04 Forester 25X

Any suggestions if the glue doesn't work?

Thanks,

If the socket does not have a detent that mates with the little spring loaded ball in the extension rod, get a better socket that has only 6 points. Do not use a 12 point socket as these are more prone to rounding the corners of hex nuts and jamming.

You may have to resort to an extraction/pickup tool. The ones I have fit over the outside of items; You need one ths fits into holes and it has to go into the 3/8 drive hole in the socket. Also, there must be enough room inside the socket above the spark plug to get the tool in there.

My first choice would be to get a good socket that comes free of the plug after it has been tightened.

If the O.D. of the socket fits too snugly with the tube, a little dirt and gum in the tube will give problems.
Get a thin wall deep socket.

I removed the stuck plug to get the socket back, then used electrician's stretchy tape to make a couple of wraps around the extension and the socket - bingo, they stayed together for all four plugs.

Of course I had to reuse the gasket on the first "stuck" plug, and I think that is not a problem. They do crush when the plug is torqued down I suppose, but the second application was to the same or greater torque - I used a torque wrench.

You mentioned that the special "plug gripper" socket was not needed for the horizontal layout. That special plug socket is still a good idea for horizontal plugs because a loosened plug can slid out of an ordinary socket leaving you with a chore of fishing the plug out of the hole.

When you do remove a plug (one that uses a washer) you have to make sure that the washer came out with it. An extra washer may give problems.

You can reuse the crush washer a second time. The tightening torque is the same as for the first time, but you may choose to increase the torque a little, but don't go overboard.