cautionary spark plug tale
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Junior User
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 94
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cautionary spark plug tale
i had these plugs in my truck figured go ahead and do them as a v-8 rookie I figured hey how hard could it be? pretty hard.
three plugs broke when i was removing them. I was an idiot and didnt spray brake clean or similar on the metal so there was a good bit of sludge around there...so dropping dirt into the cylinder was a real concern. I got lucky there but the last plug I removed was a serious serious PITA I thought for sure there would be thread damage I was using a 3inch and a 6inch extension and a 1/2 inch 1 foot breaker bar turning that sob a 1/8 turn at best and it felt soft like it was gonna snap the whole time. Took almost 1/2 hour to get that last one, the new one went in smooth as silk.
The plugs must have been in there for 3-4 years or more. I was asking myself why I messed with them at all and am glad I didn't damage the threads in the head.
Such a simple job, but so much stress...
three plugs broke when i was removing them. I was an idiot and didnt spray brake clean or similar on the metal so there was a good bit of sludge around there...so dropping dirt into the cylinder was a real concern. I got lucky there but the last plug I removed was a serious serious PITA I thought for sure there would be thread damage I was using a 3inch and a 6inch extension and a 1/2 inch 1 foot breaker bar turning that sob a 1/8 turn at best and it felt soft like it was gonna snap the whole time. Took almost 1/2 hour to get that last one, the new one went in smooth as silk.
The plugs must have been in there for 3-4 years or more. I was asking myself why I messed with them at all and am glad I didn't damage the threads in the head.
Such a simple job, but so much stress...
Posting Guru
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 2,223
Likes: 2
From: Billings Montana
When you replace the plugs, use a little anti-sieze on the plug threads. I didn't until I snapped a sparkplug on my friend's Jeep Wagoneer. I felt like a jerk until he told me he did it all the time. After that, I always used a touch of it on the threads and I haven't had a problem with them.
Cargo Master
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 2,059
Likes: 426
From: Too close to Houston
You probably have longer threads on the plugs than in the heads. Carbon builds up on the threads in the cylinder and makes it tough to turn them back out. Make sure you are using a plug that is dimensionally the same as the recommended MotorCraft plug.
