FIRST QUESTION
I am looking for a serious manual for my 97 Mazda B4000 and my daughter's 99 Ranger (3.0L). Given that the two trucks are twins, I suspect one manual would cover them both.
I have the Haynes manual and it was a waste of money -- fuzzy photos, poorly indexed.
Back before Hurricane Katrina cleaned my out, I had Nissan-produced manuals for my Maxima and my old Nissan Hardboy truck. These were excellent manuals -- detailed instructions and diagrams; clear photos; easy to find what I needed. Ditto for my old VW Beetle manuals -- I forget the publisher but the manuals I have for old Beetles are excellent.
What manuals does anyone out there recommend? Does Ford publish a maintenance manual that's available through dealers?
NEXT QUESTION
How in the hell do I pull the plug wires off the plugs? I tired to replace plugs and plug wires on my daughter's Ranger and could not get the damn plug wires off the plugs -- I grabbed the boots as tightly as possible and pulled as hard as I could. I even clamped the boots with Vise-Grips -- nothing doing. Taking the truck to the dealer tomorrow and let them worry with it.
Anyone else have this problem?? As I recall from my days of working on old Beetles, I always put a conductive anti-sieze compound on the plug to prevent just this thing from happening.
THIRD QUESTION
What brand and type of plugs does everyone use on their Ranger/Mazda trucks -- 3.0 and 4.0 L.
Thanks.