Can't get at the back 3 sparkplugs, any ideas?

[decollect]

Given that I just transitioned from driving a '90 with a 2.5 to a '97 with the 3.1, I share your pain. However, I found on mine, that it was not necessary to rock the motor forward to get to cyl's 1-3-5. Maybe it's just because I have skinny "E.T." like arms but I was able to just do it all by feel. But as one of the other posters in this forum advised, you HAVE to take your time if doing it by feel.

By the by, why does the sticker and the book mandate that the engine is cold when changing plugs. I mean besides the obvious, you don't want to burn your arms, but is there a mechanical reason behind this?

[Dutch724]

Originally Posted by decollect

By the by, why does the sticker and the book mandate that the engine is cold when changing plugs. I mean besides the obvious, you don't want to burn your arms, but is there a mechanical reason behind this?

If you take a spark plug out while the engine is hot the size of the hole will shrink, because it just cooled down while there was nothing in there to keep the aluminum stretched out to the right size. Kind of like the metal stretches easier when it is hot then no contracts when it is cooling down......I found this out the hard way and had to rethread the hole when I couldn't get the spark plug threaded back in.