I am having a whale of a time removing the spark plug boots on my outback 2.5L. I can rotate them just fine but when it comes to pulling them off the plugs, no amount of force is enough. The entire engine is rocking back and forth as I tug on these darn things. Pointers anyone? No, I am not a weakling : )

We feel your pain!

Actually I have no idea how to help you and just have this one crazy thought. Um - you're not gripping them with pliers in such a way that the clips inside are just being crushed onto the plug tips I guess? That may be counterproductive. ;^)

just a WAG

good luck

Carl

1 Lucky Texan

it just takes some time. you can try putting two flat bladed screw drivers through the "finger holes," squeezing them and levering against the bottom half of the head cover. but they still end up being a royal pain to get off. then you get the fun of trying to get a wrench over the end... my tip, remove the piece of rubber from the spark plug socket, so it will easily come off the plug and not get stuck way the .... up there.

I got it!!!! I got a respose on a newsgroup. The guy said:

 

"Grab the lead near to the plug - put a little bit of "pull" on it - then waggle the plug end vigorously left to right - it will come off quite easily

that way."

 

It was relatively easy once I figured it out.

Hey! My first post on a Subaru forum.

I had some trouble getting the plug wires off my 2001 Outback Wagon as well. The first time I tried, I pulled like mad for ten minutes, then gave up. Going back after them with greater determination, I found that they really weren't that tough once I pulled some stuff out of the way--the air box on the passenger side and the washer reservoir on the drivers side. Pretty straightforward after that. The Champion plugs I pulled were pretty far gone. I'm pretty sure they had never been changed with 54k miles on them ( I just got the car). I replaced them with some new NGK's and she seems to run fine. Hopefully my fuel mileage will improve slightly.

 

So, anybody have a favorite plug to run in the 2.5? I'm partial to NGK based on my experience with Mazda rotaries, but I know some engines seem to prefer certain plugs. What does a Subaru like?

I did what Rolls did in the process of removing my engine. Taking out the

resevoir and air box helps with the skinned knuckles. One thing to do to help

for the next time was to squeeze some

die-electric tune up grease into each boot

and spread it around in them. It helps keep them from sticking to the plugs.:-)

I currently am running Bosch "4"'s.

The general concensus seems to be that Subaru's like the NGK plugs. You can get into the debate of copper vs platinum if you want. Some have claimed even smoother running with the Iridium plugs.

 

I've seen mixed reports with people who have tried the Bosch +4's. Just seems to be one of those things. Bosch is a good product - just doesn't seem to be the best match for Subaru engines.

 

Commuter

IMHO you can't go past Iridiums for any engine. Great technology coupled with long life which is good news for alloy heads. My EJ22 certainly likes them.

I ran Bosch +4 plugs in my Forester for 50,000 miles. I pulled them out to take a look & they looked great. My Forester ran great too, but not any better than it had with the stock Champion's that it came with. I don't think they are worth the premium over a set of NGK's. I put a set of NGK's in & it still runs like a top at 1/4 the price of the +4's. As for leaving a set of plugs in for an extended time my advice would be...don't. I feel that the end of the plugs could become covered in carbon & when you take them out you'll strip the treads out of the aluminum cylinder head.:boohoo:

 

Chuck