spark plug removal??

I've got a 2000 silverado with 5.3L v8 and i cant get the spark plug wires off of the plugs for the life of me. I have never seen this happen on any of my friends cars that I worked on. The plug wires have little heat shields cuz they are right next to the headers, but i dont see how those would be a problem. Is there some special trick to these plug wires??

Grip em and rip em plain and simple. Wrap the wire around your fingers for grip if you have to. If you are changing the plugs and the wires are still stock, change them as well. I did not and it caused alot of problems that i never thought would be from the plug wire boots being bad.

so it should take quite a bit of force to get the wires off? cuz i thought they should be somewhat easy to remove.

Mine were tough as He!! also. I even bought one of those sparkplug boot removal tools thinking they would help. I was able to get them off without doing any damage (except for a bloody knuckle or two) and reused my old wires. But I have decided to replace the wires one of these days anyway.

I had to use pliers on the wires next to the firewall. They were had to get to. I wouldn't worry about damaging the wires. Replace if you have to. Probably time to anyway.

did the removal tool help?

kind of, It was the pliers type so I had something to grip with instead of slipping off with my hands. like I said, it was still a pain.

Good luck.

DUDE!!! Dont rip them by by holding the wire. You need to get something to hold the metal. Pulling by the wire will break the connection inside the wire and cause missfires!!!! :cool: hope i got to you in time

My 2000 came with platinum plugs (stock), however, i read a bulletin by GM that says the newer stock plugs are iridium and are interchangeable. I'm thinking of putting the new iridiums in, but will the PCM have to be reprogrammed? Also, the dealer wants almost $98 for a set of plug wires, should I just go with the dealers wires, or is there a better type?

DUDE!!! Dont rip them by by holding the wire. You need to get something to hold the metal. Pulling by the wire will break the connection inside the wire and cause missfires!!!! :cool: hope i got to you in time

I would say after being on the engine for 5 years that it would be time to change them, i am only assuming that they are still factory considering how stuck on they are.

My 2000 came with platinum plugs (stock), however, i read a bulletin by GM that says the newer stock plugs are iridium and are interchangeable. I'm thinking of putting the new iridiums in, but will the PCM have to be reprogrammed? Also, the dealer wants almost $98 for a set of plug wires, should I just go with the dealers wires, or is there a better type?


You are right the new plugs are Iridium, GM no longer usue the platnium plugs. They also no longer use the .60 gap for the plugs either they use a .40 gap even if it is on a vehicle that used to use platnium plugs gapped @ .60. A tech a GM told me they were having alot of problems with that large of a gap, more specifically it was causing carbon arcing on the porcelin on the plugs especially if older wires were used. This happens because the resistance is too great for the spark to go through the plug, so it arcs across the outside to the shortest possible ground. That happened to the plugs in my truck.

i wouldnt pay $98 for stock replacemnts. ive always liked accell superstock wires on my vehicles. they may even be cheaper than the stock ones. for the old 350s theyre only like $35, but for my 4.6 mustang they were like $150 cuz the coils had a unique connection. and if ur gonna replace em by all means just yank em off. if ur gonna save em, try at least turning the boot on the plug. a lot of times that helps loosen em.

Yes, I plan on just yanking the old ones off. I'm kinda worried, cause I dont know how long the old plugs have been in. The truck was from upstate NY, so everything steel has a nice coat of corrosion.

One other question, Does the metal shield around the plug come off when you take the plug out? I figured I should ask before i bend/break something.

Should come out when you pull the wire out. If doesn't it should slide out no problems.