How to replace Ignition Leads - Driver Side

[sah]

I decided to change the Ignition leads on my VY - after 110K. Got the new leads. Changed the passenger side, everything went well. Now i am stuck with the drivers side.

I can't take the new leads out, as they are behind the alternator. I really don't want to remove the alternator, as i have never done it and am a bit scary in doing that. Is there an easier way to change leads on the drivers side.

Any help will be appreciated.

[adamc11]

I decided to change the Ignition leads on my VY - after 110K. Got the new leads. Changed the passenger side, everything went well. Now i am stuck with the drivers side.

Am curious why bother changing ignition leads in the first place?

[sah]

Am curious why bother changing ignition leads in the first place?

I am running LPG. It has backfired a few times recently. Just as a precautionary measure i decided to change the Leads and Plugs.
Anyway i had never changed the leads and read at few places that they may be deteriorating and it can cause backfires on LPG.

Also since i could not find any way of removing the old leads without removing the Alternator, i removed the alternator and the drive belt. It didn't feel that daunting as i had feared, everything went well. Hope the backfiring problem goes away with this change. If not then i will look at the coils and then the oxygen sensor.

[andyman]

I am running LPG. It has backfired a few times recently. Just as a precautionary measure i decided to change the Leads and Plugs.
Anyway i had never changed the leads and read at few places that they may be deteriorating and it can cause backfires on LPG.

Also since i could not find any way of removing the old leads without removing the Alternator, i removed the alternator and the drive belt. It didn't feel that daunting as i had feared, everything went well. Hope the backfiring problem goes away with this change. If not then i will look at the coils and then the oxygen sensor.

the back firing should go now unless it needs to be tuned, as gas is a dry fuel it requires a very strong spark to ignite it, which obviously places a higher level of wear on you plugs and leads, generally change the plugs every 20,000km for an ecotec and leads maybe 50-60,000km

[sah]

the back firing should go now unless it needs to be tuned, as gas is a dry fuel it requires a very strong spark to ignite it, which obviously places a higher level of wear on you plugs and leads, generally change the plugs every 20,000km for an ecotec and leads maybe 50-60,000km

I got it tuned yesterday and it backfired after that. So today i changed the Leads and the plugs. hope everything goes well from now onwards. Thanks for the Info on the replacement interval

[andyman]

also is the airbox damaged? is it modified to acomodate backfiring (through the intake) ie, 90mm hole drilled with a rubber flap?

if it hasnt it might pay to remove the clips off the box and use bungy strap at each end so it effectevly lifts the lid if it backfires instead of blowing the guts out of the box

[nick_]

When I replaced the plugs and leads on my LPG fitted VY.., I just pulled/pushed each lead through the gap under the alternator.. It took me me a little while to stand there fidgeting with them, but thats probably because I have big hands.. She's been running like a champ since!

-Nick.

[kaishiz]

oh........... i just posted a how to on changing the leads but i found yours here....
so you pushed and pulled..... did it screw up the lead?? did it work and did the leads actually fit through that gap....??
do you think this could be done on a vx aswell. the push and pull...? do they have the same engines and where it is placed??
thanks.

[sah]

oh........... i just posted a how to on changing the leads but i found yours here....
so you pushed and pulled..... did it screw up the lead?? did it work and did the leads actually fit through that gap....??
do you think this could be done on a vx aswell. the push and pull...? do they have the same engines and where it is placed??
thanks.

To me pushing individual leads from the driver side, seemed so difficult. I could have pulled the old leads somehow, but i was not very happy to push the new leads through very narrow spaces risking damaging the new leads. It is very easy to remove the alternator on a VY. First remove the drive belt, and then open the 3 screws for the alternator. The leads are open to take out from there.

[nick_]

Just take your time with the new leads.. They fit just fine.. I just had to spend a little time fiddling with them..

[commsirac]

Provided one removes the plastic engine/rocker cover.....whatever its called, the leads are easy to thread through to the rhs. Thread them through starting with them attached to the coil pack, rather than trying to get the right angled ends back through the gaps around the alternator

[sirjolly18]

With my VS 3.8 it backfired alot and quite bad when i first purchased it. (previous owner failed to mention issues with gas) Replaced leads and plugs with no result, the coils were the problem, then for 3 years no issues, only driven about 25 000km in that time. but only had shit leads 8mm bosch and they had no heat shield over plugs, so taking them off was hard and when i fitted it all back it backfired almost imediatly :P got some new 10mm bosch for $70 and problem solved.

The old air box was blown to bits so replaced with MACE cold air intake. so any further backfire there is more area for air to escape
Make sure you research oil best suited to LPG engines, using castrol 10w - 30 and oil is not burning away compared to 20w - 50.
If your replacing leads and plugs you can be a bit more assertive getting the leads off, Pointy nose plyiers, twist the rubber to break the suction it has on the plugs, clean any corrosion of top of coil packs too.