Today i brought my 99 v6 camaro to the chevy dealership to have diagnostics run on it,, and these are the problems they found. Two corroded ignition coils, spark plugs and wires in need of change, and fuel filter in need of change. Now i have a haynes manual which has provided some insight on these problems, but there's a few details i need help with. First of all,, is it worth me trying to do these things myself, or should i just pay the 593 dollars to get them fixed? Second, i've heard bad things about camaro 3800 series engine spark plugs; is it possible and how? Third, the ignition coils, are they hard to change? Do i need to disconnect the battery or any other electrical things before changing them? Fourth, when changing the fuel filter, how do i relieve pressure off the fuel lines and not have fuel going everywhere? Finally, if i am gonna do all this to my 7 yr old car,, i want to go big. What's some performance parts i can replace these with? Any or all help with these problems is very much appreciated. Thanks guys.

 

first of all, when working on your car you should always unplug the battery. spark plugs/wires you might want to let the dealer do it, but the ignition coils, being they are corroded might still be good if you clean them up real nice, as for relieveing the pressure there is a valve on the intake mainifold that looks like a valve stem on a car tire, after the battery is disconnected press that in with a rag around it, to soak up the fuel thats in the system.

spark plugs/wires arent that bad, but you will have some cuts and scrapes on your hands, if you cant handle pain very well, or dont like jamming your hand into tight spaces, it might not be an easy project for ya.

 

Ok.. so i removed two of the ignition coils, and three of the terminals on them were extremely coroded. So i cleaned them and reinstalled them. Next comes the mistake of my life. I put the car up on ramps, and crawl under with my tools to remove my fuel filter. So i'm twistin' on this filter with a wrench, and the worst possible thing happens.. The line torques with the wrench,, just enough to put a kink in it.. So now my car is in the shop getting a new fuel line.. *Slaps forehead* When it gets out, i will make an attempt on the filter again, since i'm sure they loosened it.. I still can't find my spark plugs though!!

 

The filter uses snap-on type connectors, and you need a special tool, available at most auto stores, to release the fuel line to the filter. No twisting required or wanted.

If you are going to change plugs, do not use platinum plugs that are tipped only on the center electrode. The ignition system on yor car fires 3 of the plugs from center electode to ground electrode, and the other 3 plugs get fired in the opposite direction. So the plugs fired in normal direction will last a very long time, while the ones fired in te opposite direction wear out quite fast. Yo will need to use double platinum type plugs with all electrodes tipped, or save yourself money and put in reguler plugs and change them more often..

By the way, keep looking for the spark plugs, they are in there. LOL

 

Yeah they're in there. Four are easy to get to, but the back one on each side are a pain.

 

Two screw drivers work pretty good too lol, and it saves you the extra $$ :P

 

Awesome. Thanks for the input guys. My car is still in the shop, and i'm back up at school (had no choice but to leave it). The fuel line should be in tomorrow though, at the mechanics, and i'm going home tomorrow to pick it up when they finish fixing it. When i get back up here with my car, i will start workin' to find those plugs and replace them (double platinum tipped). After i'm through with maintenance stuff, i'm gonna start workin' to get my LT-1/transmission assembly again. I know a junkyard with a few complete pullouts, around 70,000 miles on them, for 2500 dollars.. Sound like a deal? Now i just gotta get someone who can put it in..

 

Ok, so i'm back at school with my car and the problem still persists. Violent jerking when i try to accelerate too much.. Though, yesterday it did something a little bit different. When i was accelerating, it started to jerk and for a split second my rpm's shot up to like 4000 and then back down to normal. So,, i hate to say it, but i think that's sure sign of transmission problems? Anything to say about that?