After reading the horror stories of broken plugs, I decided to give it a go with my 06 last night with 41,000 miles. Following the TSB with some careful insurance enhancements, I got all 8 out without breaking a one and replaced with the Champions. I backed out each one 1/8 turn and sprayed penetrant into the wells. I waited 30 minutes then slowly backed them out another 1/8 turn, waited 10 mins, allowing the penetrant to wick down more, then backed out another 1/8 and waited, etc... Each one was screaching and had high resistance (over 30 lb/ft). I just knew at least one was going to break. I repeated this process about 5 times before I decided to go for it. I literally said a prayer before completely removing each plug. None of them came out easily, but they did come out in one piece.
After removing the old ones, I put a couple of them in a vise and tried break the plug by cranking on it, but to no avail. While I know they are saying that the carbon buildup may be causing them to seize in the head, I believe much of the problem is just some defective plugs where the 2 pieces are formed together.
One more thing, I don't know if it made any difference or not, but I ran a can of Chevron Techron concentrate in the last tankful of gas before the surgery thinking that it may clean out or loosen some of the deposits. It certainly didn't hurt. The 8 prayers didn't hurt either. Good luck to the rest of you who have not tried it yet. Just follow the directions, take your time, turn the wrench very, very slowly and pray for strong plugs.
After removing the old ones, I put a couple of them in a vise and tried break the plug by cranking on it, but to no avail. While I know they are saying that the carbon buildup may be causing them to seize in the head, I believe much of the problem is just some defective plugs where the 2 pieces are formed together.
One more thing, I don't know if it made any difference or not, but I ran a can of Chevron Techron concentrate in the last tankful of gas before the surgery thinking that it may clean out or loosen some of the deposits. It certainly didn't hurt. The 8 prayers didn't hurt either. Good luck to the rest of you who have not tried it yet. Just follow the directions, take your time, turn the wrench very, very slowly and pray for strong plugs.
