Im scared to change my plugs

the98stang · Dec 5, 2006

www.bullitarchive.com >spark plug change should be under maintenance

don't use any antiseize and torque them to 13 lbs. I think 15 is over kill....

Besides the torque I think the next most important thing to remember is the engine needs to be stone cold we you do the swap.

Kilgore Trout · Dec 5, 2006

the98stang said:
don't use any antiseize and torque them to 13 lbs. I think 15 is over kill....

Perhaps you are right... Thirteen should work.

the98stang · Dec 5, 2006

Kilgore Trout said:
Perhaps you are right... Thirteen should work.

svttech recommends 13, so that's what I stick to. Plus my haynes says 7-14 pounds. Of course, I would never torque them to 7

And to the original poster: after installing the plugs check the torque one month later (maybe a little earlier) especially if your engine is making ticking noises.

hotmustang331 · Dec 5, 2006

sgarlic said:
I think that's pretty irresponsible to encourage people to not use torque wrenches. If you don't, you have no one to blame but yourself (read: NOT FORD) if something gets ****ed up.

How would you feel if the people who assembled your car didn't bother using torque wrenches, or just "eyeballed" tolerances instead of measuring them? How do you expect your car to stay in one piece if you refuse to follow even the simplest guidelines set forth by the people who BUILT the car?

"I've never used anything but rubber hose for fuel line. There's no difference."

"You don't need to compress the caliper pistons before you install the new pads."

"Oil brand/weight doesn't matter, oil is oil."

"I've never used a torque wrench."

"I've used Fram oil filters forever."

This kind of primative thinking is exactly why automotive help forums are so popular; because people stuck back in the old days of ghetto car maintenance are starting to develop problems on cars that actually require more than a ratchet and some duckbills to maintain.

Good luck to the thread starter in changing your plugs. Just buy a 30 dollar ****ing torque wrench and use it, and you'll be fine. Recheck the torque on the plugs after a few hundred miles.

Well all I said was that I (Re: I) dont use a torque wrench. I didnt tell him not to. And honestly it wouldnt bother me one bit if Ford didnt use one on everything else, as long as they knew what they were doing and had good feel...I dont care about torque specs except like said, on the mains and heads. Other than that its not really important to ME and I could care less about using one. Its a waste of time to me (and yes we DO have a torque wrench).

Iv been doing it this way for years on all of my vehicles and I never had a problem....you guys can bust out the torque wrench for every little nut or bolt if you want, and thats fine (nothing wrong with that) but I will not.

Just like so many people do all of the measuring with gauges of the backlash and the such when installing rearend, and claim that that is the only way to do it....and if you dont do it that way your going to have problems. We use another method W/O gauges and precise measuring tools, and well 40,000 miles later and 0 whine and 0 problems with very little slack.

I know what works, and thats the way I do things....now oil and filters and such, I DO NOT play around with. Its motorcraft or mobile 1 oil and always motorcraft filters and I change both every 3000 miles. I follow other recomended specs like spark plug gap, and what weight oil for the tranny/rearend/motor.

I dont completely blow off specs or anything....just certain things that I feel are not needed or if I find another way to do it.

Thanks for the input though .

jstreet0204 · Dec 5, 2006

hotmustang331 said:
Well all I said was that I (Re: I) dont use a torque wrench. I didnt tell him not to. And honestly it wouldnt bother me one bit if Ford didnt use one on everything else, as long as they knew what they were doing and had good feel...I dont care about torque specs except like said, on the mains and heads. Other than that its not really important to ME and I could care less about using one. Its a waste of time to me (and yes we DO have a torque wrench).

Iv been doing it this way for years on all of my vehicles and I never had a problem....you guys can bust out the torque wrench for every little nut or bolt if you want, and thats fine (nothing wrong with that) but I will not.

Just like so many people do all of the measuring with gauges of the backlash and the such when installing rearend, and claim that that is the only way to do it....and if you dont do it that way your going to have problems. We use another method W/O gauges and precise measuring tools, and well 40,000 miles later and 0 whine and 0 problems with very little slack.

I know what works, and thats the way I do things....now oil and filters and such, I DO NOT play around with. Its motorcraft or mobile 1 oil and always motorcraft filters and I change both every 3000 miles. I follow other recomended specs like spark plug gap, and what weight oil for the tranny/rearend/motor.

I dont completely blow off specs or anything....just certain things that I feel are not needed or if I find another way to do it.

Thanks for the input though .

I don't use a torque wrench on most things either, but when there is a known issue like there is on these heads it is smart to use it.

triggz · Dec 5, 2006

007 said:
I was thinking about this - I bet it would be dead cheap to have ford do the plug swap. Then if something gets stripped etc. they have to deal with it. Plus the ford idiot will have done plugs 100s of times, vs me whos never done it. Then again he might be an idiot and he doesnt give a **** about my car.

