Spark Plug Replacement Nightmare. Now what?

[RickCoMatic]

Hello Pros:

I went after the three firewall side spark plugs. Unbuttoned the the two front Engine Mounts and pulled the Mill forward with a Ratchet Strap. That DID give me the extra room to crawl-in and get a hand on the three Plug Boots.
I was able to access all three.

All three would NOT Budge. I pulled and turned and pulled and turned and they would NOT give. Finally, after improvising a method ... (Tie wrap around the Boot with Nylon cord stretched to a Big pry bar on the manifold) ... I managed to get the Boots off.

They came-off "Funny" I thought.
Anyway ... on to removing the three rear Plugs that were in there like a disgruntled GM Employee used LockTite to make it as miserable a job as it could be. Breaker Bar, loose, squeaking as they came out ... Heat Shield just the right height to interfere with the job.

Out comes three Plugs ... at last.

I Put-in the threde rear Plugs all gapped at 60-Thou. Champion Platinum Plus. Replacing three Stock Plugs that told me that the Engine was running nice by the color of the Plugs replaced.

Fought with the Coil Pack in the way and tried to move it. It stayed there.
Got this job all done and got a "Check Engine" light.

I think I messed-up one of the wires because the idle wasn't silk. There was definitely a hitch in it. I'm so frustrated.

I guess I over-did the Pulling-Off of the Boots ... but, there was nothing I could do short of wrecking them to get them out of there.

If I used NeverSeize and coated the Plug Ceramic would that be a problem?
Do you think a New set of wired is going to make this Engine Light go Off?

Whey does life under the hood of such a nice Engine have to be so Gall-danged difficult?

Who has ideas and words of encouragement ... I need guidance in doing the Wires and getting "Back to Normal"!!!

The Old Man from Massachusetts,
Rick Massey

[IsaacHayes]

Not sure how long those champions will last or if the engine will even run well without miss-firing like they do on bosch platinums... But at least you have anti-seize so they should come out easy next time if you do have to change them.

When you gapped them, did you take care to not put any pressure on the tips? That will damage the platinum coating...

Anti-seize has aluminum in it, if that is touching the insulator in the plug it could be arcing backwards, and not sparking to the ground prong... I would take it out and blast the plug with brake/carb cleaner and then put more anti-seize on being carefull to just apply to the threads. At this time you should also inspect the boot and see if you didn't rip the wire out of the crimp or damage it. Ohm the wire with a multi meter if you can. If the problem is still there then I would replace the wires.

You can take the car to autozone and they can scan and read the SES code as long as the light is still showing on the dash. But it's likely a bad missfire code.... Unless you yanked a wire or left a sensor disconnected too...

Clean that spark plug and check the boots like I said above and report back. You can just keep replying in one thread, instead of creating new ones. That get's a bit confusing to keep track of one persons problem(s).


The trick is to take your time and be relaxed and not stressed out when working on engines. Just go slow and don't stress. You can probably pull the wires and plugs by hand without moving the motor since they were just installed they won't be stuck in so hard this time. You have more room than I do in my car and I have the same motor basically. I even have a strut tower brace in my way as you can see in my signature picture. Put on some music you like and bring a drink down with you to the garage or a snack and just take your time feeling around. Also make sure you didn't mix up the plug wires. I will do 1 plug/wire at a time on the rear so I don't get them mixed up.

[RickCoMatic]

That's me! I get stressed-out when I'm dealing with something new and as intimidating looking as the crowded and stacked everything under the hood of this Monte Carlo. That, ... and because I'm basically a Motorcycle guy who has the comfort and convenience of having the whole Engine right out in the wide-open to service and repair.

Not thinking about the conductivity, I shouldn't have used the NeveSeize on the Plugs and Boots thinking it was going to make it easier to service next time around.

I think the Champion Plugs are OK ... the front three had no problem being in there with the unchanged back three for a few days. Car ran fine.
I think I either pulled-out a connection or got too heavy with the NezerSeize or BOTH doing this ... what should have been a routine job ... that I complicated by adding something to the recipe that isn't called for inn the instructions.

