#@$%^!!! Removing Spark Plug Wires, Help!

[Jason_25]

This is a joke, right? I can't beleive this is so hard. Everything is in the friggin way. I can't even get the wires off because there is no where to put the remover tool to pry from.

Are there any tips to doing this besides removing the whole engine?

 

[Frisckey1]

A lot of patience and some duct tape around the knuckles for the scrapes...my husband cursed the whole time he did mine...just wait till you have to put the new wires back!

 

[jasonb]

jason... from what i've read.. its easier to take off the tires and wheel well liners and go through the side. one person mentioned even standing on top of the engine! hah. i dread doing this and i'm going to be doing it soon i think.

 

[Yomie]

I just did mine on my OHV this weekend and ended up removing the plug wires through the wheel openings, i do have a Body lift, so it made it a lil easier for me

 

[Jason_25]

Ok got it done. The passenger side was very easy because of the short wires and the the fact that I could reach them from the fenderwell. The reason the driver's was so hard is because the EGR is in the way

 

[mosinman]

Took one look at my SOHC and decided plugs/wires was one thing I was gonna let the dealer do. I was pretty sure my hands and tools couln't make the required bends to do the job. Congrats on a job I wussed out on.

 

[Blue Steel]

you would think they would make it easier, but noo! a 10 minute job turned into an hour and a half job. that's pretty messed up in my opinion.

 

[CDblazers]

I just changed plugs in my 99 sohc ...definately go through the fender wells the covers remove easy and its makes the job tons easier I didnt remove the wheels just cut the wheel to the right to open up more room not to bad like this. but still a definately head scratching job...

 

[Robert]

As bad as the plugs were to change on my '97 SOHC, they were still much easier to change than my Wife's '93 3.8L Sable. With the engine sitting sideways, the front three were easy to get to. Two of the back ones weren't too bad, but the back one on passenger side took me four times longer to change it than the other five plugs combined. It is about 3" above a motor mount, and once I got my hand on it, there wasn't any room to move. I coudln't get any leverage to pull the stuck boot off. I ended up wedging some long pliers up in there and tugged and pulled until I ripped the boot in half. Once the shredded rubber and broken ceramic pieces were fished out, I was able to get my socket on it. Unfortunately there was only about enough room to rotate my ratchet about 1/2" (just enough for one "click" of the ratchet).

 

[Jason_25]

Here is what I did to remove my driver's side plugs. Since I couldn't get the "fork" tool around them, I took a shoestrong and wrapped it around each plug wire and it allowed me to pull in any direction I wanted. They popped right off

 

[expo5.0]

lol, on my 5.0 this job is hell, especially with the drop. there's no way to do it without removing the passenger side wheel, and its still extremely time consuming, but ford would have charged over a hundred in labor... wtf

 

[yob_yeknom]

I changed the plugs on my '95 when I first got it. I had absolutely no problems at all. Maybe I was just lucky?

I hope whoever bought it didn't change them. They were an expensive set of wires and good double platinum plugs.

I have yet to change them on my '97. With the SOHC it looks like it's gonna be a real PITA. <-That's why I haven't done it yet.

 

[oceanworker]

Just checked my plugs on the 91yesterday. The hard ones are #2 & #3 being the coil pack in the way and all. I had to hacksaw half the handles off my boot puller and use a small block of word as a fulcrum to pop the boots off.

To remove the plug took a few socket extension and universals and I think got one out using a socket and 3" handled socket wrench.
Oh yeah. Buy bandaids before hand. You WILL get knuckle busters.

My 6 year old helped change the plugs on my wifes Accord but I could never let my buddies catch me driving one, even if changing plugs is that easy.