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I will be replacing my plugs and plug wires once I figure out how best to get my hands onto the back 2 cylinders of the passenger side (without removing the air compressor or the starter). Seeing how tight of a fit it is, and the odd angles, what has been found to be the best tool for the job? Are the needle nose double offset pliers type just as good as I hear or are the offset dedicated puller type tools able to get to the back cylinders ok? I know the old screwdriver with the curl on the end would work well due to the lack of clearance needed between the manifolds and wheel wells and I hated using these in the past as I ended up pulling wires off the boots 30% of the time. At least I tried the passenger side before starting to take any off this time, that way I didn't end up with 5 or 6 new plugs and wires and 2 to 3 old ones!
Last edited by jybravo70; Feb 8, 2021 at 02:26 PM.
Reason: spelling
If you are uncomfortable, removing the coil packs should give you more room to maneuver. The thing with using a tool is that you risk damaging the wires. (Or something else.)
Yeah, coil rail removal is the easiest way for the '99-'02 cars, then you can do it by hand from the top; no need to remove anything else besides the AIR tube from the manifold (if AIR is still present, and then you'll likely need a new gasket here). The coil rail is easy to remove if you get a small 10mm wrench with a ratcheting box end (otherwise the back bolt is super difficult).
But after ~20 years, if the car has significant mileage AND the plug wires have never been removed, I wouldn't count on getting all of them off in usable condition regardless of the approach angle or tools used or not used. For example, when I took the wires off to remove the original ~100k mile plugs on my '02 Z28, the plug wire that got destroyed was actually on the driver's side - one of the super-easy-to-reach ones. Age, heat cycling, etc., it was just too seized to get off in usable condition.
If you have a very low mileage garage queen and/or a previous owner has had the wires off a few times over the years (hopefully using some dielectric grease), they might still come off without any issue. Otherwise, I would just plan on replacing them if they haven't been removed since the car was assembled.
I believe these are OEM wires and I won't be re-using them. While the car only has 45k miles it sat in storage for about 10-12 years between 2 owners. The engine does hesitate between 2500-3500 rpm. It starts and runs fine other that that. I reduced the hesitation but cleaning the throttle body intake. The fuel and air filters were replaced recently, the fuel filter was OEM original from 2002. I have a set of MSD plug wires I will be using. I tried to get one of the passenger and driver side plug wires off and they would not budge and I was afraid the wire was going to come out of the boot, I wasn't able to get the heat shields to move either. This is why I wanted to know if there was a type of tool that worked best on the harder to access passenger side. I'm trying to avoid common mistakes as much as possible on this car as so much of it looks to have been neglected or ignored over the years.
Last edited by jybravo70; Feb 10, 2021 at 10:13 PM.
Reason: plug wire make
If not concerned about reusing them you can use the long handle/long reach needle nose pliers to remove some of them. The 45 degree offset ones or the hose style pliers of the right diameter work well for that type of stuff and if they are offset you can use them to pry away from the engine. You just have to find the right spot to grab on the middle of the plug on the wire. Don't forget to twist the wire back and fourth a few times first to break it loose, if you can. These are available at most auto part and some big box stores.
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Best tool for removing plug wires? 
