VT heat shield removal

[shdai]

gday guys, just wondering if sum1 could tell me how to remove the heat shields and ignition leads from the block to replace the spark plugs without busting the coil inside the heat shields. ive taken out 1 or 2 plugs but now the heat shields arent as tight fitting as they used to be, like the others are atm. should i leave it to a mechanic??

[VTLS1]

go to a mechanic & they would charge to much for a simple job. what happens is becase they are so close to exhaust manifold they heat up & shrink a little,hence why they are tight. easy way is just do one plug at a time to save confusion. 1st remove the ht lead from the coil,whichever one you want to do first,then with the lead loose grab the other end of the lead on the spark plug & gently turn it back in forth(clockwise/anticlockwise) or just spin it completely around one direction or the other,they will come loose by doing this & giving it a gentle tug at the same time. as for the heat sheilds being a little loose,dont worry about it,as long as the sheild covers the plug end where the spark plug is all will be sweet good luck & dont stress out to much dude

[shdai]

thanks mate, i appreciate the explanation. ill try it 1st thing 2moz morn, ive had a set of iridium plugs waiting to go in for ova 3 months now jus cos i couldnt get the damn heat shields off without ruining them.

[Cameron P]

about 2-3 months ago my car lost power in 2 cylinders.. whilst trying to figure out the problem i changed the plugs.. leads.. and i bought a coil and changed the new one around with the old ones, in the end it was the dfi module!

but when i changed the plugs and leads it started missing soon after, i changed the leads again, and then it started doing it AGAIN so i kept pushing the heat shields on(as they were loose likes yours) and it would be fine for 100k's or so, so i figured it was them... i took the heatshields off and it hasnt missfired since

so you will more then likely go through exactly what i did

[shdai]

so u rekon just leave all the heat shields off after i change the plugs??

[VTLS1]

the heat sheilds are there for a reason. if you want to replace you plugs leads a few months later leave them off but,thats gunna be expensive if you have to buy several sets of leads a year. if the other blokes car was misfiring wih the heat sheilds on there is another issue somewhere,like an outside electrical current/spark causing the misfire. the heatsheilds are metal,so they will attract electricity & if they get a current through them at the wrong time it will cause the car to misfire. simple as that. think about it,if your made of rubber & are sitting right next to something that could get very hot very quickly how long would you last without some form of protection

[Cameron P]

yeah you might aswell try keep them on there but if you go through what i did which was nightmare then you will know what to do... just thought my story would help you in some way down the track. and if the leads **** up just buy some more heat shields i guess lol

[VTLS1]

yeah you might aswell try keep them on there but if you go through what i did which was nightmare then you will know what to do... just thought my story would help you in some way down the track. and if the leads **** up just buy some more heat shields i guess lol

wasnt havent a dig at you dude,but around 60% of the commodores i have done at work with a misfire was caused by a stray spark on the heat sheilds. yeah they can get loose but being a litte loose should never cause any problems. the few times i have been asked to leave them off by customers who just paid 100 odd bucks for leads have come back & tried to blame me for stuffed leads or a bad misfire

[Cameron P]

nah i know man .. it was funny cause it started missing... and slowly got so bad that the plug wasnt firing at all under load! push all the leads on properly and it would fix it straight away.. weird huh and taking the heat shields off fixed it

lol customers always try to pin it on the workshops!