I own an 87 3.2 Mondial. A couple of weeks ago it developed a slight miss. Did not really care as the car was due to go into the shop in a few days. Then that date moved to Arpil. I had already bought new extenders and spark plugs for the car to be used during the shop stay. With this additional time I decided to do the extender/spark plug swap myself. Was able to do the bank toward the rear of the car successfully. Maybe so successfully that the miss has gone away, and the car seems to start better. Will give the car a road test to verify that the miss is gone. Because of my success in removing the extenders and spark plugs from the rear bank I decided to do the front bank. Prior to this I had already removed the old extender and replaced it with a new one on cylinder #4 of the front bank. Went to remove that cylinders new extender and I'll be damned if I could get it out. Tried to grab and pull this new extender off with my fingers (used my fingers to get the old extender off okay), and a pair of pliers. Is there any tool or trick that someone knows of to latch onto to that extender and get the extender off? Finally I said the hell with it and decided to leave it to the shop to replace that plug, after they figure out how to get the extender off. NOTE: The new extenders I bought from Superperformance are configured differently than the old ones I had in the car. They seem to work just as well though, maybe too well if you want to get them off. After that unsucessful attempt I moved over to the right side of the car to do the same thing on cylinder #1 of the front bank. Got the old extender off cylinder #1 with my fingers, swore at the extender on cylinder #4. Then started to remove the spark plug. Problem right away. With my new spark plug socket attached to a six inch wrech extension I found out I could not insert it into the hole to get to the spark plug, firewall was in the way. Then I realized that this was going to be a problem for all four spark plugs on that bank. What is the trick to remove the spark plugs for these cylinders and replace the spark plugs? Is there a special tool to do this? Are an extra pair of long arms needed to get to cylinders #2 and #3? At least the car seems to be running better (no miss, I hope), maybe well enough to pass a smog test. With the miss the car failed the California smog test. Any tips, recommenations, or ideas would be appreciated. Any one with long arms would be appreciated also. Thanks ceb39
There is a spark plug tool socket in the oem tool kit. Not sure why the extenders would be so hard to remove, might just vice grip and yank, I suppose the worst case you would just break the plug ceramic?
OK you are going to think I'm a total nut job for saying this but on my Lotus Excel SE the oil filter can't be got at with a removing tool and I can only just get at it with one hand. So what I do is to put contact adheasive on the palm of my hand, let it go tacky and then grab the filter. This obviously gives me a limpet like grip that gets the filter off everytime. Rubber gloves don't work so well but they are an option, but the old glue on the hand or fingers works eveytime, because it's gripping that tires the muscles more than pulling or twisting. Try it, it works great, ha ha. All the best Bell. Oh by the way I did a few days ago to my Ferrari for the same reason as you, I just glued my fingers and pulled it out.
I believe our plugs go in without the screw on cap on top so it's threaded. The extender should unscrew from the plug and then come out. On the cab I didn't have any problem with the forward plugs but we have a different setup and more access. You might drop the spark plug socket into place and then come in with the extension and then attach the ratchet to that. Assemble in place.
If you break anything removing an extender, then be sure to vacuum out the plug hole before removing the plug itself.
I don't have this issue on my t, but why wouldn't a universal attached to the socket give you the clearance you need? Regards, Jerry
As suggested, the use of pliers to remove the extenders works for stubborn connections In regards to removing the plugs with the firewall issue, I attach the spark plug socket on the shortest extension tool that allows the connection to clear the plug hole and allows the attachment of the socket wrench. I lower the spark plug socket attached to the extension into the plug hole and verify it is seated on the plug by rotating it with my fingers. Once seated, I attach the wrench and loosen the plug. Once the plug is loose I remove the socket wrench from the extension and pull the plug out by hand. I have never had a problem with this method. It is tight on the front bank but doable.
Why not just remove the access panel from inside the car? It located in the middle just below the rear window. The leather is velcroed so just lift up the edges to expose the Philips head screws. I think there are 6 of them.
Well the job is done. Thank you for all the help and suggestions. Mitchell's idea of taping the pieces is a good one. Got my spark plug socket on to one of the spark plugs just to see if it would work. When I pulled it off the universal came off but the spark plug socket stayed on the spark plug. After many attempts to get to I finally remove the engine compartment lid. Learned how to do something else on my Ferrari today. And I did it without scratching any of the paint. With that lid off things went much faster and easier. So I have all new extenders and spark plugs. Car started right up and I think the miss I had is gone. One thing I did learn is that when putting on these new extenders you can screw them onto the spark plugs and get a good fit. Oh, one other thing. This post was generated by my inability to remove the new extender I used on the cylinder #4 on the front bank. Because I still had not changed the spark plug, I still had to remove it (this was before I removed the enginer compartment lid). Went to pull the wire off the extender, and that f***ing extender came off with the wire. If I would have had an extra extender I would have thrown the sucker as far as I could. Again wish to thank you for all your help and suggestions, and thank my wife for helping me put the engine compartment lid back on. Will have to take her out to dinner for that. ceb39
As smart as Ferrari engineers should be you mean they did not put the removeable panel in the coupe? Just did some winter work to my cabriolet.removed plenum for repaint,replaced front header.Without that removable panel it would have been impossible.
Wade: It has been my experience, that many design engineers do not think about the people who will have to take things apart and fix them. It is only a guess, but it would not surprise me that the access panel on the cabs. came some time after the original design, but before they went into production. Probaby some lowly mechanic who asked, "Hey, how do we get to this stuff, once the car is put together?" Dan: My advice would be to marry rich, and be able to take all your Ferrari's to a shop. ceb39
The coupe and cab engine bays open differently. On the cab we need the space for the top to sit while it is down and that is over the engine. The coupe opening from the engine lid is larger and allows access. Without the inside hatch it would not be possible to service the cab on the front bank. None of them are a piece of cake, but that is why we cabs have the hatch. I believe the difference is largely in where the rear window comes down.
very interesting.I have never seen a coupe but that makes sense.maybe those Ferrari guys are smarter than I give them credit.and I guess they made the coupe long before the cab and modified for it
