After 199,200+ miles, I've decided to embark on this. There is next to no info on this in the manual, and I looked thru the FAQs, but saw only 5.2 &5.9 info. I expect to also replace the heater hoses while in there. The biggest issue I see is the trans dipstick tube being only ~ an inch above the coil on the right rear plug/coil. Does that tube need to be removed from below to get that puppy out?

 

No, you don't need to move the dipstick to change your coil packs and plugs. Personally, I'd just change the plugs. I think my coils are all original at 290K. If you're changing the heater hoses, be careful not to deform the pipes that protrude from the firewall. I would carefully slit the old ones when removing and grease the new ones with dielectric grease, before installing. If you're only doing this for maintenance sake and the hoses are not bad, leave them alone.

 

A local guy told me today that he nudged the tube to the side a bit on his Jeep to get that back coil off. The evap& heater core were replaced about 5 yrs, ago, and the water pump last year, but the hoses are original (we bought it new) and no one suggested replacing the hoses then, but 17 yrs. seems a bit extreme, so I was going to change them as a matter of principle.