newbie spark plug replcement

I just bought my sister's 2000 XJ 4.0 classic, auto with 96K on the clock.
She did nothing, but oil changes, one air filter since 30 K

I changed all the fluids, new shocks, grease and air filter

How do I change the spark plugs,it has no distributor, or plug wires, Direct coils I guess. The manual is pretty useless in this area.

also it has no front tow hooks do these bolt right on

Thanks JS Colo Springs

your 2000 will have just ONE coil rail assembly. IIRC 2 or 3 bolts and after that you can pull it off. There is a connection near the firewall to remove the rail completely but I have found it to be a pain in the ass to get to. It is not necessary to remove it completely, just wiggle it around a bit to get it out of the way.

You will need to get tow hook brackets Check out

http://www.4wheelerssupply.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/50

Cough up a $100 and get a factory service manual, either from the dealer parts dept or call the 800 number in the back of your owners manual. It will explain all and will pay for itself over and over again. Also pick up an acctron OBDII scanner tool, about $150 at AA or one of the other autoparts marts, very handy item and has a tendency to make you popular around the neighborhood once they find out you have one...
I have not pulled a coil pack like that yet but I have heard you need to be a bit on the gentle side so don't just yank it off..

RichP said:

I have not pulled a coil pack like that yet but I have heard you need to be a bit on the gentle side so don't just yank it off..

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Two bolts hold the pack on (10mm?)... then just gently/firmly wriggle it around to pop it off of the plugs, working from the front. It doesn't seem to hold onto the plugs nearly as tightly as individual plug wires normally do. A big plus!

As someone else already said, the FSM tells you to unplug the connector on the rear... but due to accessibility (it's basically in the firewall), it's almost impossible to get off. You can leave it connected, and move the entire coil pack around enough to get to each plug.

Once the coil pack's out of the way, the plugs are easy. I think I just used a 3/8" breaker bar and 12" extension...

Den

If you do try to pick up a factory service manual, try ebay first. I got one for my '85 for only $13.

just like denlip said above. I left mine connected at the rear and swapped all the plugs that way. I belive you torq them back in at 19lbs I think it was. My FSM is at home sorry. Thats just off the top of my head. I put in cross fires at first and they were great for a few months then started having problems again. I swapped them out with champion truck plugs and no problems ever sense. I did the champions on the 98xj of mine and loved them, so thats why I swapped them out on the 2001 aswell.
If your still having problems after doing the plugs then odds are it's the coil rail and that would need to be swapped out. That's were it gets pricey $$$$$

Just a nice heads up make sure before you take out the old ones take compressed air and blow around the old plugs... you will be surprised of the dirt and rust that come out which you don't want in your cylinders.

4 bolts hold the coil pack on. chrysler switched from champion plugs to ngk to help with erroneous mis-fires. you may also have to reposition the heater hose clamp on the tube from the waterpump. sometimes it interferes with the coil pack.

jdogg4 said:

just like denlip said above. I left mine connected at the rear and swapped all the plugs that way. I belive you torq them back in at 19lbs I think it was. My FSM is at home sorry. Thats just off the top of my head. I put in cross fires at first and they were great for a few months then started having problems again. I swapped them out with champion truck plugs and no problems ever sense. I did the champions on the 98xj of mine and loved them, so thats why I swapped them out on the 2001 aswell.
If your still having problems after doing the plugs then odds are it's the coil rail and that would need to be swapped out. That's were it gets pricey $$$$$

Click to expand...

From what I've been able to find so far, it's 27 pound-feet pretty much all the way up (since 1987.) I've been coding a lot of tech into HTML lately - which will be on hold while we move house (damn!) but I'll be back to it afterwards, and I hope to be caught up by the first of the year. Click the link in my sig, and pick "Tech Archive" to find out what I've done (and please don't tell me about a dead link - I'm workin' on it, and I've got enough to do without keeping track of placeholders... Just "back up" and try something else.)

Be sure you get some "dielectric grease" when you get your plugs - you put a little around the mouth of the boot (on the inside) or on the end of the porcelain on the spark plug, and then put it all together. That will make it easier to take off later, believe me! As long as you otherwise exercise due care, you'll be fine.

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