I dunno? Think I'll buy the BBK intake and new plugs in the spring. Do it in one shot.

To recheck them every month havent you to disconnect your intake etc? Thats a PITA i don't feel like doing...

Ford quoted my buddy well over $100 to do a plug swap, and it takes a lot to make any dealership man up to something thats their fault anyway.

I have a leaking oilpan from a new engine THEY warrantied and installed, and they won't fix the gasket on the new engine because of my aftermarket springs

jstreet0204 · Dec 5, 2006

triggz said:
Ford quoted my buddy well over $100 to do a plug swap, and it takes a lot to make any dealership man up to something thats their fault anyway.

I have a leaking oilpan from a new engine THEY warrantied and installed, and they won't fix the gasket on the new engine because of my aftermarket springs

You should have smacked the service manager and told him your after market springs must have caused that too.

007 · Dec 5, 2006

triggz said:
Ford quoted my buddy well over $100 to do a plug swap, and it takes a lot to make any dealership man up to something thats their fault anyway.

I have a leaking oilpan from a new engine THEY warrantied and installed, and they won't fix the gasket on the new engine because of my aftermarket springs

You know thats illegal right. Theres no way in hell they can convince anyone the springs caused the problem.

Had the same with my escort. *******s crossed threaded something when they did a tranny service. All the oil drained out but i lived in an apt complex so i was always parked diff places. It was always snowing too. Anyway, very soon the car crapped out, and they said an oil line rusted thru. I replied "BS" and said "you just serviced the tranny and didnt mention any rusty lines". Eventually the gave me a "rebuilt" piece of crap replacement.
I'll do my plugs myself, and put the 100 toward the bbk intake.

Jsun3701 · Dec 5, 2006

:SNSign: I started this thread so I and others could follow the steps that lead to a successful changing of their spark plugs. No one is insulting anyone’s method of completing the task at hand, however. There are standard procedures for accomplishing most tasks. The "standards" are there for a good reason. Usually because someone has made a mistake and realized that guidelines needed to be established so others would not make the same mistakes. In short I applaud you for feeling out the work rather than using a torque wrench, or gauge and going with whatever method you found that works for you. But, S.O.P.'s are there for a reason and usually they are the most effective way of correctly completing the task.

hotmustang331 · Dec 5, 2006

S.O.P? Like standard operational procedures or something?

steveb24 · Dec 5, 2006

you should be very scared. i dont care how many plugs you guys have changed and on what cars and blah blah blah. poor design can overcome anything, giving a few "weak" variables. weak meaning maybe one plug i didnt turn the 1/32 on an inch needed and it backfired on me.. literally. the directions from ngk on plug tightening for alumininun heads is finger tight and than 1/8 of a turn. i did a quarter and still had one blow out. dont take this swap lightly. u think its easy cause the plugs are right infront of your face, but the procedure is very important and must be done right, and u stil might have problems.

Dusstbuster · Dec 5, 2006

^^ Should have used a torque wrench...it's the only guaranteed way to know you're in the proper torque range. And with these engines, it seems best to be on the higher end of the range.

steveb24 · Dec 5, 2006

hand tight + 1/4 turn is on or above the top end of the specs. my wrench is too bit to fit in there anyways

BurningRubber · Dec 5, 2006

Kilgore Trout said:
It is easy after you have done it once. There are many mistakes that can be made and many things that can go wrong. IMHO the only here is giving the guy a hard time about his being cautious about the work he is about to perform. No offense...

Its cool, its definatly something that needs to be done carefully. The only thing I was saying was BS is that Ford gave us this crapola problem to deal with, that sends fear into peoples minds when they have to do routine matenince such as changing plugs.

I didnt have any problem doing mine the first time, but it wasnt my first plug swap either.

The things I see a person possibly having a problem with is this...

1. COP bolt strips
2. Forgetting to blow the debris out of the plug wells, getting some in the CC
3. Not having the more helpful tools to do it (extensions are a must, and a telescoping magnet does wonders in getting the plug out of the well)
4. Cross threading the plug when re-installing, cause you cant really see where its at.
5. The biggest, under, or over tourqing the plugs.

Im not gonna lie, after I was done I was scared to start my car because I thought with my luck itd blow all the plugs out, lol.

03ghoststang · Dec 5, 2006

the98stang said:
svttech recommends 13, so that's what I stick to. Plus my haynes says 7-14 pounds. Of course, I would never torque them to 7

And to the original poster: after installing the plugs check the torque one month later (maybe a little earlier) especially if your engine is making ticking noises.

funny you mention the ticking noises cause i just read that TSB for teh romeo motor for the the head tick, and they have to do all these things to try and fix it before swapping the heads

Im scared to change my plugs

the98stang

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