458 DIY Spark Plug change - Easy or Hard? Special Tools?

OK, admittedly so, I have not looked at my engine and frankly can't as my 458 is at the dealer for its last 7 year service. (10k miles on car)

I received a note from them today, suggesting the car needs new plugs and they are happy to do it for..... $983.86....... Queue Record Scratch..... Yup, 8 $14.00 plugs installed for just under $1,000.... Is it April 1st today??

Has anyone here done a plug change on a 458? Is it $871.86 worth of labor? Am I missing something?

I have not looked at the 458 engine bay specifically for sparkplug location and ease of access, but I'd have to assume (please correct me if I'm wrong) the plugs are pretty accessible..... no?

I can't imagine there needs to be some special tool or software to do the change?

Anywho, I'd love to hear from anyone who has changed plugs in their 458 to enlighten me.

Best to all

A

 

I am getting ready to change mine. From what I see they are about 50 bucks each plug.

 

It looks like it would be an easy do at home deal. It will be slightly more contortionist friendly on my spider version as the folding hard top stuff is in the way.

 

I have to question why would plugs be bad at 10k miles .. did the dealer give you indication of why they believe plugs are bad

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Double D's, is that the price from your local F-Store? If you take the plug number NGK 297423 or NGk 254771, they are about $14 bucks at your local auto parts store.....

Flash, I would agree in principle, but admittedly the car does load up pretty quickly if I just start it and idle.. (I'm in the North East and can't drive it all winter so sometimes I just start it to warm up the fluids...Doing so seem to load it up..)

 

So, Ian, you looked and you can see all the plug ends are pretty accessible?

 

Yes

 

In your case, I would pull them, bead blast, and reinstall. Of course, I own a bead blaster...

 

Fwiw ..idling a car in cold weather is worse than having it sit for 3 months with a battery tender on it

The 9 10! quarts of oil we have in our cars doesn't heat up enough to burn fuel and water away causing faster degradation of the oil ..

Starting a car and letting it idle is not a good thing ..for oil plugs injectors etc

If plugs are fauled badly what you said makes sense if you don't get her warmed up and stretch your legs every time you start her


If slightly dirty ..maybe an Italian tune up is in order ..that being ..warmup good and then push her a little ..heat and pressure will clean stuff up


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Best to leave stored properly during no drive months with no startup. Also should avoid cleaning plugs unless in an emergency. 10K miles for plugs seems strange. Maybe check the service schedule to see if expected. 458s have been posted to have some direct injection load ups if not driven hard enough to clear out. Some require cleaning of the intake manifolds as well.

 

there was a thread on here I found that listed the plugs as NGK MR8AP 8HJS (actual number on the porcelain) as an updated Plug to the original NGK. I believe the original non revised plug had a 7 where the 8 is. The original plug is still available and widely used and is about 15 bucks. The revised plug is around 50 and seems to be not so widely available. If something has changed and you are seeing otherwise please share your findings as 15 is more appealing than 50 for a plug.

 

LOL, Ian, I own a sandblaster, but I wouldn't use it for that... $50 for plugs and an hour to change seems reasonable

 

Flash, yea, until last winter, I never started up any of my cars while in storage, then for some reason, someone gave me grief and said I should start and run the Fcars once a month, until full hot.. So I did and have been fighting it since....

I'm thinking the dealer (although I have not asked them) think that putting in new plugs will clear up this intermittent bad idle at start up I have been struggling with

lesson learned....

 

Flash, Oh, and yes, an Italian tune up does clear them but its a Pia for the first 10 min...

 

Solid State, as the car is at the dealership for its last 7 year free check up (sniff, sniff...) I did ask them to check intake...

 

DD, The 7 vs the 8 should be for temp range....

After I pick the car up (unless the dealer is willing to trade me for a Speciale or a Pista) I'll order plugs and update the thread.... I am waiting for a new directional ECU to be installed so I am hoping for next week....

Btw, the dealer has some stunning Pista's in stock, as well as an amazing custom 812... Yowza

 

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My dealer wants $2000 to do this. $600 for 8 plugs and then $1400 in labor to change them!!!


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I'll do it for $1950

Just kidding. I do not actually want to work.

 

Just ordered this and a few other socket extensions and swivels. I think I’ll be ok doing it myself.

Any suggestions on a pry tool to take out the coil?

https://www.amazon.com/Magnetic-Universal-Joint-Socket-Removal/dp/B07V5TPFHR/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?crid=HVLTBKTJN1MC&keywords=16mm+spark+plug+socket+magnetic&qid=1641432333&refinements=p_85%3A2470955011&rnid=2470954011&rps=1&sprefix=16mm+spark+%2Caps%2C150&sr=8-4


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Here's Dan's Video Tutorial. Dont look too bad if your handy, which im admittedly not LOL. Some good tips and great step by step. The whole video is 9 minutes long so not too much work

 

I do a lot of my own work, and I have to say, for some reason, the 458 was the absolute hardest spark plugs that I've ever changed in my life!! The interesting part is that it's a VERY straight forward job (not like my CX-9 where I have to remove the plenum) however, the coils were so stuck (only about 9,000 miles on the car), some of them were almost impossible!! I couldn't find the right combination of pry bars to get the coils off. Other than that minor detail, it wasn't too bad. The crazy part is that I do all my work without touching the body of the car (I'm super anal with the finish), so I'm sure that made it much harder. It took me a total of about 10 hrs!!! 9 hrs of fighting, and 1 hour of actual work, lol I was bruised all over, and my hands hurt for over a week, and were swollen. I'm not kidding!
For comparison, I replaced the plugs on my 360, which is essentially the same work, and engine layout. That was a very easy and pleasurable job that took slightly over an hour start to finish. Big difference.
If you happen to figure out a good tool/pry bar to take the coils off, please share with us.

 

Yes- if anyone has recommendations on what pry bar to use please post it!


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Normalguy can't wipe off some of the road dirt from that engine bay seeing as it was all taken apart? Otherwise a good video.

 

Would plastic trim removal pry tools work?