01 E430 spark plug wire removal....

[citruspilot]

Hey folks. Havent posted in awhile. Been busy working and doing other things. Plus the car has been fine. Noticed a slight miss at idle over the past week or so. So I bought a set of NGK platinum plugs to put in. Car has 120K now and I do not know if they have ever been changed. Just wanted to ask, how do the wires come off? They have a metal shield around the plug. I didnt want to start pulling on them if they are attached somehow.

Thanks in advance.

Jeff

[stevejensen]

Check in with ohlord for his removal tool.

[gregs210]

Or look at the DIYs...or do a search...etc.

The wrench is cheap enough on ebay.

Or fly me out there, put me up and feed me and I'll give you a hand. Order motor mounts and do them at the same time, one side of each at a time, and you get extra room to work.

And at 120K don't forget the O2 sensors.

[redwood]

There is no maintenance or service interval for the wires on the M113 motor. If you want to change something definitely change the 02 sensors although the OBD will pick this up and trip the service engine lamp when the O2 sensors go out of range and loose their efficiency. all late model mercs have a pretty much maintenance free ignition system except for the spark plugs (do use only OEM plugs though) NKG was actually on original equipment supplier for M112 and some M113 motors.

cheers

[citruspilot]

Havent done this job yet. Like I said above I have been flying my tail off. OK, so there is not a special tool except for ohlords? I did read the DIY posted and saw a few ideas posted without the tool. But the tool makes it a snap?

Bought the NGK 7090 plugs as mentioned. I am pretty resourceful and mechanically inclined. Just cant seem to muster up the nerve to get my hands cut up and dirty.

So Greg, you'll fly out to Charlotte on a buddy pass, help me do the plugs, as I watch drinking beer of course, and all I have to do is feed you pizza and let you sleep on my couch? DEAL!

As far as the slight miss, I guess the motor mounts are bad too. I can get them for about $109 each from the dealership with a dealer discount thru my friend. Are they easy? How much do the exhaust pipes get in the way? I have a floorjack just dont know about r&r process.

Jeff

[gregs210]

The mounts are easy enough and if you do them with the plugs (properly) it makes the plugs a lot easier, too.

You can order OEM mounts from autohausaz.com for about half your dealer price and they include free shipping.

Helping means a sharing of the load but me mostly supervising. Buddy pass is okay so long as there's a light load with good odds for 1st class (makes all the difference in those cross-country flights).

[citruspilot]

I dont know Greg. A lawyer and an airline pilot trying to work on a Mercedes??? Sounds kinda scary to me.

Thanks for the autohauzaz.com suggestion. I am sure that by now, 120K, my mounts are worn out. I guess thats why I am feeling this slight miss more now than before.

PS: I had a little incident a few weeks ago. A 13 year old kid darted out in front of me. I was going about 35. I swerved as hard as I could but still impacted the boy with the "side" of my right front fender just behind the headlight. THANK GOD he wasnt hurt more than he was, fractured leg. I was devistated for a few days as you could imagine.

My car just got out of the body shop. $2800 worth of damage, rt front fender replaced, hood repaired, pass side mirror, front side pass door glass shattered by mirror, and bumps and scraps down the rt side. Thats OK though, the kid is still alive!! (Not my fault. He admitted running into my path. Three witnesses agreed.)

Jeff