I realise to most of you this will send like a ridiculously elimentary question. I am not mechanically minded, therefore, I am coming to you guys, the enthusiasts for assistance.

I used to own an XD Falcon, changing spark plug wires was simple, however, on my EL Fairmont Ghia it seems near impossible without removing engine components.

Removing the existing wires from the spark plugs is simple but removing them from the distributor cap seems very difficult as it is blocked by both the fuel rail, injectors etc. as well as pipes (I have no idea what the silver pipes/tubes are).

If anyone knows a simple way to carry out this procedure or a tool that may be of assistance I would love to hear about it.

Thanks guys

it is simple but hard in a way

if you remove the airbox it can make it easier
and do 1 plug lead at a time!

or do what i did remvoe the dizzy cap and spark plug leads then put the new leads on and then feed them through the intake manifold then replace teh dizzy cap easy!

You can't do the job without some dismantling. As a minimum, you must remove the air intake tube that goes from the throttle body to the air tube connected to the air box - you just have to remove one bolt and loosen 4 clamps and it should be able to be pulled forward and out of the car.

You may choose to remove the airbox to provide more room to move.
If you have thin and flexible arms, you may be able to fit new leads by reaching under the intake manifold and removing and replacing one lead at a time. Unplug a lead and pull it up and out then drop one end through the manifold and plug it in. Don't forget to replace the protective plastic tube before you plug the other ends of the leads onto the spark plug.
In my case the plastic tube was of a type that has a split running down the middle so it was easy to replace and ziptie around the two lead bundles. I think the standard tube does not have a split so it may be a little trickier to squeeze them into the tube.

Don't do as i did and pull out all leads at one time unless you know the lead numbering on the coil pack which can hardly be see as it is placed in what must be the worst spot i have ever seen. The coil pack is numbered 1,2,3 closest to the block and from front to back, and 6,5,4 furthest from the block again front to back. Oh, and the leads should be mark with cylinder numbers both ends otherwise.

Put the intake ducting back together again but dont overtighten the clamps. You may want to mark the position of the band on the clamps befor you take them off as this helps with making sure you don't overtighten them.

Don't know what the dealers do but i think they attack it from underneath as they have hoists at their disposal.

If anyone knows of a better process, please fes up

Cheers.

One day i may mod this part and place three seperate paired coils above the intake manifold and wire them to the ecu plug. The ignition lead side and coil placement of these cars is s**t

itchi one it is an el so no coil pack. i believe mr el fairmont ghia even mentions he has distributor.

i'm with disco. remove snorkel and airbox if you want extra room. number leads then pull them all off the plugs and then take the whole dizzy cap off and feed them all through. hardest part is the clip on the far sid of the dizzy holding the cap on. replace all leads with cap out of car and then feed them all back in. no doubt you will find a few sharp edges with your arms and broaden the vocabulary of those within earshot.

My mistake, i thought that the EL would have a coilpack like the EF and that the referance to a dissy was in error since EL-Fairmont-GIA states he is not mechanically minded. Appologies for assuming too much.

Cheers

its a pain in the but for something that should be simple!
I ended up removing the air box..as already suggested! and putting my car on ramps.
with the car on ramps it was easier to reach some of them from underneith!..definatly only do one at a time!

quite simple way around this problem, either use numbered leads or write a number yourself on the plug end of the leads before re-installing them. As the Dizzy cap is numbered already you can't go wrong.

yeh it is a bit of a pain in the a** best to take the airbox out and just reach under there, its not worth taking the intake manifold off its not worth the effort really.