Two friendly, constructive criticisms. One, generally dielectric grease is only applied to the inside of the spark plug boot where it touches the porcelain insulator, not the metal contact point at the tip as dielectric grease is non-conductive. Not that the thin layer will impede the plug from firing, it's just generally not recommended. Dielectric grease's main purpose in this application is to help seal out moisture from causing flash over, shorting the spark plug, and to help the boot from sticking to the plug. Number two, and I can't stress this enough, never ever start any threaded item using a wrench! Only start threads by hand. Other than that, this was a very well done, well presented video, and the added humor (LOL) was great too. So much so that I subscribed. Please keep up the good work!
I love videos like these. Instructions are clear, easy to follow, and all of the technical information is included in the description. I also liked the humor lol thanks man I just did my first spark plug change!
You saved me a trip to the mechanic. Had a the code p301 and wanted to try replacing the spark plugs. Guess what! It worked. Really well. Code was gone after I follow your video. Really appreciated for the thorough, easy to follow video. You are the man!
I just want to say that you saved me quite some money. I appreciate this tutorial. Keep up the good work. My mechanic said I need a "Tune up" as my car has hesitating on acceleration. Turns up it was the spark plugs. Changed with this video and slam...my car moves as expected!!!
Thank you for this video! I've been getting cylinder 2 misfire codes and didn't want to take it to a shop until I found something to try. I wasn't sure where the spark plugs were, so this opened everything up for me! Thanks again for a great video!
Awesome, let me know how it goes! I went by Manual recommendations in waiting to replace the first time (Cruze 2012 Manual) and was disappointed in the condition of the original plugs; noticeable improvement in performance after replacement.
I have to replace the spark plugs and ignition coil on my 2011 Cruze LT (or pay almost $500 for a shop to do it). Thanks for making the job seem less daunting.
I know nothing about cars but I just used this video to change the spark plugs on my 2015 Chevy Cruze and probably saved a couple hundred dollars by not taking it to a shop. Thanks!
I don’t know anything abt cars either but that’s literally what i’m bout to do to my 15 cruze. they want $570 to do it 😂 when I can pay abt $180 for everything and do it myself . i’ll update when it’s done
You have the best chevy cruze videos on youtube. I swear you made these just for me. People give the cruze a hard time but it is a fuel efficient vehicle that is easy and cheap to work on. I’ve had a couple issues with it but most of the major issues occurred while the vehicle was still under warranty.
Thank you J B I appreciate that. I made these thinking of how I wish they would be made, I would go back and use them for myself to remind as well hah! You're right about easy work. Saved tons of money owning a cruze for years
@@DriveByReviews Me too, have you a new car since then? I’m waiting mine for one more year before I get a new one then i’ll keep the cruze as a backup/commuter car. Just replaced front bumper and spark plugs a few min ago.
@@JB-qt3wo yes! i daily drive a 124 spider abarth! amazing fun. I actually ended up switching out the intake manifold before selling the cruze. failed pcv valve and decided to recoup some cash before further issues.
@@DriveByReviews Congrats! The 124 spider is an amazing vehicle. My pcv valve has failed twice since I bought my cruze (w/ 50k miles) and just recently had the intake manifold replaced. Seems like those parts are pretty much designed to fail after so many miles. The actual design of the 1.4L Ecoboost is excellent, if they just used higher quality materials the car would be extremely reliable. The replacement parts are cheap though! That’s the good thing. I will always love my cruze. Despite some of its flaws I think it’s a great vehicle and shame on GM for being short sighted and totally giving up on designing smaller fuel efficient commuter cars. The millennials and gen z’ers aren’t having as many kids and they won’t need giant trucks and SUV’s. It’s so lazy and irresponsible. Like so many other US businesses they lean on import tariffs on trucks and SUV’s to increase their profit margins. Sign of the times.
@@JB-qt3wo yes exactly, there's a design flaw with the pcv valve BUT there is a replacement someone made out of I believe brass that will bypass it and make a sustainable valve. you just have to drill a hole on the intake manifold and buy the custom parts. I was going to do that video but sold it before I committed to it, mostly becaise they discont the car. i think it's out there on the cruze forums if you plan on running the car to end it is worth it. the 124 is amazingly easier to work on! so far I've upgraded many parts, but it's engineered for performance so there isn't much nonsense fluff from the government mandates. also tuning it next if those stupid chips ever come into eurocompulsions supplier. I also moved to Texas for various reasons and the fuel cost reduction has been very nice. Massive mix of vehicles here from tesla to stack diesels custom billowing
exactly why I made the video, I can't stand it when the tutorial skips the frustrating details. once you know the subtle difficulties the job is a breeze
For anyone watching this make sure you don't use any copper lube or anti seize. Almost every spark plug manufacturer says to never use it on platinum or iridium spark plugs.
nice job but...you should never start spark plugs with the ratchet on hand start them with just the extension until they are finger tight. this will eliminate the chance of cross threading
Had a problem after removing the coil bar on my 2013 Cruze LT--the rubber boots remained stuck inside the cylinders above the spark plugs. The boots were stuck at their bottoms to the heads of the spark plugs so I couldn't remove anything. The trick to removing them was a little bit of WD-40 in the sides and middle. Let sit a few min. Then I stuck my finger all the way down the boot until it was snug, and I pumped it like a plunger until the boot popped out of the cylinder, stuck to my finger. I greased the boots with the dielectric grease before putting them back in after inserting the new spark plugs.
