one of mine fell out and i sort of tried to put it back in. i straightened it out real nice and tried to tap it into the little cavity where the plug inserts, but it was the rearmost drivers side, where the brake booster takes up a lot of room. it didn't want to stay in and i didn't feel like fooling with it. i think they would reseat back into the cavity in the head if you gave it a little smack with a mallet.

i didn't realize until it was too late how much dirt and sand, especially sand, was trapped down in those things. i have no idea how much fell down in the cylinders.

i'm going to ditch them the next time i remove anything.

 

ok call me a retard.. sorry for butting in.. but i was under the impression you were talking about the shield that went around the wires themselves.. to protect them from the block.. kind of like a wiring harness shield.. my mistake.. i took mine off when i first got the truck.. no need for them.. they are more a pain in the *** then anything else.. just make sure before you pull them.. you dont pull your plug first.. and blow them out with air right after removing the shield.. before pulling the plug out.

 

I want to take my shields off n I can't get them out I sprayed pb blaster on them n I still can't get them off.

 

Use a good pair of locking pliers and clamp them to one side of the shield, then push and pull on it hard like you are trying to topple the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It will most certainly come loose.


Get rid of them as soon as you can. They serve no good purpose whatsoever! Removing them makes spark plug and spark plug wire removal so much easier.

 

Mine were loose when I changed the plugs so I just pulled em. As long as the wire isnt laying against the manifold or something else hot it should be fine.

 

Holly Resurrecting an old thread. Blast from the past and all that............................
2007 to 2014 that is a few years. Funny how even back then most people hated the darn things. I'm still debating if I am going to install mine when I put my engine back in the Jeep. Because it is an off-road rig I am worried about them.

 

This is a very old thread but, I have a 1995 Dodge ram 1500 4X4 with the 5.2 L V-8. I was attempting to replace the spark plugs. When I had removed and replaced a couple of them, I found I could not insert the socket into one of heat shields far enough to grab the hex head on the spark plug. Upon further investigation it looked like some metal (solder) may have melted and seeped inside the heat shield. Is anyone familiar with how Chrysler attaches the heat shields? Are they welded in place, soldered or just pressed in place? If one of the stated methods were used how do you remove the spark plug heat shields? It seems most people say they are just pressed in place. Maybe mine are rusted (corrosion welded) in place? I've actually torn the metal on the heat shield trying to remove it by twisting with vice grips. Any Advice would greatly be appreciated.

 

They are just press fit. Should be able to grab 'em with a pair of vice grips, and rip 'em out.

They like to fill with assorted crap that finds its way under the hood, and make changing the plugs challenging...... and when you pull the plugs, all the crap wants to fall into the chamber. Not a good scene. Rip 'em out, add them to the scrap metal pile, and call it a day.