Stan Posted December 27, 2007 Share Posted December 27, 2007 Thought I would give my 2001 Pathfinder a Christmas present by installing new spark plugs, but I can't even find them on the engine. No plugs, no wires, no coil(s), nothing to be seen anywhere even with a mirror and a light. Unfortunately it's not a diesel, so they must there somewhere. Do I have to pull the intake manifold off to find them? Where oh where are the spark plugs located on this engine? Anything special or different to change them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted December 27, 2007 Share Posted December 27, 2007 wtf? there have to be wires. did you look on the side of the motor? distributor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stan Posted December 27, 2007 Author Share Posted December 27, 2007 wtf? there have to be wires. did you look on the side of the motor? distributor? I was looking for the distributer, but could not even see that. This is a first for me on any engine, because in the past I have always been able to quickly find any component. Had I seen the distributer I could have traced the HT wires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted December 27, 2007 Share Posted December 27, 2007 do you have a camera? wanna snap a pic and link it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
govols74n Posted December 27, 2007 Share Posted December 27, 2007 I was looking for the distributer, but could not even see that. This is a first for me on any engine, because in the past I have always been able to quickly find any component. Had I seen the distributer I could have traced the HT wires. Probably have to take the plastic plate off of the top like on my grand am.....I couldnt find those either, then there they were, under that big black plate or cover, whatever you want to call it.these wierd wires and the part that slips onto the plug was way down in the engine....it was wierd.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostPath Posted December 27, 2007 Share Posted December 27, 2007 Modern vehicles use either coil-on-plug or coil-pack distributorless ignition. It makes the system more redundant (against single-point failure) and lets you infinitely vary ignition timing as needed. This is part of why modern engines make so much more power per displacement than they used to while getting better fuel economy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stan Posted December 27, 2007 Author Share Posted December 27, 2007 Probably have to take the plastic plate off of the top like on my grand am.....I couldnt find those either, then there they were, under that big black plate or cover, whatever you want to call it.these wierd wires and the part that slips onto the plug was way down in the engine....it was wierd.... Thanks for all the replies. I took that big plastic thingamajig off and still can't see anything. Took a mirror and a strong light and looked from all angles from the side. Still nothing. Surely I don't have to take the intake manifold off, which looks like the next logical step. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted December 28, 2007 Share Posted December 28, 2007 snap some pictures of the engine and we'll see for ourselves and we'll all be buffled or we'll figure it out together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted December 28, 2007 Share Posted December 28, 2007 IIRC the plugs are on the INSIDE of the "V", not the outside like a Chevy V8. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted December 28, 2007 Share Posted December 28, 2007 let's move this to the r50 section.. none of those guys and gal had anything to say. they ought to know, i am thinking.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PDCCD Posted December 29, 2007 Share Posted December 29, 2007 Modern vehicles use either coil-on-plug or coil-pack distributorless ignition. It makes the system more redundant (against single-point failure) and lets you infinitely vary ignition timing as needed. This is part of why modern engines make so much more power per displacement than they used to while getting better fuel economy. Yep, I went around this recently. It appears that each plug has it's own coil-pack. It took the parts counter guy 3 tries to get it through to me. I've never seen anything like it, and if i told you i get how it works exactly, i'd be lying lol. No wires, no distributor... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
02silverpathy Posted December 29, 2007 Share Posted December 29, 2007 Right on, there are 3 ,little black boxes in the center of the valve coves on either side...these are the coils. The plugs are underneath. The coils have cute little bolts holding them fast. You CAN change them without removing the intake(s). I spent about 1.5 hrs changing mine, I was surprised soo much time elapsed, but I wanted to becareful instead of having to replace a coil! On these engines, the plugs are right in the middle of the intake and exhaust valves...man those Chevy's are tough to change plugs on too! Go through the wheel well on some!! Think Chevy blazer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted December 29, 2007 Share Posted December 29, 2007 Yep, I went around this recently. It appears that each plug has it's own coil-pack. It took the parts counter guy 3 tries to get it through to me. I've never seen anything like it, and if i told you i get how it works exactly, i'd be lying lol. No wires, no distributor... My buddy Brian had a 93 300ZX for a while, the VG30DE has the same setup. Coil-on-plug isn't all that uncommon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laxman0324 Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 On these engines, the plugs are right in the middle of the intake and exhaust valves...man those Chevy's are tough to change plugs on too! Go through the wheel well on some!! Think Chevy blazer! my mercedes was the same way...wheel well lining removed, wheel removed, and still 3 hours of work...and that had 12!!! spark plugs for a V6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
02silverpathy Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 Seems like every couple of years a car manufacturer tries something with multiple spark plugs again....was it the early z24's that had extra plugs? Lol, but it ran like Hell!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navygz19 Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 Seems like every couple of years a car manufacturer tries something with multiple spark plugs again....was it the early z24's that had extra plugs? Lol, but it ran like Hell!! Yep. the HB 2.4's had 8...and the only people who will ever believe that are the people who have worked on them before! Wasn't it the KA24? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostPath Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 Yep. the HB 2.4's had 8...and the only people who will ever believe that are the people who have worked on them before! Wasn't it the KA24? No, the KA24 was the replacement for the twin-spark Z24/Z24I. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowTied Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 (edited) wtf? there have to be wires. did you look on the side of the motor? distributor? Nope! No distributor, no wires. Nice and simple eh? The plugs are in the valve covers, just like the old Hemi engines of the 60s. The difference though is that there is no distributor/plug wire just a small coil on top of each plug. You cannot see the plug, only the top of the coil, secured by one bolt as mentioned. Look at the very last pictures in my thread in this forum on thread locking power valve screws - I have a pic of the coil removed and a pic of the top of the plug down inside the valve cover. Hope that helps. R Edited December 31, 2007 by BowTied Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostPath Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 my mercedes was the same way...wheel well lining removed, wheel removed, and still 3 hours of work...and that had 12!!! spark plugs for a V6 Nissan actually is one of the record holders for "most asinine spark plug location." Want to change the spark plugs on a first-gen Q45? Step 1 is "remove the engine." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 Step 1 is "remove the engine." oh ford and chevy are known for this brain fart too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stan Posted January 12, 2008 Author Share Posted January 12, 2008 Nope! No distributor, no wires. Nice and simple eh? The plugs are in the valve covers, just like the old Hemi engines of the 60s. The difference though is that there is no distributor/plug wire just a small coil on top of each plug. You cannot see the plug, only the top of the coil, secured by one bolt as mentioned. Look at the very last pictures in my thread in this forum on thread locking power valve screws - I have a pic of the coil removed and a pic of the top of the plug down inside the valve cover. Hope that helps. R Thanks a lot for all the answers. Have just returned from a long trip, so when I have more time will do some digging on the engine and see if I can uncover these elusive plugs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stan Posted February 10, 2008 Author Share Posted February 10, 2008 Thanks a lot for all the answers. Have just returned from a long trip, so when I have more time will do some digging on the engine and see if I can uncover these elusive plugs. Finally got around to changing the spark plugs. Once I knew whare to look and the fact that it was one coil per plug, it was relatively easy to find them. A few of them were not that easy to access, but after I removed some 'stuff' the job was relatively easy. Thanks for all your help. Time to buy a good shop manual, so that is my next research job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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