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My neighbor tried to change the plugs on his mini cooper. It’s one of those engines that has long spark plug tubes with boots that are about 8″ long, entering from the top of the engine, with long vertical metal tubes around the boots. He had no trouble changing the inner two plugs, but the #1 and #4 plug boots were really tight and when finally pulled off they seem to have torn off deep inside the plug tubes. Looking down the tubes with a light, there seems to be a big washer sitting on the plugs, preventing a spark plug socket from getting deep enough to grab the plug. I tried to help, but really long needle nose pliers, a coathanger, a magnet on a wand, and about 15 minutes of time, no luck. We had that sinking feeling when he tried to start the engine with the job half done, and now he has a big-time misfire with a CEL. The dreaded curse of failed DIY, ha ha.
Having no experience with this before, I suggested professional advice. I guess if it were my car I would have tried getting a long narrow knife down the tube, or maybe use a drill and a narrow vacuum hose to clear the debris. I see that Snapon sell a tool to help with this, which is basically a long narrow pipe to slide under the boot. I’ve heard of people using crazy glue to stick a wire onto the boot and try to pull it out, though I doubt that would work. If all failed I might have taken the valve covers off to remove the tubes and get better access to the plugs from the side. Does anybody have any other idea?
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They do make extended sockets for this kind of thing. Unfortunately they don’t take into account for really long snapped boots. He’ll be using a ratchet extension no doubt for his deep wells but if you can see the plug hex nut and can get a socket on it then try a deep socket. Something like this.
http://www.amazon.com/Performance-Tool- … B0014FGW8O
A normal socket is about 2″ long. Extended reach sockets are about 4″ or 5″ deep. Deepest I found was 5″. Maybe that will work but it really depends on how much of the boot is left. How much would you estimate?
Having a boot that long snap really sucks. I’d be stuck too. You have to either find a socket deep enough that will nullify the boot length remaining or cut down the boot length to a point that you can get a socket on it. Not sure if dremel makes a really long extension. Might want to research that and stick a long small cutting blade down there and zip it off.
The best method is going to be one where you have virtually no cleanup and can cut it off clean. That’s all the ideas I have for now.
Quoted From johnzcarz:
Pulling up from the end just makes it constrict, maybe pushing up from the bottom will work better – if you have clearance to do it.Let us know how you make out.Like a chinese finger puzzle oh no! You’re doomed. ;P Where there’s a will there’s a way.
WOW tough one. I would either try cutting the boot.(spitting it) something small but sharp.scalple,fillet knife.to assist in the removal go to a drug store and
buy dental picks.try to reach down there with two picks one on each side and pull the boot up.you may need to cut the boot then try the dental picks.
I hope you get them out.before you reinstall new or existing put dielectric grease on the inside boots to prevent them from sticking next time.let us know
how you made out.http://www.google.com/products/catalog? … CH0Q8gIwAg
It’s a wonderful tool to use
Quoted From djdevon3:
Like a chinese finger puzzle oh no! You’re doomed. ;P Where there’s a will there’s a way.
I suspected the Mini was made in China…now I know for sure W;)
Not sure if this will help but I found this while looking for tools or solutions for your problem.
http://www.minicarparts.net/Instruction … ctions.pdf
Thanks guys, for all your advice with this one. This was my neighbor’s car, and I felt uncomfortable ‘helping’ him with a problem that I hadn’t seen before. Therefore I suggested he go to a pro, a mechanic I really admire in our local community. He did the work in 30 min, charged only $100 including the cost of the wires. I wish I was able to see how he did it. I’m guessing he passed a loop of wire around the retained boot and yanked it out, but I’ll have to ask one day. I would have liked to give this a try myself, but there is a liability/responsibility problem when it’s somebody else’s vehicle. Given the difficulty that I have had when getting some boots off, I’m surprised this doesn’t happen more often. There is very little gap between the boot and the metal tubes, so conventional spark plug pliers don’t allow you to reach down far enough the get a good grip on the boot near it’s end.
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