I need to get spark plugs for my 2005 Chrysler 300. What brand should I buy? Also I called a service department in my town and they said they charge $40 and hour for labor, could it really take longer than an hour to change these spark plugs??
The owner’s manual for your car will probably have a recommendation for which sparks plugs to use.
The spark plugs in some engines are VERY difficult to get at. It could easily take an hour or more to change them. Open the hood and look. Are the spark plugs within easy reach?
well, I looked in the owners manual and all it said was “see engine emissions blah blah blah” as far as which spark plugs to get, and I couldn’t find that tab…and I did open the hood I cant find anything. I have tried to educate myself on maintness but its hard. Im always worried someones going to jack up the price and tell me i need all this unnecessary work because im a girl. But I am trying to learn.
Which engine??? Friends 300 had 16 plugs (2 per cylinder). Took him an afternoon to change them. A good mechanic should be able to do them in less time.
Stick with OEM plugs or at least the same type of plug (I.E. platinum). Avoid the gimmicky spark plugs, they generally don’t work any better than regular plugs. $40 per hour for labor at a dealership? That’s really low, most places around here charge at least double that, even independent mechanics aren’t anywhere near that cheap. And yes depending on what the book says it could easily take more than an hour to replace the spark plugs, especially if you have the Hemi V8 which has two spark plugs per cylinder.
Use the spark plug that is recommended by the factory.
Forty dollars per flat rate hour is cheap anywhere. It also sounds like you’re misinterpreting the labor charge by assuming 40 dollars per flat rate hour means that 1 hour of labor is involved.
What this means is that if the flat rate labor time is 3 hours for example, you will be charged 3 hours X 40 dollars per for a total of 120 dollars; not 1 hour for 40 bucks total.
Any complaints over the cost, difficulty, and flat rate time involved in changing plugs should be taken up with the people who design and build cars; not the people who have to service them.
The “engine emissions blah blah blah” section might be in the owner’s manual, or it might be a separate book or smaller pamphlet.
Whatever, if the manual tells you to look there for information regarding spark plugs, then you’ll have to find it and see what it says.
Nickalicious, Look Under The Hood, Again. Look Up For A Sticker. It May Be Right On The Hood Itself.
All my Chyrsler cars had/have these stickers that specify the exact spark plugs, by number, usually champion. Use what it says.
CSA
As much as I encourage folks to learn about their cars, you may just not be cut out for it. If determining the spark plug for your car is not something you want to do, I wouldn’t recommend you try anything else besides using the ‘mechanic finder’ on this web site to get a mechanic you can trust. I am absolutely not being critical, there are some things that any given person won’t want to do.
My mechanic charges $95 an hour.
If you really want to work on your car, take a community college course.
Your public library probably has car repair guides for your make and model, even just reading them and going to mechanic “educated” helps.
And I have to say, except for one $500 fleecing I have had REALLY good mechanics.
Use this site’s guide and check Yelp reviews for your area too.