Spark Plugs on a Dodge Magnum Engine
Where are they? How do I change them?
Replacing the spark plugs on your truck is a 30 minute operation, at the
high end. The hardest part about it is getting your body at a good angle to operate
a ratchet wrench. I used a 5-gallon "Homer Bucket" from Home Depot ($2 - I
think, It's a good stool/seat for shop work).
The plugs are less than $2.00 each at NAPA. Your time is free. A shop will
tack a premium on the plugs, and charge about $75.00 per hour to do it - and will most
likely charge you an hour's worth of work.
Basicly it goes like this:
1. remove all plugs from the boxes
2. using a plug gapper (about $3.00) gap all new plugs to specification
3. remove plug wire from plug - grasp the plug wire by the boot whenever possible.
4. unscrew plug from head with plug wrench, or ratchet wrench with spark
plug socket
5. insert new plug into hole left by old plug, and screw it in using same
plug wrench or ratchet wrench. You can use a torque wrench to get the
proper torque on the plug if you're unfamiliar with this work but it's hard
to eff it up too bad)
6. push the wire back onto the plug
7. repeat from setp 3 until all plugs have been replaced
Some notes:
1. you may have heat shields on your head to protect the wires - possibly on
the drivers side. Do not attempt to pull these off - leave 'em on, your
wrench *will* fit down that hole.
2. you might want to have a vacuum cleaner handy - whatever you've got. Use
the hose attachment to suck the sand/dirt/dust out from around the plug.
Once after you pull the wire off, and once again after you unscrew the plug
from the head. This will keep sand/dirt/dust from getting into the
cylinders and doing damage.
3. Don't take all the wires off at once - 'cause if you forget which wire
goes where, you've got some work ahead of you sorting it all out.
Below are some snapshots of the inside of a Dodge Ram 1500 engine compartment, containing a 318ci Magnum engine. The layout for a 360ci Magnum will be very similar - if not identical.
This is a picture of the drivers side, front pair. You can see the heat shields around each boot, protecting the wires from the heat of the exhaust manifold. The right side of the engine is particularly susceptible to heat - and is one of the reasons why it pings to begin with...
Here's a pic of the spark plug wire removed from the frontmost spark plug on the drivers side. In the foreground is the brake master cylinder, in the background is the valve cover and the oil fill cap (on the valve cover). That long thing on the end of the wire (just below my thumb) is the boot of the plug wire - which fits over the spark plug.
From the passenger side, looking towards the rear of the engine compartment. You can see both sets of spark plugs - 4 in all. On this side there are no heat shields, at least on my truck. As you can see, this side is more open, and allows air to move more freely around and cool things off more effectively.
To remove a spark plug wire, grab it by the boot whenever possible. It doesn't take too much to remove one. Two fingers and a good tug will remove boots that have been on for even 37k miles. I did this while the engine was cool - you should too. Trying to snake your hands around a hot engine and exhaust manifold will only get you burned.
This the frontmost sparkplug on the passenger side, with the wire removed.
Where do all those sprkplug wire connect to? This (poor) picture shows the distributor cap at the rear center of the engine. This pic was snapped from the drivers side- looking to the rear of the engine compartment. In this picture, it looks vaguely like a grey/black brain. Okay - so this ain't the greatest picture....
Another poor picture (apparently I needed more coffee at the time) shows where the ninth wire on the wire hat connects. This is your ignition coil. This pic was snapped from the passenger side, looking across the engine compartment to the drivers side. You can see the exhaust manifold right to the rear of the boot.
Here's a closeup of the ignition coil.