Crap, well if they are pressed fit, then im not gonna be able to get them back on, and melting a plug wire is the last thing i wanna do. I already tried, with a flat head screw driver to push the bump away from the plug far enough so i could get my socket down there... Hmm, just a thought, you think i could take a rubber mallet and tap/pound my socket down there? Enough so it can grab the plug?

 

do you have a set of needle nose vice grips? That might be able to straighten the bump out. I'd be worried of breaking the plug trying to force the socket down.

 

No, just regular Needle noses & regular Vice grips. Like i said, the sleeve it's self isn't bent on 1 direction, there's a bump the protrudes in, by the plug's tip. Like someone took a fillips screw drive or a punch, & smacked the outside of the sleeve, pushing it in.
Idk, i'll mess with it again, seeing if i can push the bump out. Then try just removing the sleeve. Maybe with some luck, i might be able to smack the sleeve back in place. Just good enough to shield the wire at least. Thx for all the advice so far...

 

Hold a screwdriver on the bump and tap it with a hammer some to try and bend it back out.

 

next try a bigger hammer... j/k , yea smack that shield around a bit , up, down, left, right, you should be able to pull/wiggle that out.

 

I would look at the coil. It's very high voltage coming out and any cracks or low resistance to ground won't show unless you use a "megger". I replaced mine and it cleared up the problem you've described. Of course, now mine won't start at all. I think I have a bad fuel pump.

 

Just figured I'd comment on my old thred, as to the fix (at least for now) to the rough idle i had. Apparently my Upstream O2 was shorting out.
To my understanding, the PCM's on most cars don't calculate the readings of the O2 sensors until 60-90 secs after engine starts. Which would make sense as to why the truck would run flawlessly at first then begin to bog down. My guess, once the PCM would talk to the O2, & a short occurred, it caused an improper Air/Fuel mix that made the engine run rough &/or the short caused an issue with the fuel pump. But once the PCM defaulted to a stock map a/f ratio, the truck would run fine again.

 

I am about to change the plugs, going back to Champion soon. My truck seems to be kind of bogged down and using noticeable more fuel. So no code for the sensor ? I would say my two sensors are OEM , so 18 years. Maybe, hopefully a new exhaust from the block to the rear will happen soon and included will be two new o2 sensors. I recall on this site alot of members recommend the OEM manufacture .

 

If you decide to to pull the plug shield, Hit the area with some air to make sure there is no trash around it so you will know nothing will fall in the plug hole. The shields will come out, and go back.