On the DS Ram 1500 this is a straightforward coil-on-plug job with one twist: the 5.7L Hemi runs two spark plugs per cylinder, so it takes 16 plugs, and eight of them sit under a short wire hanging off each coil. The 3.6L Pentastar and early 4.7L V8 are conventional one-plug-per-cylinder setups. Nothing needs to come off the intake on any of them; it is coil bolts, extensions, and patience around the driver-side rear cylinders.
What varies is plug count and interval, not tool sizes. Every gas engine here uses a 5/8 in plug socket and an 8 mm coil bolt. The things people get wrong: buying 8 plugs for a Hemi, and working on a warm engine and pulling threads out of the aluminum head. Blow the wells out with air before you loosen a single plug, and start every new plug by hand.
| Item | Type | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratchet 3/8 in drive, 72-tooth or finer Main driver for coil bolts and plugs in tight fender-well space. | Required | shop |
| Socket, coil bolts 8 mm 6-point, 3/8 in drive (shallow and deep) Removes the single M6 bolt holding each ignition coil. | Required | shop |
| Extension set 3/8 in drive, 3 in, 6 in, 10 in Reaches coils and plugs down in the cylinder head wells. | Required | shop |
| Wobble / swivel extension 3/8 in drive, 6 in and 8 in wobble Gets at the Hemi lower plugs and the driver-side plugs near the steering shaft and brake booster. | Required | shop |
| Spark plug socket 5/8 in (16 mm) thin-wall, magnetic or rubber insert, 3/8 in drive Fits all DS gas engine plugs; thin wall is needed in the narrow wells. | Required | shop |
| Universal joint / swivel plug socket 5/8 in swivel spark plug socket, 3/8 in drive Makes the Hemi lower bank plugs and the rear-most cylinders far easier. | Recommended | shop |
| Spark plug boot puller Insulated plug wire pliers Pulls the short Hemi coil-to-lower-plug wires without tearing the boots. | Recommended | shop |
| Small pick or trim tool Plastic pick set Releases the red locking tabs on the coil electrical connectors. | Recommended | shop |
| Torque wrench 3/8 in drive, 10-60 ft-lb Plugs thread into aluminum heads; guessing strips threads. | Required | shop |
| Torque wrench, inch-pound 1/4 or 3/8 in drive, 20-200 in-lb For the low-torque coil mounting bolts. | Recommended | shop |
| Spark plug gap gauge Wire-type or coin gauge, 0.020-0.060 in Verify new plug gap (5.7L spec is 0.043 in) before installing. | Required | shop |
| Compressed air or vacuum Blow gun with long nozzle Clear dirt out of the plug wells so nothing falls into the cylinder. | Required | shop |
| Shop rags and brake cleaner Clean oil off coil boots and around the wells. | Consumables | shop |
| Dielectric grease Silicone dielectric tune-up grease Thin film inside coil and wire boots so they don't stick or arc. | Consumables | shop |
| Anti-seize (optional) Nickel anti-seize, very light film on threads only Only if plugs are not pre-coated; keep it off the electrode and never overapply. | Consumables | shop |
| Spark plugs 5.7L: 16 plugs, OE Champion RE14MCC5 / NGK equivalent, gap 0.043 in. 3.6L: 6 plugs (NGK/Mopar platinum). 4.7L: 8 plugs (Mopar SP-type). EcoDiesel: none. The parts themselves; match the engine and count exactly. | Parts | shop |
| Nitrile gloves and eye protection Hot engine bay grime and compressed air debris. | Safety | shop |
| Jack and jack stands 2.5 ton minimum, or ramps Optional access from below/through the wheel well for Hemi lower rear plugs on some trucks. | Safety | shop |
Socket sizes are identical across 3.6L, 4.7L and 5.7L: 5/8 in plug socket, 8 mm coil bolt. The difference is count and access: 5.7L Hemi needs 16 plugs and requires pulling the short coil-to-lower-plug wire on each cylinder; 4.7L uses 8 plugs in deep wells needing a long thin-wall socket; 3.6L uses 6 plugs and requires lifting the plastic engine cover first. The 3.0L EcoDiesel has no spark plugs.
| Spark plugs, 5.7L Hemi (aluminum head) | 13 ft-lb (17.5 Nm) |
| Spark plugs, 3.6L Pentastar | verify in the service manual (roughly 13-15 ft-lb range) |
| Spark plugs, 4.7L V8 | verify in the service manual |
| Ignition coil mounting bolt (M6) | verify in the service manual (low, around 70-90 in-lb) |
The 5/8 in plug socket and 8 mm coil bolt are correct across all DS gas engines and I am confident in the 5.7L 13 ft-lb plug spec and 0.043 in gap; verify the 3.6L and 4.7L plug torque and your exact plug part number against the FSM or parts catalog for your build year.
Sixteen. The Hemi uses two plugs per cylinder for cleaner combustion. Each coil fires the upper plug directly and the lower plug through a short wire on the same cylinder.
A 5/8 in (16 mm) thin-wall spark plug socket on 3/8 in drive for all gas engines in this generation. The ignition coil bolts are 8 mm.
The 5.7L Hemi copper-style OE plugs are typically listed around 30,000-32,000 miles, while the 3.6L Pentastar platinum plugs go closer to 100,000 miles. Check the maintenance schedule for your specific year and plug type.
No. Plugs are reachable from above on all three gas engines with wobble extensions. Some owners find the rear Hemi lower plugs easier through the front wheel well, but it is optional.