O.K. guys i have a few questions about tune-up on a 1997 camaro w/. a 3.8l v6 5spd manual. I will start of by saying i am a diesel mechanic Detroit diesel and allison transmissions, so i am not new to turning wrenches by no means. i just purchased My first camaro and it has a little rough idle situation. i checked for pending codes and anything out of the ordinary with my Snap-on reader. so, i am going to precede with a ignition tune-up, but to my amazement they crammed the engine all the way to the firewall and i cant even see a spark plug. i am use to working on engine the size of my camaro and it looks like the plug and wire change is going to be a chore. so, if anyone has any helpful short cuts or ways of doing the plug and wire swap please let me know. i think i am going to have to change them from the bottom of the car, hopefully don't have to remove any mounts and raise the engine. dont think this matters but i decoded the vin because i thought it was funny it started with (2g) come to find out its a canadian car although no signs of rust or anything out of the ordinary except i think im going to have to change the trans mount. if i get on it hard in a pull the shifter will raise and lower a considerable amount, i dont think this is normal but never had a fourth gen before. To wrap this up i am sorry for being so long winded and would appreciate any help i could get. maybe i could return the favor if you ever need to know anything about allison transmissions and i mean anything or detroits diesels.

 

The front two on each side can usually be gotten from the top. I got the other two from the bottom.

 

Thanks thats what i figured, are they hard as crap still from the bottom?

 

the front 2 on the passenger side can be gotten from the top, and the front one on the drivers side can be gotten from the top (the plug wire to the back on on this side can be gotten 2 but, u cant get a wrench in there at that angle, if u try it ull see). the rest have to bee gotten from the bottom. cylender 3(middle drivers side) is a pain to get, and took me quite a bit of time, it might be easier if u take off the o2 sensor, but i left mine on when i did it.

 

Actually, unless the '02 3.8 is different from the '97 3.8, all can be done from the top.

 

Thanks for the info, i did the swap this weekend before i read this but did it almost exactly like you said. the front two passenger side i got from the top and the front drivers. the rest from the bottom, the middle plug on the drivers wasnt that hard i took a regular plug socket with the rubber insert removed(i hate those things) and a 3 in ext. between the sensor and manifold worked fine. i noticed someone had put autolite 605 plugs in and thought it was strange seeing how it called for autolite 606's( i put the double platinum plugs in app606 and all they had at the parts store was a/c delco wire set i believe it was a 706x which to my amazement was a perfect fit as far as length(they were the same length as the originals. thanks alot for the info.

 

hey 02blackonblack, they must be different because there is no way in h*ll you can do all from the top on the 97 i have. if you can do it from the top feel lucky.