Boy do I hate working on front-wheel-drive cars.

Have I told you recently how much I hate working on front-wheel-drive cars? No? Well let me tell you I hate it.

Yesterday I changed the spark plugs on the Luminati ('95 Chevy Lumina, 3.1-liter V6). The front three (cylinders 2, 4, & 6) were relatively easy. But the rear three (1, 3, & 5)? OMG!

The rear three plugs were changed by Braille. Really. I couldn't see any of them. I ran my hand down the plug wires and tried to get a mental image of the surroundings. It helped a little. A very little.

Getting the wires off was a chore in itself. There's not much room between the engine and the firewall so it was difficult to twist the boot and pull at the same time. Once I got the wires off (without breaking them I might add) I had to feel for the tip of the plug to know where (more or less) to try and put the plug socket. All of this while basically lying on top of the engine.

I'd guess the plugs had been in the engine for more than a few miles. And they were installed without anti-seize. Given that the front plugs were of a different heat range, the wrong heat range, than the rears I'm guessing the fronts had been changed at least once but the rears? Probably original.

But I got it done. A little worse for wear but it is done.

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