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Tune up on a 5.7

stansgray03

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Marysville, WA.
Just got done putting new plugs, wires and one new coil on my 03 Ram.
Man getting to the spark plugs under the brake booster is quit a chore.
Sure glad my son-in-law was helping me.
I let him do the driver side. ;)
I bought a special socket from NAPA for doing the plugs, glad I did it made it a lot easier.
I don't think the plugs had ever been changed in it, it has 99400 miles on it. Guess it was ready for some loving!

Took about two hours total. Changed the plug boots on the coils too.
Now I'll see if maybe it will get a little better gas mileage.
I do a lot of freeway driving everyday for work and it's averaging 13.7mpg now.
 
The tune up seems to have helped, after resetting the check engine light I've put close to 500 miles on it and the light hasn't came back on. Also I'm averaging around a mile to a gallon better on fuel mileage.
The code from the check engine light read: miss fire cylinder one, miss fire multiple cylinders. Which is why I changed the #1 coil and the plug wires.
I know that's kind of throwing parts at it and hoping to fix the problem, but luckily it seems to have worked.
 
I found that using a 3/8 2" extension and a 3/8" swivel with the 6" craftsman flat top 3/8 ratchet worked really well around the brake booster. I just put the swivel on the ratchet then extension then socket. I think that's right seems like it is cause I told myself the swivel was on the ratchet instead of the socket. Either way you will figure it out. It seemed to work out pretty good. But before I found a way around it they sure are a pain in the a**.
 
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How about some anti-seeze on the plugs? Helps to get them out easier after the next 90,000 miles.
 
two months after the plug change the number three spark plug blew out of the head and destroyed the coil. bought a new plug and coil, I lucked out and the plug went in with no problems. I wonder if some guy didn't tighten the one that blew out enough? and of course that would be me.:
 
2 hours for a plug change is pretty good, especially for the first time. Plug gap grows .001 for every 2000 miles, you must have had some gap. If you are getting a missfire on one cylinder I usually switch the coils around to see if the code follows the coil. Of course a misfire code on a 03 could also indicate the dreaded broken valve spring that 03/04's are known for. Good luck..

Redtruck-VA
 
I've had it in two different shops and they haven't found the problem yet. They both mentioned a broken valve spring could be the problem.

The light will stay on for a while and then go off for a few days. After it's been off for a while start up or Letting it idle to long seems to make the light come back on.
I use it for work and drive about 600 miles a week, right now it has 118,000 on it. I'd say the light stays off more then on, so I'm just going to drive it. But it sure would be nice to figure it out.:bounce:
 
I've had it in two different shops and they haven't found the problem yet. They both mentioned a broken valve spring could be the problem.

The light will stay on for a while and then go off for a few days. After it's been off for a while start up or Letting it idle to long seems to make the light come back on.
I use it for work and drive about 600 miles a week, right now it has 118,000 on it. I'd say the light stays off more then on, so I'm just going to drive it. But it sure would be nice to figure it out.:bounce:

Are there any other codes beside the mis-fire? A mis-fire code is generated whenever the engine changes sudden speed outside a predetermined range. There are no sensors for each cylinder so a cylinder is identified by the Cam sensor position. So a faulty connection, coil, plug, sensor and/or dirty TB can be a problem. A compression check and/or very close visual inspection of the valve springs will help determine if a spring has broken. I had a mis-fire code and a stumble that turned out to be a Crank senor once. Good luck..
 
What brand of hand held engine analyzers are you guys using ? Hope you have found your problem.

I don't have one, we have to have emission checks here and the code showed up there. Light still comes on and I now have 120,000 on the poor thing.
Guess it's about time for a new truck.
 
I live in Ohio and we don't have them, but advanced auto will analyze your truck for free, so autozone probably does it also, and you don't have to buy anything. Their prices are sky high, I use sam's, rockauto, summit, and google search. I'd just like to know how to turn the engine light off, to see if I fixed it ! 2002 Ram
 
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