On doing a tune up on our Chevrolet S10, I found that the #3 Sparkplug was going to be a pain in the ass to get to due to the steering shaft. I was a little hesitant at first but this is how I did it after doing some research.

Don’t be afraid of the steering shaft. In fact, it was designed the way it is so that it can be removed for the purpose of changing the driver side spark plugs. It is very accessible when you remove the air cleaner box.

1. First change all of your passenger spark plugs. These are the easy ones!

2. Next, remove your air cleaner top completely, by unscrewing the four wing bolts, and loosen the pipe strap just before the mass air sensor, and set the air cleaner top aside.

3. Now remove the bottom air box (its strait forward.)

4. Now comes the shaft. Unscrew the bolt at the base of the steering shaft just before the steering box. Remove it completely, and set aside. Note: You may have to turn your steering wheel to display the bolt.

5. Now just simply slide the shaft towards the firewall. If it doesn’t come easily, I like to use a wrench and small hammer to lightly tap it off. Sometime a large flat head screw driver or pry bar will work.

6. Once you have the shaft off of the steering box, pull it completely out, and set it aside. This will give you plenty of space to work with. It is also surprisingly quick to do all of this also.

7. Now have at it with the spark plugs.

8. To install, just simply do the opposite of removal.

I hope this will help some of you out. It may sound like a lot, but it really isn’t. Don’t be afraid of your problem. Tackle it with confidence.