Forgot to mention about gapping the spark plugs - check specific best gap for your car. Get Gap measuring tool and check them. Even if factory gaped as they can change in box if dropped.
Thank you for this great video! Had a P0304 code (misfire in cylinder 4) and after doing a bunch of research and reading of others issues (usually in the same cylinder), most of them had said it was the plug. Figured I would start cheap and go the same route. Your tutorial here really helped me do the job and guess what?? No more misfire! 😁
Thanks for the video I have a 2013 with 85000miles an the book calls for a change at 96 but it has been running a bit rough so I bought some new plugs but haven't put them in yet...
You aren't using a Torque Wrench, should tightness be important when changing these spark plugs, or are things different with newer cars and newer engines? Do you just screw the plugs in like anything else?
something that wasn't mentioned that people should do is to make sure the spark plugs are properly gapped. Even if you buy pre-gapped ones double check as they can get damaged while shipping
When putting plug back in best to remove ratchet from extension and turn plug in hand tight then use ratchet to tighten plug so as to not cross thread the plug.
question on the coil pack clip connector have you heard of anyone when the push the orange clip like you did and push down that the clip broke. have you had anyone have that issue where they push on the clip and it orange clip breaks
+Edward Gutierrez woa, it shouldn't take that much force, especially pushing down. Once you've tilted the clip pushing back and away requires the most force (kinda pops backs) never had an issue with it breaking. One of the draw backs of plastic parts is that risk though.
Edward Gutierrez. I had taken my car to a mechanic and he broke this part too while changing them out.. What's this part called and is it irreplaceable?
Hi DBR! I popped open the rectangular plastic top and I found that the orange clip is held together by a white plastic zip tie. I didn't do that, and I think my dealer or the factory did something to it. Is that plastic zip tie an issue? I noticed that the rectangular plastic top isn't sitting down flush on that corner. Help me DBR Kenobi... you're my only hope. Thanks!
Hi, I received a P0301 error ODBII code on my CRUZE 1.8 Ecotec LT (2014) Korean industry. Do you think can be related to sparks plugs ? I'll give a try to check them at least. Thanks for the video, add for the comments of everyone.
so we did both ignition coil and spark plugs (no grease n stuff) cause it was having bad jerking with misfire codes fixed it for about a week but came back but not as bad so not sure on what else it could be
Thomas Strugar it's what locks the plug in place, unfortunately since they made it out of plastic that happens occasionally. You could buy a replacement and put it on, That's about it :p
Actually yes it does .. My car just turned of on me today left me stranded in the middle of the road well called my mechanic and turns out that piece broke when they changed the spark plugs so when i drove off the connector un hooked and my car turned off .. He was holding it in place and told me to start the car and turn on with no issues so yes it does actually has a purpose lol
not trying to be a nitpicker before you take the spark plugs out should you take some compressed air and blow it around the spark plug so no dirt gets in there so you don't like bend valve stem, just a thought.
what do you call the piece that covers the spark plug the one that has 4 legs and 2 screws with electrical socket the one you detached after you removed the plastic top
chrissy3010 the link goes to a socket set for a 3/8 socket wrench. I'm saying in the video to use the 5/8 of the set on the bolt. If you buy the set you'll have what you need, but to make it not confusing: the socket connects to the wrench with a 3/8 side and holds the bolt on it's 5/8 side. Make sense?
Looking at the tips, they don't look like iridium, try iridium at same .028-.030 gap. Iridium run better as they heat up, cold run bit rough, but they heat up fast.
I kinda get the 2 1/2 hour thing, but should you just use a torque wrench and google torque for model in like 2 seconds? Seems sure way for accuracy and a decent wrench is like 30 bucks to be used over and over again
Yeah, I like to torque to spec a lot more these days, especially since I now daily drive a 124 Spider Abarth that gets very hot from the turbo. But if you're going to use copper grease on the spark plug threads it'll make the torque specs inaccurate and you can end up over torqueing. In this video I opted to use the copper grease (per my engineer mechanic friend) instead of using a torque wrench.
This video was on the 1.4 L Turbo engine in the previous Cruze model. It's definitely going to be different in the LT 1.8 L 2016 model engine. The principles will be the same, however just by looking at 2016 engine pics it seems even the top panel was changed.
You need to change out already on a 2016? Well, you might find a decent tutorial on the cruzetalk forum, where cruze owners go to chat about their cars and solutions to problems.
Drive By Reviews Yes I need to change that plus have the front seal on the motor fixed. It is a 2016. I bought it Memorial Day weekend 2016. Today it has 67,235 miles on it.
Matt Hernandez the directions in the video are referring to the size of the individual socket needed. The link is for a whole socket wrench set that is for a 3/8 inch wrench (the common wrench size to use for a job like this). Basically the side of the socket that connects to the wrench is 3/8, the side that wrenches things is 5/8, hope that helps!
For everyone that plans on doing this themselves please dont count on it being this easy. When I pulled my ignition coil out the rubber boots were stuck inside the hole where the spark plugs are and I couldn't get them out with tearing them. And you can't just go and buy new boots. You have to buy a whole new ignition coil. SO BE CAREFUL
There's an easy way to get them out. I commented about it here 4 years ago: The trick to removing them was a little bit of WD-40 in the sides and middle. Let sit a few min. Then I stuck my finger all the way down the boot until it was snug, and I pumped it like a plunger until the boot popped out of the cylinder, stuck to my finger. I greased the boots with the dielectric grease before putting them back in after inserting the new spark plugs.
