coil over spark plug not coming off 1997

[Amadauss1]

Changing the plugs on a J30 1997 and after removing the two bolts holding coil in place cannot get the coil to come off. It is moving around on top but on the bottom another story. You have to pull it up through a tight opening between the manifold arms. The coil on bottom covering the plug looks like a circlular rubber boot around bottom of coil over plug and this seems to be stuck on one side of it. So if looking at clock, between10 and 2 on dial seems to be coming off or up but other part of dial is not coming off. Am I not pulling hard enough? Is there another part holding it in place? Tried removing another plug with same result. Do not see any more attachments holding it in place. Tried to find sometype of L shaped tool that I might be able to get under rubber to try and pry it off but not sure if right direction. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[yodawill2000]

Are you able to rotate the coil at all ?
Only the two bolts up top hold it in.

[Amadauss1]

Thanks for responding. Will give that a try this morning. I did not try that because of directions to pull straight out. Did take the wiring plug off with no issues. I received a private I had sent thinking it could be possible the rubber could have burned fast to the metal but not sure on that either. If those bolts are the only thing holding it in, will give it some more delicate muscle and try the rotating and just work on getting it out. And if that does not work, was giving some thought to pulling the manifold and doing some fixes where ever needed (hoses, worn bolts, etc) Daughter is going to be driving it and do not want her sitting on deserted road with car not working. Going to take some pics and post them if I can on my progress for others. Thanks again.

[Amadauss1]

ok, tried to turn it a bit with no issues but not a great deal of turn only because of space. It feels like when you take those older type wires off plugs where it looks like a snug hat over head of plug and you have to strain to pull it off a bit almost like suction has caused it to be very tight. This is what I am thinking in that the coil head I really cannot see on the plug is fit very snugly on it and might take extra strength to pull it off. Does this make sense? I want to post a pic of the coil but not sure how to do it or need moderator to allow it. I did take note it looks like the metal layers on the coil starting to de-laminate off itself which I don't think is a big deal and I can do some repair.

[GerryO]

Here's a photo of what you are after (with the exception of the spark plugs that are threaded into the heads). The top coil and rod/plug contact assembly turns freely inside of two rubber boots, so you'll be fighting suction, along with the tendency of rubber to sort of stick to things with time. You'll want to pull as straight and hard as possible on the metal bracket, and twisting won't help. Platinum plugs should last 100K miles.

[Amadauss1]

Thanks GerryO, thought suction might be an issue so took a vise grip and used it cautiously and pulled them out. Changing them as we speak and will touch up where needed. Again, thank you.

[Amadauss1]

GerryO, could not help seeing a post you had for suggestions on doing some other things to the car. Don't want my daughter breaking down so thought I might tackle the EGR and PVC valve. Also read about cleaning the manifold and the junk that came out. Obviously to start this project a lot of things to disconnect. Any place on the site showing detail of this type of project? Thanks

[GerryO]

GerryO, could not help seeing a post you had for suggestions on doing some other things to the car. Don't want my daughter breaking down so thought I might tackle the EGR and PVC valve. Also read about cleaning the manifold and the junk that came out. Obviously to start this project a lot of things to disconnect. Any place on the site showing detail of this type of project? Thanks

The J30 can be a strange and challenging beast. Gas (premium fuel) mileage isn't great, parts (some are common with the Nissan Z32/300ZX engine) are a bit expensive, it has an interference engine (timing belt breaks = bent valves/piston damage) and it's also rear wheel drive. It has quite a number of electrical quirks (radio, speaker amplifiers, head lights, interior lights, door locks, windows, sun roof), but yours is a '97, which is good for a number of reasons. I replaced a leaking water pump at approximately 170K miles, along with the timing belt, oil seals, etc and then an injector failed couple of thousand miles later, followed closely by an O2 sensor. Overheating may cause damage to the knock sensor, which affects engine timing.

Replacing the EGR valve is a bear, but PCV valves are cheap. Make sure your daughter knows how to start a seemingly flooded engine.

These are among my two favorite links.

http://home.swipnet.se/e-solutions/IdleTech.html
http://home.swipnet.se/e-solutions/IdleTech2.html

My daughter drove a '98 Honda Civic for 10 years and it never failed her. I'm waiting for the transmission to fail on my '93. Wish I could be more encouraging and thank you for the update on removing coil packs. Best of luck!

[driverdriver]

Ensure that your using Nissan OEM NGK spark plugs. Non NGK plugs are known to cause all sorts of issues.

[Amadauss1]

Thanks GerryO and driverdriver for the help and suggestions. Have the NGK plugs and working on some other things. The rear wheel is a bear considering up north but she will not be driving it when we have snow. I need to contact dealer to see when we did the timing belt which I am thinking at 175 thousand miles we have done it. Think I need to change the brake shoes also. I did find this great site that had a guy posting step by step pics of changing the timing belt that are great as a guide. Will post if allowed to do so. Will keep you up to date how it is going.

[GerryO]

Here's something about the EGR valve and if nothing else, it's important that the EGR tubes are clear. They develop clogging deposits along almost their full lengths, not just near the plenum entering ends. Believe there's a simple test to determine if the EGR valve is working properly and it sounds like the EGR valve is more important than some believe, if it helps prevent knocking under high manifold vacuum conditions.

http://www.mdsmarthome.com/z/Z%20Tech/Z ... nt%202.pdf

And this can come in handy too.

http://www.z32photoguide.com/