nelliott Posted February 18, 2014 Report Share Posted February 18, 2014 What a nightmare. Anyone have tips for getting the rear boots off? The fronts were hard enough but the rears with the limited room and the manifold in the way is beginning to seem impossible. I just can't get a good grip on the boot. I marked my territory a bit when I was putting this plug wire back on: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich_e777 Posted February 19, 2014 Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 Twist and pull, unless you have a plug remover, cheap plastic thing that looks like a pair of pliers. I didn't realize they had those metal cylinders around the boots. I think you can rock your engine forward a bit if you undo the top mounts and loosen the bottom bolts on the lower mounts. If worst comes to worst just tug on it by the wire(sort of frowned upon by professionals) and eventually something will give, if the metal clip comes off on the plug just bend it down enough to get your socket on there. Or you could just take the manifold off, give you a chance at checking things out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94 olds vert Posted February 19, 2014 Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 Mine were a bit hard to do as well. Those rubber boots dont like to give up. I used pliers and by twisting and pulling I got them free. A few I pulled on the wire and the wire came free from the boot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelliott Posted February 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 Pulling on the wire and boot with both hands worked for the fronts but there isn't enough room for the rears to get both hands on them. I'll have to try some pliers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94 olds vert Posted February 19, 2014 Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 I removed both front dog bone mounts and rocked the engine so I could get a little more room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelliott Posted February 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 I may need to do that. Do you have to loosen the lower mount(s) or just remove the dog bones? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich_e777 Posted February 19, 2014 Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 Maybe some vice grips with a breaker bar inserted around the adjustment knob and sort of leverage it out? Vice grip the boot first before trying it on the wire. Defiantly add some plug grease before re-installing so they wont be as hard the next time. Petroleum jelly might work as well but only do that if no one chimes in and calls me a boob for saying that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94 olds vert Posted February 19, 2014 Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 I never touched the lower ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich_e777 Posted February 19, 2014 Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 I`d loosen the lower mounts to prevent any damage from ratcheting the engine forward if you were to be using a ratch strap. Also will make it a bit easier as you aren't fighting against the lower mounts if you loosen them. The manual never says to but I just found it easier is all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94 olds vert Posted February 19, 2014 Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 I let gravity do the work and put the car parked on a slope. I see no harm in that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibby Posted February 19, 2014 Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 If you are replacing wires too just rip wire out of boot, spray we40 in hole that wire left, boot comes off with ease. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sl3196 Posted February 19, 2014 Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 Push down the metal cover then just twist and pull. I took the motor lift bracket off the rear on my old GTP and I had no issues getting to any of the plugs back there. Use dielectric grease on the inside of plug wires when you reinstall them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelliott Posted February 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 What's the motor lift bracket? Is that the large piece of metal on the back of the motor that the engine cover sort of "hooks" to? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l67ss Posted February 19, 2014 Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 No the stamped steel loop next to it What's the motor lift bracket? Is that the large piece of metal on the back of the motor that the engine cover sort of "hooks" to? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted February 19, 2014 Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 remove both those brackets and ditch the engine cover. Ditch those metal boot covers too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schurkey Posted February 19, 2014 Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 (edited) Defiantly add some plug grease before re-installing so they wont be as hard the next time. Petroleum jelly might work as well but only do that if no one chimes in and calls me a boob for saying that. Silicone plug wires and plug boots often react badly to petroleum products. There's also the issue of operating temperature, and my guess is that petroleum jelly is melted and gone before the engine fully warms up. I have no idea if petroleum jelly is electrically conductive. If it is, that'd be bad news for driveability. Push down the metal cover then just twist and pull. I took the motor lift bracket off the rear on my old GTP and I had no issues getting to any of the plugs back there. Use dielectric grease on the inside of plug wires when you reinstall them. Wisdom. Ditch those metal boot covers too. Yeah, why would GM waste money on heat shields just because the plug boots are right next door to the exhaust manifolds. GM must have morons for engineers. Edited February 19, 2014 by Schurkey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelliott Posted February 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 I don't actually know how to remove that bracket I mentioned or I would. It's not holding the cover on anyway. I can't figure out how the bracket is attached. I felt back there but all I feel are the exhaust manifold nuts unless the bracket is attached with them as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Euro Posted February 19, 2014 Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 Doing my plugs last spring I had just as much trouble. Especially with the rear 3. I just kept yanking and twisting until I got them to pop off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carkhz316 Posted February 19, 2014 Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 Yeah, why would GM waste money on heat shields just because the plug boots are right next door to the exhaust manifolds. GM must have morons for engineers. Well, at least one thing I agree with you on, . So many people claim to remove them. I've always left them on and I've never had any problems. If your wires are shorting out on the metal heat shields, you have bigger problems with the wires themselves. I also agree that one should stick with dielectric instead of anything petroleum. Dielectric isn't expensive so go wild. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelliott Posted February 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 I was at Home Depot this morning to pick up a few other things so I bought a can of dielectric grease. It's much more than I'll probably ever need but they didn't have any small tubes. When I pulled off the front boots to put the grease on, even after having had them off yesterday, they were almost just as difficult to remove today. After greasing them, they come nice and easy but they still sit snug when clicked on. I may or may not tackle the rear plugs today. I just fixed my heated driver's seat (really common issue) and next on my list is to pull the gauge cluster and replace all the stepper motors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AL Posted February 20, 2014 Report Share Posted February 20, 2014 What did you have to do to the heated seat? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelliott Posted February 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2014 I did some searching and found a thread on NAIOA (http://www.naioa.com/v2/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=11532) about heated seat issues. Apparently it's really common for one of the wires for the back element to break due to stress from sitting in the seat. The hardest part is getting the seat cover opened up for the upper section of the seat. This is what I found: So, I cut out the charred section of wire, soldered in a new piece, and put heat shrink tubing over the solder points. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nas Escobar Posted February 21, 2014 Report Share Posted February 21, 2014 (edited) I know I'm late to the party, but if you twist and pull those cables, doesn't that yank off the metal inside the spark plug boot? It's happened to be before on a couple cars. I wanna change my spark plugs on my 3800 Camaro and I'm having the same issues... how easy is it with pliers? The Camaro has similar space issues. Edited February 21, 2014 by Nas Escobar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelliott Posted February 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2014 I took a beating but it's done. I removed the O2 sensor to get the boot off of the one closest to the driver's side. Even with the sensor gone, it was really tough to remove. The one in the middle wasn't terrible. The the passenger side boot, I relocated the overflow tank to get to it from that angle. This was the worst one by far but it eventually gave up. Some injuries sustained: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schurkey Posted February 22, 2014 Report Share Posted February 22, 2014 Wouldn't it have been simpler, faster, and less stressful to take a hammer to a prybar or long chisel, BREAK THE SPARK PLUG PORCELAINS near the metal wrenching surface of the spark plug shell; and then remove the porcelain from the plug boots on the workbench? You're replacing the plugs anyway...it's not like they need to come out in one piece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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