Another sparkplug wire topic - but i need help

jphillips · Post by **jphillips** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 4:09 pm

...I decided to check the gap and wear on my plugs while I had the hood up over the weekend because my mileage has been steadily dropping a bit - the plug wire were reeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaallllly tough to get out.

......ended up tearing off the bottom of the #1 boot in the process. about 2" is still in the hole around the plug wire. Although the connectors at both ends are clicked on, I'm getting a nice CEL P0301 now. Yay!

Any tips on retrieving the thing outta the bottom w/o removing the valve cover and unscrewing the tubes?

kc2005ptgt · Post by **kc2005ptgt** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 4:22 pm

Really long needle-nose pliers? Why are you getting a misfire code????

mike9fore · Post by **mike9fore** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 4:44 pm

kc2002acr wrote:Really long needle-nose pliers? Why are you getting a misfire code????

Maybe one of the plugs has gone south on him and creating the misfire? As long as the plug wire is conntected to the plug there shouldnt be a missfire?

jphillips · Post by **jphillips** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 4:58 pm

*edit* - originally it was throwing P0300, now just P0301 which is the wire that still needs to be replaced which is why I'm thinking the cores were damaged in the wire when I yanked 'em. Hopefully this new set will come out easier in the future...

no clue why the misfire tbh - i'm thinking I broke the wire core when i pulled the boots out - they were *that* hard to remove.

The gap on the plugs was way out too - anywhere from 42 to 50 depending on electrode wear. The car just broke 30k miles so they're prolly the factory items and needed to be replaced anyway.

needlenose; don't think it'd work - the tube is really long and it's the bottom 2" or so from the plug boot. Any really long needlenose that could reach would probably be too thin to grab with enough force to pull it up; they fit pretty tight over the plugs themselves.

Paul56 · Post by **Paul56** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 9:16 pm

I have no tips on how to retrieve the broken boot, but when you do and install new plugs...

Before installing the plugs spread a thin coat of dielectric grease on the white part of the spark plug or use a q-tip and spread some of the grease on the inside of the boot.

That will keep the boots from being so difficult to remove next time around.

jphillips · Post by **jphillips** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 11:30 pm

i think it was actually the OD of the boot and the tube... the new plug wires are a tad smaller and go in/out no problem.

I used a coat hangar to fish out the broken boot; used some side cutters to put a point on the straight part, skewered the offending peice and wiggled it up the sparkplug. \o/ yay!

I haven't reset everything yet; didn't want to reprogram the radio stations for the commute tomorrow, but no new codes after the 0300 and 0301 so I think it's licked.

Thanks for all the input everyone!

Post by **occasional demons** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 11:46 pm

jphillips wrote:...I decided to check the gap and wear on my plugs while I had the hood up over the weekend because my mileage has been steadily dropping a bit - the plug wire were reeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaallllly tough to get out.

......ended up tearing off the bottom of the #1 boot in the process. about 2" is still in the hole around the plug wire. Although the connectors at both ends are clicked on, I'm getting a nice CEL P0301 now. Yay!

Any tips on retrieving the thing outta the bottom w/o removing the valve cover and unscrewing the tubes?

Just for future reference: those tubes are pressed into the head don't try to unscrew them!

jphillips · Post by **jphillips** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 1:06 am

nice....glad i didn't pull the valve cover now - i woulda been a tad upset at cracking a factory seal for no good reason!

2GN.ORG

Another sparkplug wire topic - but i need help

Another sparkplug wire topic - but i need help

Re: Another sparkplug wire topic - but i need help