I decided to change the plugs/wires on my R50, and I cannot get the plug wire out of the Cyl 1 tube to access the spark plug. I've tried a twist and pull motion, but it does not move. I don't want to pull too hard in case something separates, and I'm stuck with a broken piece in the spark plug tube.

Any ideas? WD40? Special tool? Just pull the bloody thing as hard as I can and hope for the best?

 

I would try to get some wd40 down into it.

 

So I sprayed WD 40 down the tube and still no movement. At this point the only option was to pull as hard as I could on the plug wire, and see what happened. Well the wire came out, but left the contact attached to the top of the plug. The contact was rusted to the spark plug, and actually separated from the wire. I managed to get the contact out with long nosed pliers, and then the spark plug came out easily. I've never seen this happen before. I've seen the usual rust on terminal 3 of the coil, but not on 1.

Now I will have to get a new set of wires tomorrow.

 

I was going to suggest the clip was rusted to the plug top but then was thinking the clip was stainless steel. When were the plugs changed last?

 

February of this year. It took some pulling to get the wire out. Yeah, I thought that they are stainless also. Don't know what happened, but the contact was definitely "fused" to the plug.

 

I put some di-electric grease on the coil connectors. Did a little too much and #3 started to come off that lead to a P0300 code. Pulled and wiped things down to remove any excess, no issues since. Going to put a fine coat on the plugs after seeing your issue. A little preventive maintenance.

 

Not an uncommon problem by the looks of it. Found this on youtube, and same thing happens on cyl 2 at about 2:45 into the vid. I wasn't searching for this particular problem when I found this. Just looking at "how-to's".

 

Yep. They can get fused together from moisture past the rubber skirt.

 

Any time you have dissimilar metals in contact with each other there is the potential for galvanic corrosion. A very, very thin coat of no-ox or di-electric grease should prevent this. All you need is enough to seal the pores in the metal not lubricate it, so after you apply the grease wipe it all off. Then wipe it again and you should be good to go. Uncle Sam taught this to me many moons ago in one of the many Corrosion Control courses I attended. As always YMMV

 

Two of the contacts came apart in this way. These were NGK plug wires, so I will be going back to genuine MINI as soon as I can get some.