I am fairly mechanically inclined. I have been doing all my own maintenance for years. This being my first dodge it took me 2 hours to change 3 spark plugs. I pulled the wires off from the plugs. There is a heat shield that seems to not be letting my spark plug socket go all the way down on the plug. What am I doing wrong?? Can someone please tell me so it can be as painless as changing wires on any other make. Is there a special tool? Thanks Rob

 

use a big pair of pliers, grab the heat shield and wiggle it loose - then throw them as far away as possible. if they won't come out, use a hammer and tap it back and forth while pulling. DONT break a spark plug.

i threw mine away 4 years ago with no ill effects.

 

Hit it with a BIG hammer! That's the answer to all of life's problems.

 

huh. I used a 3" extension and the deep socket for spark plugs and was done in about 15 minutes...heat shields still in place.

 

could be rusted down there. Are you using a spark plug socket?

 

I recently posted some pics of the plugs I pulled out of the ram I just bought RUSTED TIGHT. Changing plugs or wires on any make is the same principal. I personally have run dodges all my life. But also have helped friends with thier BMWs and such.

If the heat shield is preventing you access, just use some pliers and bend them out of the way. My truck still has them and I didnt have any problems. Sounds like someone got a little sloppy working on yours.

Also, if you do run into a plug that wont turn easy, put some WD 40 on it and let it soak a while. Then try again. If it turns for a while then stops, tighten it down a bit and soak again with wd 40.

 

The rubber boot inside the socket could be jamming you up, try to crack them loose with just a regular socket.

And all WD-40 will do is get them wet. You need CRC Knock'er Loose, Cyclo Breakaway, AeroKroil, or a 50/50 mix of acetone and ATF. If you don't have any of those then Liquid wrench will work too, it'll just take a lot longer. Liquid wrench is twice as good as PB Blaster or WD-40 but only about 25% as good as the others that I listed.

If you start backing them out and they seem to get tighter, run them back in and spray, then back out and in and out until they come out. What you're doing there is grinding the rust down and working it out of the threads every time you run the plug back in and out again.

 

I agree with this guy^^^

and if that don't work, GET A BIGGER HAMMER!

 

Any of you guys try Mouse Milk?

 

mouse milk? are you kidding me, i want some and dont even know what it is, thats funny as hell