windhund116

Congrats! Hope you didn't suffer too many busted knuckles. Next order: Six-inch long, one piece, magnetic 5/8-inch spark plug socket tool, to go!

EELPIE

I have seen mechanics us a piece of fuel line to start the plug. I have done this myself. Push the end of the plug into the hose. Use the hose to get the spark plug threaded into the head then go back with a regular socket to tighten.

I have a 5/8 spark plug socket that is 7 inches long so there is no risk of getting a short socket stuck and coming off the extension. They also make extensions that have locks built in so the socket will not come off.

I have also duct taped an extension to a socket.

engifineer

^ A piece of line works well. Also pretty much prevents you from cross threading the plug if you start it with the hose, since you really cant put any real tq on it.

jkelley

I had the problem of the rubber part coming off before. Not nearly to your extent though. Bought a magnetic one instead and it works GREAT. I've used it to remove/replace spark plugs at least 4 times since purchasing it and it works great every time.

Forziii

god that sucks lol. glad you got it out though.
I also bought a cheap one which came out all the time. it wasn't even stuck in the socket with anything - it was just sat in there O_o.
I ended up getting some string (sewing string) and looping through and out the socket so it would catch/hold the rubber piece on the way back up and that worked.
wasn't nearly as annoying as the stupidly tight space to get the socket down the hole though.. i had to find the thinnest sticky tape (to ensure the socket didn't get stuck) because the first one i used was too thick! O_O

one question, though...
was your socket the right size (in depth)?
Because it looks like (according to the pic) you had to push down further to reach the hex on the spark plug which then squashed the rubber piece in that downward fashion

Aurex

This is a nice reminder that electrical components like coil packs do not require great amounts of muscle to seat properly.

By the looks of the picture, and the rubber from the plug socket being split, it appears that a lot more elbow grease than what was needed was applied.

AE_Racer

I always take those rubber pieces out. I just use my fingers to drop the plug in as deep as I can (havent damaged one yet that I know of). To pull them out simply use the coilpack.

jkelley

... why is nobody here using a magnetic one? i dont understand this...

Slowcrash_101

I have a magnetic one, and one with a rubber grommet to hold the plug, guess which one I use?

tritium_pie

Actually not that much elbow grease. The thing was, this was the first coil pack I put back, so I didn't realize that it was sitting high because of a piece of a tool... I thought I needed to give it a bit of pressure. Not a lot, but enough for what I thought would be about right to seat onto the sparkplug if it was a snug fit. Wasn't until I put the other coil packs and they sunk down all the way that I said, "uh oh".

The split parts of the rubber are due to me using an Exacto knife and a rubber mallet to try to chisel apart the rubber... for hours and hours. :-/