My spark plug seals are hardened and stuck to to the cover, as tough as nails.?

Question

Trying to change spark plug seals in the cover of a 1998 Honda Civic been parked for over a year.But the seals are hardened and stuck fast to the cover and as said before as tough as nails.How can I safely and easily remove them

I need to clarify: the seals are those located directly underneath the valve cover, those round ones surrounding the holes through which the plug and plug wires go.You get new ones when you purchase a valve cover gasket.I suspect I am not using the right jargon but I hope I made it clearer this time.By the way they are so tough a knife just scratches them,serious.Once again its those seals that you see if you take the cover off the engine and flip the cover over

Answer 1

Use somthing sharp and tap lightly to shatter the seals.
Very rarely come accross seals that hard, but it is the only way,

Answer 2

Try letting oil soak in around them, maybe wd40. Just saturate the upper half of the spark plug that you can see, let it sit there for a day or so. See if that helps.
If not, you might be in a mess. You dont want to break one off in there or strip the threads.
EDIT:
After reading your question again i think i might have mis-understood you. Do you mean the boot of the spark plug wire is stuck on the spark pug itself? Or that you cant get the spark pug out of the engine?
If its only the rubber boot stuck on the spark plug, just take yourself a good sharp knife and cut those suckers off. Go out and buy yourself a new set of spark plug cables while you are at it. You probably needed to replace them anyways.

Answer 3

Plugs should be checked at least every 2 years to avoid this from happening. I've seen this alot when I used to work in various dealerships. It's solidified carbon deposits. You need a good lubricant/penetrating fluid. You should be able to pick one up at an auto supply store. Tell them the difficulty you're having and they can get you the right product. Let in soak in and torque those plugs loose, be careful not to break them or the spark plug wells.

Answer 4

When you replace your seals or snap your plug wires back on the plugs ALWAYS smear a light coat of high dielectric silicone ignition grease inside the plug boots and around the plug seals. They will come of easily in the far future.

Answer 5

youre local car hardware store should be able to provide a spray on delocker that'll penetrate the thread

Answer 6

You should get new wires and pull out the old one in bits.

Answer 7

YOU WILL HAVE TO BREAK THEM APART USE A SMALL REGULAR SCREWDRIVER TRY TO GET UNDER IT AND POP IT UP BUT MAKE SURE YOU HAVE SOMETHING IN YOUR SPARK PLUG SLEEVES TO CATCH ANY THING THAT GO'S IN.

Answer 8

well friend,i would say you better get new ones,because if they are that hard,you will probably break them,trying to get them off.and besides if they are hard,then they probably wont seal back again,even if you can get them off.