Maybe I made a lame mistake ... but, at least I learned how easy it is to undo the Front Engine Mounts and Ratchet Strap the Engine forward a little bit to be able to get the tools inn there to do the job.

Off to AutoZone for a Code Read and new Wires.
I deserve the NEW Wires for what I've been through.

I'll keep you posted.

Rick Massey

[IsaacHayes]

Anti-seize on the threads of the plugs. Silicone grease on the boots.

[RickCoMatic]

Update:

Went to AutoZone. Manager read the Trouble Code.
Number 1 Misfire.

Bought a set of Quality Spark Plug Wires and replacement Plugs for the ones I put-in with the Anti-Seize on the outside and in the necks of the Boots.

The Manager said to come-back after I did the work and he would check it again and re-set the "Check Engine" light if it doesn't go off itself.

I'm pretty embarrassed about messing-up a Spark Plug job. But, it wasn't the easiest of all Spark Plug jobs I ever did. I got thinking way too far ahead of myself and used the conductive Anti-Seize never thinking it would cause me the headache it did.

I should be able to do the whole job in less time than it took to do just the rear ones now that everything will disassemble quickly and I added the Ratchet Strapp to the Toolbox.

I'm moving in a positive direction. I have confidence and experience, now!

[Superdave]

Next time just cut open the plug boot with a razor and spray some silicone lube or WD-40 in there.. It'll break that seal and they'll pop right off

[RickCoMatic]

I thought the Tie wrap and tugging-line to the Big Screwdriver on the Exhaust Manifold was a stroke of genius ... Until I closed the hood and fired that baby up and got the "You-did-something-stupid" Light down in the lower right side of my instrument panel. I'm just struggling to maintain this Engine bare-bones stock. I can't believe some of the stuff I have read inn the Archives. I don't think I'm going to be doing anything radical to the Plant to get any more Ponies out of it ... Unlike the stables-full of horses some of you guys have added to get to the nest light faster than the guy nest to you.

A few simple and not too expensive things might happen if you can suggest some easy-to-do and not-too-expensive mods an old man can sneak-by the wife as "Longevity Improvements" other than "Performance Mods"

If I was a kid again ... I'd be right there with you Hot-Rod Guys looking to shave-off a few hundredths of a second of my last E-T. Like pulling out the spare and leaving the rear seats home for the afternoon.

Now I'm just going to get it running right with the scheduled maintenance the PO said they did which amounted to regular Oil Changes with Mobil-1 and the Brakes they had done at Midas when a sales guy said they need new everything's!

[3100 MPFI]

"You-did-something-stupid" Light

Is that what it is called? I call it the "CHECK WALLET" light.

[RickCoMatic]

Yea ... I guess that's the better description for it ... huh? Anyway, finding this site save me from being stupid and running straight to a Dealership to find out I messed-up a wire yanking on the Plug Boot a little to energetically for it's own good.

The Manager at AutoZone checked it for me for free and I'd have never know to ask them to do that unless I read about it here.

[Superdave]

years ago i actually found a "Spark plug boot removal tool" in a bunch of crap at work, if i can find it i'll take a pic but it's pretty nifty. I haven't tried it on a 3400 but i used it on my old 3.1 MPFI and it seemed to help...

[1988GTU]

years ago i actually found a "Spark plug boot removal tool" in a bunch of crap at work, if i can find it i'll take a pic but it's pretty nifty. I haven't tried it on a 3400 but i used it on my old 3.1 MPFI and it seemed to help...

[3100 MPFI]

I had to use that when I did the spark plugs in my Grandmothers 1999 Grand Am with the 2.4 twin cam. It has that QUAD4 setup with the ignitions module/coil mounted directly to the sparkplugs. I had a hell of a time trying to get those boots off until I used that tool.

[Superdave]

Nope, completely different.

[1988GTU]

That?

[Superdave]

why is it moving???

but yah, it's similar to that. hooks in under the boot and you pull straight out.