Removal of the upper-IM sounds like a pain in the ***. But if it is easy, then it would be a hell of a lot easier to just remove it for any tune-up.

I did the plugs & wires without removing it last time, and that sucked, but it was not impossible.

 

I have done the wires once without removing the upper IM and again while doing my head gaskets. If I were to do it again I would go ahead and take the upper IM off, just less frustration, cursing and general falling off the engine with your arm trapped between the IM and the firewall. So FWIW if you are decent with a wrench and can follow the directions in the Rave CD then changing the coils is pretty easy.

 

100% agree. No question for me IM removal is the way to go.... maybe I'd feel differently if I ran a sweatshop and had access to some of those tiny hands.

 

Mike- got your message but have been busy. Will call you back either this evening or tomorrow.

I have clarified exactly what my error codes are: misfire on cylinder 1 and 6.

Apparently these are on the same coil, and as far as they're concerned, that is definitive evidence that the coil needs to be replaced. I find their solution to be highly dubious. Any thoughts?

 

Thanks to everyone for all the advice, and to Disco Mike for talking me into trying the cheap solution first. Changed the wires, and it seems to be good to go. $48 + a couple hours of work.

$990 my ***.

 

$48, so you bought some crap wires instead of installing some Magnacor's. You will find out the hard way how long bad wires will last on your engine.
Glad it is running better for now.

 

Mike's right, you'll be changing those wires again in a month or 2. Did you change the plugs also?

 

I got Kingsborne 8mm wires, which are supposed to be pretty good.

I did not change the plugs. The plugs are fine, and only about a year old.

 

Let us know how they hold up for you.

 

Will do. I read on discoweb that a lot of people felt they were of comparable quality to the magnecor wires, and much cheaper. We'll see how it goes.