I've never done the spark plugs before, anybody got any suggestions on getting them out? I know to only do one at a time to cut back on confusion, but I'm having a hard time removing the stock wire from the plug.

 

i never did it on a monte yet either but i have heard you might have to unbolt the dogbones and tilt the engine forward to get the back ones. and as far as the wire you should be replacing them as well so i'd say grab it as close to the plug and give it a good yank maybe twist alittle at the same time

 

A trick that was given to me was to try to rotate the rubber boot a full 360 degrees and then try to pull. That would release any seal between the boot and the plug.

 

preciate it folks. i got the fron three off, bout to go work at the back three after i eat a little lunch. i'm replacing the wires as well, so i just used some pliers and grabbed the top of the boot and pulled em off. i'm only at 60k miles, but it's a 00, so being ten years old i wasn't sure if plugs and wires is what's causin my car to sputter when i step on it. i thought i heard it misfiring last night so i'll see how this works. already changed the fuel and air filters, and used seafoam. if this doesn't work, maybe i should change the coils?? anyone know how to check them and see if they're malfunctioning or should i take it to advanced/o'reilleys?

 

Good idea on replacing the wires at the same time, after so long the stock wires get brittle enough that its tough to get them off without ruining them. If you twist them first, they sometimes come off easier. Since you're just replacing them anyways, I'd just cut them off if they're too bad- no reason to bang up your knuckles.

Stock plugs and wires should be good to 100k unless you had something wrong with the engine that really fouled the plugs up (kinda tough to do with platinums though).

IMO, if you still have problems, I'd find someone local with a scan tool and find out what its actually doing. There are lots of people on here and various wbody forums with scanners and tuners- it would only take a few minutes riding around to figure out what it was. That would be a whole lot easier than just replacing parts at random until the problem goes away.

It could be the coils, but it could be a sensor, could be the ICM, could be a lot of things.