Apparently a mouse chewed the wires on my fuel injector connector. Spark plugs need replacing now?

General Questions
#1

The check engine light was flashing; the engine was running rough.

I took the 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe into the shop.

It took a while to diagnose, but apparently a mouse (or chipmunk or something) had got into the engine and chewed the wires on one of the fuel injector connectors. Apparently these aren’t typically stocked in North America, so they’re going to repair the wiring in the shop at one to two hours labour.

These guys also tried to talk me into replacing the spark plugs, because driving it for a few days without that cylinder firing is sure to have damaged the spark plug in that location (#5).

And apparently spark plug replacement on this car is not a DIY job: 2 - 3 hours labour for mechanic, according to them. I told them to leave the plugs alone for now (75K Kms on car). It doesn’t make sense to me that an unfiring plug would be damaged.

I have no reason to doubt that the mouse issue is for real: lucky me!

How does the rest of the story add up wrt labour and spark plug damage?

#2

I’ve been fixing cars professionally for nearly 40 years and I’ve never heard of a spark being damaged that way. That strikes me as quite a load of bull.

Labor time for plug replacement is as they said.

#3

Thanks Gary.

Is a plug change on this thing really so onerous?

#4

What’s the engine size?

#5

3.3

#6

Apparently it’s necessary to remove the upper intake manifold (plenum) to access the plugs on the rear bank. There are a lot of details to attend to – throttle cable(s), various electrical connectors, vacuum hoses, etc. This is fairly common on Asian transverse mounted V-6’s.

#7

Gone are the days when I used to sit on the fender of my dad’s 1974 Parisienne, my legs dangling in the empty space between the engine and the fender, and change the plugs in like 30 minutes, top!

#8

What, pray tell, is that? :smiley: