- Apr 5, 2010
- 38
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Hi all.
Quite a while ago, a spark plug blew out of my '96 Cobra. The dealer said Ford had a problem with this on pickups, but it wasn't a known problem on Cobras. Nevertheless, it happened.
The incident wrecked the threads in the block, but the dealer repaired it with a Helicoil and the car seems to have been fine since.
Today it was time to replace the spark-plug wires, and of course the plugs. I found that one of the rubber connector assemblies didn't want to slide over the spark plug and sit flush against the engine the way the others did. I tried another connector, but had the same problem. I also tried reinstalling the plug. I suspect that this is the hole that was repaired years ago (it's on the correct side).
I replaced the wires before, but don't remember this happening. I may have simply dismissed it, but now I'm concerned that the plug is actually not screwing into the block as far as the others, because of the repair. I've attached a picture showing the connector plunger in question.
Wouldn't it cause a performance problem to have a spark plug not extending into the cylinder properly? Any suggestions on what to check or do about this? The car does seem to run fine, but of course subtly reduced performance may not be noticeable.
Thanks.
Gavin
Quite a while ago, a spark plug blew out of my '96 Cobra. The dealer said Ford had a problem with this on pickups, but it wasn't a known problem on Cobras. Nevertheless, it happened.
The incident wrecked the threads in the block, but the dealer repaired it with a Helicoil and the car seems to have been fine since.
Today it was time to replace the spark-plug wires, and of course the plugs. I found that one of the rubber connector assemblies didn't want to slide over the spark plug and sit flush against the engine the way the others did. I tried another connector, but had the same problem. I also tried reinstalling the plug. I suspect that this is the hole that was repaired years ago (it's on the correct side).
I replaced the wires before, but don't remember this happening. I may have simply dismissed it, but now I'm concerned that the plug is actually not screwing into the block as far as the others, because of the repair. I've attached a picture showing the connector plunger in question.
Wouldn't it cause a performance problem to have a spark plug not extending into the cylinder properly? Any suggestions on what to check or do about this? The car does seem to run fine, but of course subtly reduced performance may not be noticeable.
Thanks.
Gavin