Something is still strange. You are still getting non consistant results in my opinion. If the meter is a recent aquisition take it back if you can. Barring that borrow one.
I very much doubt the wiring harness has some open leads. Anything is possible yet..... You will find a normal working meter to be much nicer to use. At this point I would not trust that meter you have. Most meter problems are constants but your meter may be throwing a few curves in for good measure. Since you have alligator clips etc try putting a 12 volt light bulb between the positive terminal of the battery and each contact in the plug. If it lights the plug for most practical purposes is probably useable. If it does not light you have an open plug most likely. I suspect your results might be different than your meters. Sorry to see you having so much trouble.

At autozone they have magnets on an extendable stick. I dropped a wrench and a screwdriver bit down there and got them both out with the magnet. You can get your wrench out..its big enough for the magnet to find easily..keep trying!

As for wrenches, I used gear wrenches for both the little nut and the plug, but next time I'm going to go to sears and buy a craftsman 12mm ratcheting box end wrench with a nice 5 degree swing, because my gear wrenches almost didn't cut it...I have barely enough room to swing the wrench. But its not that hard...I was a little daunted by a few of them and they turned out to be easier than I though. And since its something that you've going to have to tend to every year or two, it would probably be best to get familiar with changing the plugs.

Good luck, and don't forget to put anti-sieze on the new plug threads to make your work easier next time around.

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1985 300TD-euro 352,000 mi
1974 240D (1?)52,000 mi - has a new home now

Sears makes a pick up tool (drain snake looking thing with opening claws) that can pick the wrench up out of the crack. Ask me how I know...

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00941322000P?keyword=pick+up

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Andrew

1989 Volvo 745- 202K

I can do mine in 20-30 minutes without a problem, they unscrew with just my fingers once I loosen them about 1/2 turn. It gets easier after you've done a few.

I ended up getting my 1/2" ratchet driver down in the crack, batted the wrench out of sight, and reached up from underneath to grab it. I will stuff rags down there--thanks Kerry. Nice to know rule #1 about a job after having broken it

I will be MUCH more inclined to chase down these discrepancies/unscrew the wires/plugs once it's not freezing outside. I am moving to Austin, TX later this year, so in the mean time, i think this will go onto the list of things the mechanic will look at in the upcoming week. I don't know if you guys remember but I posted a month or so ago about a whole mess of front end rebuild work, with parts prices and labor quotes. The unanimous decision was that the mechanic was very reasonably priced. So, the wagon goes off to get $1600 worth of bushings and whatnot installed.....here's the link to that thread, in case you're curious:

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=210145

Luckily I just got married this past fall, so we're putting all our wedding gift money toward this laundry list of fixes for our car. The wife is behind it. Without this money we couldn't afford to do this, no matter how reasonably priced it is. $1600 is a lot to put into a car that ostensibly runs well enough. Alas.

Thanks again for all your guys' help! This forum makes jobs easier; lacking a proper set of tools and buying faulty meters makes it frustrating...and all you can do is smile

(and go broke)

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JBG
1985 TD wagon, 228k
running on grease since 3.07
AUSTIN, TEXAS