7/32" should work out of a 1/4" drive socket set.

[gp00kris]

Originally Posted by bnaylor

The coils are easy to replace. Each coil is secured by two screws to the ignition control module (ICM). I recall the socket you will need is less than 5-6mm on the 3100 engine. However, a SAE size of 7/32" should work out of a 1/4" drive socket set.

Thanks for all the help you have given me. The car ended up dying by the time I got it home. It started cutting out and did so everytime I would come to a stop (happened about a dozen times). I finally just parked it & am going to look into getting anew car. What eve dealer I go to can worry about fixing it. I just can't deal with all of the problems it keeps having.
Thanks again,
Kris

[Killa]

Sound like really simple step, replace the coil, spark plug and wire,and minor tune up is not that hard, if you know what you doing, you will not give up on that car, sound like you dont know what you doing, that why you are giving it up. Any way good luck.