Spark Plug Wires, Need Help!!!!

[ice745]

I have a 94, 4 cyl, camry....

First off, let me start by saying I made the worst choice for my car. I decided to buy a set of Bosch Spark Plug Wires...

They seemed great for about a year, now I went to check my spark plugs, and guess what!! The wire rips right out of the boot when pulling it up. I got the boot out, but it gets worse... the part that grips the spark plug ripped off of the wire, and is still on the spark plug. So now my sockets can't reach the spark plug to get it out. I need help on the cheapest way to go about this problem. I also managed to get threads from the wire inside the well for the spark plug, which I am afraid of getting into the cylinder... what should I do!?!?

Any help will be greatly appreciated. I am gonna have to relearn how to ride my bike again.

My best advice to anyone is NOT to get Bosch Wires. I know they seem really good, but trust me, the way they put them together is really cheap. The part that you grab to pull up on is <i>NOT</i> at all connected to the boot. As soon as you pull up on it, evidently you pull up on the actual wire. I will probably be better off staying with my 10 year old stock cracked wires, at least they are still firmly put together. I'm gonna have to call up Bosch and tell them how much they suck, and for nothing, cuz they'll give the same ol' "Its not our fault." that you get where ever you go.

[Bossman]

I had a similar problem with my old Mitsu Galant and I had to use a LONG pair of needle nose pliers to extract the wire/boot off the plug. In fact, it was so tight that I personally couldn't do it. I had to have my muscle man neighbor come over and tug like crazy to get it off which he did after much bad language. I believe the Toyota spark plug holes are deeper than the Mitsu so a phone call to a Toyota dealer mechanic may be in order for you, unfortunately. I've heard negative testimonials about Bosch products so in this case there's probably nothing wrong with sticking with Toyota OEM parts. Best of luck.

[gator2764]

Have you tried unscrewing the tip of the spark plug??

[Mike Gerber]

The long needle nose pliers as suggested by Bossman is the way to go. Try turning it a bit before you try to pull upwards. If that doesn't work, I would try one of those j-hook tools duct taped firmly to a long screwdriver.

As far as the threads from the wire down in the spark plug well, you can either blow them out with compressed air if that is available to you, or suck the pieces out with a shop vac. Do this before removing the plug itself.

Good luck.

Mike

[ice745]

Thanks everyone, I vacced it out and had my muscle neighbor come and swear at it, lol, it came out. I didn't have pliers long enough, mine were only about 4", my neighbor kind of pried it out with a screw driver somehow. He said it happened to him a few times, so I assume he knew what he was doing. I'm gonna try Borg Warner wires, they seem good. Thanks again, you guys are the reason this board is the best.