Nobody mentioned it here, but at the Impala site, they mentioned loosening the front engine mount and rolling the engine forward to get more clearance to the back plugs? Is that possible? I didn't try it.

I've heard this from the GP guys too.

The Impala and GP guys have dogbone mounts on the top of their engines to keep them from rocking. By loosening..they get movement. Bonnies have a different mount setup and this trick won't work. I recently tried to "massage" an engine forward to gain plug access.

You can get a little by loosening the torque axis mount and pushing the car forward, chocking the rear wheels as they move forward. I've done this to gain an inch to replace a blower motor.

Just to throw my 2 cents in. What everyone says is correct- you just gotta twist and pull, twist and pull, etc. Be careful- you're gonna get some scrapes I bet. Those 3 rear plugs are no fun, especially the first time. After about the 3rd change it gets easier though. The original wires were a pain for me to get off. Way harder than the after markets I have on there- I don't know if that'* a great thing. However, I always use dielectric grease when I install, so maybe that'* made the difference. Perhaps they don't use grease when they put them on at the factory.

If it'* any help- I recently helped my friend do his minivan. Same engine setup, only you cannot get to the back because the engine compartment over hangs the back. The manual said, "Step 1: Remove Alternator". I should have listened. However, I learned a few things that may help in the bonne situation:

1. Be careful of what was mentioned before- you can pull the connectors right out of the boot with enough force.

2. Be careful of rippling the boot in half- this happened to the rears on mine. I had half the boot on the plug and couldn't get the socket over the knut beause of the excess rubber still there. Razor blade wouldn't help because I couldn't get it in there to slize the boot. Finally- I took a SHARP 1/4" chisel (I am a horrible woodworker) and slid that in VERY carefully to slice the boot. Worked like a charm. Obviously, he had new wires going in at this point.

Good luck, hope you have small but strong arms.

yes i got a extra hole in the dog bone to pull the engine foward to get better acces to the rear plugs

It'* a tight fit, but working from the passenger side of the car, slide your arm under the alternator and heater hoses and above the power steering pump. Long sleeves will help as the clamps for the heater hoses will try to do damage to your skin.

Todd (Rogue) found that removing the rear lifting bracket from the firewall side of the engine will get you a couple more inches.

I did my plugs today. Who was the sadistic bastard that put that rear hoist bracket there?

I was just planning on new plugs and wires another time (wasn't in the budget). I broke the boots off of number 6 and number 3, so new Belden wires and some skin and blood were added to the tune up.

The NGK'* that were in there came out ok and didn't look bad. They were rusted so I'm sure they needed to be replaced and the result was a much smoother engine at high rpm.

Just remove the rear engine hoist (engine cover bracket) bracket by taking out the 2 10mm bolts holding it on. Lot more access after that and since you don't have your engine cover on (you did remove that forever right?) then you wont need it unless you pull the motor.

Well....