I have 130,000 miles on the Ram now. I bought it with 50,000 miles on it. I need to change the spark plugs. Does anyone have any recommendations? Is there 8 or 16? I don't have the manual. I was told 8 are iridium and 8 are regular plugs.


The other question is I have never changed the transmission fluid. My mechanic buddy says not to do it now. It will cause me problems.

 

Your "buddy" doesn't know much. It may be risky to flush the tranny, but a fluid/filter change won't hurt. If your Ram is the 4.7L, you're overdue big time on the top plugs, not so much on the lower ones. If it's a Hemi, you're WAY OVERDUE for plugs.

 

It's a 4.7 Flex Fuel. I thought about dropping the pan on the transmission and changing the fluid. He said he's had bad experiences where people have done that and the transmission stopped working. He's a solid mechanic and knows his stuff.

 

Does this guy also recommend the outdated 3,000-mile oil change interval as well? He doesn't appear very "solid".

As for the "8 Iridium and 8 regular plugs" -- well, that isn't the stock configuration, nor is it recommended.

Here is a recent thread discussing spark plugs that should help: Spark Plug Help

 

I replaced mine with the cheap oem plugs like most recommend on here.

 

The bottom plugs are either platinum or iridium. Probably platinum, hence the 102K change interval.

 

I've searched high and low for the service manual or other information and came up dry. , the upper bank is Bosch #FR8TE2 (Copper) and the lower bank is Bosch #FR8TI332 (Platinum). A previous owner most likely changed out the plugs and converted to the Iridium. I should have taken into consideration that a Flex Fuel engine would not use all copper spark plugs. Normally, Dodge truck gas engines don't run well on anything other than copper spark plugs provided the ECU has not been tuned.

I disagree with what the mechanic said about not servicing the transmission. That's just a recipes for disaster down the road that can lead to a large repair bill.

 

Well I'm ASE certified and I'm saying your mechanic buddy is an a$$. While I'm not in favor of flushing a transmission at that age you definitely need to do a pan drop, drain and refill.

The only time I've seen this cause a problem is when the gasket installs after we're screwed up. Maybe your buddy has messed up a few gaskets and caused his own issues???