Do any of you guys know any tricks for getting stuck plugs out? I was doing some work on my younger brother's Camaro today (1982, 2.8L 2bbl auto), and I cannot budge those #!^* plugs at all. With a breaker bar, I can get them to feel like they're just starting to turn, and then they freeze right up. I haven't gone too hard with the breaker bar because I don't want to twist the plug in half...I've seen 2 guys come into the Parts store I work at with busted off plugs, and I am not a brave enough soul to pull the heads off because I went breaker-bar-happy.
We only got the car back in November, and haven't put it on the road at all yet. All we know is that the previous owner was the 2nd owner of the car, and--though the car only has 81K on it--ran the car haggard. We have no idea when the last time the plugs were changed was.

 

Some penetrating oil maybe??? Steady pressure instead of jerking???

Mine always "crack" when I'm first loosening them like they're breaking the seal.

 

I thought about penetrating oil, but to do that and let the plugs soak, I'd have to tilt the car up sideways to keep the penetrating fluid pooled up in the spark plug channels. Otherwise, it's just going to run out and not do anything but coat the sparkplug.

Steady pressure is what I tried; I'm very surprised that that pressure combined with a breaker bar didn't bust them loose...they really don't look all that rusty.

 

Yes to the penetrating oil. Just spray some in there the best you can.

Try wrenching the plug out & then in (back & forth). This will help loosen things up. Can also run the engine for a minute or so to heat them up. Should help to break them loose.

These wouldn't be Bosch plugs by any chance, would they?

RBob.

 

PB Blaster

 

PB Blaster = Liquid GOLD! Use it, let it sit for 10 minutes, then go again.

Also, lefty loosey, righty tighty - remember!

 

yup pb works great. i used it alot when i did my head gasket. btw dont go get some wd 40 or liquid wrench and think thats just as good they dont compare!

 

no, I use PB Blaster too....it makes a really big difference. Rbob--no, the plugs are AC Delco's.

I tried warming the engine up, but that didn't help any. I guess I'll try the PB Blaster as best I can; hopefully that does it.

Thanks guys.

 

You need heat and lots of it. Run that sucker till it red hot then give it a whirl. heat is your friend on anything stuck.

 

heat + PB blaster = lots of smoke

be prepared

 

Hmm, why do you ask? I'm just wondering because I swapped in a new set of plugs this weekend. They only had ~7k miles on them, I had put a coat of oil on the threads, and they were alot harder to break loose then I remember them ever being, and yes they were Bosch's, whereas I'd used AC's before. This time I used anti-seize on the threads instead.

 

CamaroManBlack, I've found Bosch plugs seem to 'lock-up' in the head. Every time I've tried to remove a Bosch plug it has been difficult.

NHRATA01, if just breaking them loose is difficult then not too bad. The anti-seize is a good idea.

My experience has been that they do not want to turn out of the threads (within the head). They fight all the way.

RBob.

 

Geez, sounds like they might have been messed up before you ever got there! The previous idiot might've crossthreaded 'em... ouch.

Well hey if you do have to pull heads, it's a good excuse to try and get some 85-up 2.8/3.1 larger port heads on there! Although, that job would still suck, no matter what the benefits...

 

Rbob--Thanks for the info on the Bosch plugs...guess what I've been running in my '84. I'll make sure that I pull them out and coat the threads with anti-seize before anything bad happens. I'd hate to ditch them...they're firing a little bit better than the AC Delco's I had in it were.

TomP--Man, I hope they're not crossthreaded. That would suck beyond words.

Well, maybe I'll give it a try again tomorrow. I just hope nothing breaks or turns out to be stripped. If the worst happens, I have a younger brother that is going to cry like a little girl...hahaha, the joys of owning his first V6 thirdgen....

 

Ah, younger brothers. Ever been working on the lawn mower and he asks if he can help. Yea, sure, hold this (pointing out the disconnected spark plug wire), and yank on the pull cord.

If I wasn't laughing so hard he would have never caught me. . . .

Technical content: that mower didn't have a Bosch plug in it, but one still had to be careful as it had an aluminum head.

RBob.

 

That's funny...I might actually have to try that on him....hahahahhahahaha

 

IF ya mess up heads, I do have a set of MFPFI heads rebuilt with several new guides & new head gaskets for sale.

I did strip a plug in a head, yes aluminum, too.
Helicoil
I was "just learning" things.

Bosch plugs stick to heads due to "rusting" action of the plug base.
Yep antiseize works wonders with that problem.
Yep Bosch Platinums are worth the efforts for my rides. One can also get a boxed end wrench in there IF ya "talented".

 

Good point about the rusting. I do remember seeing rust at the base of those Bosch's. Never really had problems with plugs getting rusty before. And thats about the 8th set I've put on my '89.

 

smack the ceramic end off with a hammer.. then spray some PB blaster on it.. and tapp it with a hammer... possibly using a extention so you can get a lil force behind it..

goal being to vibrate it, and get the PB blaster in there to break it loose a bit... then if that doesnt work you can try direct heat with a torch, but its a tight area.....