Changing Spark Plugs



  • yep, you will need a good socket set and two extensions, otherwise as you know you will not reach.



  • Is it bad for the engine to drive the car with 4 new iridium plugs and 2 old plugs?



  • Its not bad, but its not good either. If you have to drive to get to somewhere, where you can change the plugs, dont go above 400rpms. As long as all the plugs are from the same heat range you cant do any damage, but still irridiums have a much stronger spark than your old plugs, giving you an unbalanced combustion. try to get them chamged as soon as possible. Try going down to your local garage and explain the situation, do a bit bowing and a bit of groveling and they might lend you the correct tool :-)



  • I'm not gonna risk it, but its so annoying not being able to drive the car, especially after I've just got the new exhaust fitted! :x



  • i bought halford socket set think was 14 quid. included extension bar spark plug socket and angle attachment. all of these were all i need



  • I have one of these:
    http://img.alibaba.com/photo/50935051/Spark_Plug_Sleeves.jpg

    and its only a few cm short :cry:



  • think the problem the may be the angle adaption is on the bottom. also the bend could damage the port for the plug



  • nah, its been ok for 5 of the plugs, but its just a little too short for the middle back one. If only i had my toolkit here i could prob bodge something up, but i left it back at uni :(



  • I cannot believe how much of a bitch this job is turning out to be…

    OK, so I went searching for a socket to take the remaining plug out yesterday, my mums friend whos a farmer managed to get one, but she didn't listen and got the 14mm, not the 16...
    Then I found another friend who had a few toolkits who said he'd lend em to me, so I got a lift to his and got the toolkits thinking I'd be sorted, but no 16mm socket and the only one that was a close fit wasn't deep enough!
    So I called the farmer guy my mum knows and we drove over to get the 16mm socket for the long reach ratchet he gave me. Although he didn't have one with a 1/2" drive that i needed, he made a custom one by welding a few bits together. I thought this would be the end of my problems, then I got back and although it was the right size socket, it was too big to fit in the chamber! I managed to dig out an old shitty file and after about an hour of filing down the metal it finally fitted.
    I took out the remaining plug, went to put the new one in and it wouldn't turn properly, so I had a good look at it and realised that just this one plug was the WRONG FITTING! :x
    I can't believe it, as when I originally ordered these plugs in march off ebay, the guy only sent 4, so I sent him about 10 emails and in the end had to call them up to get them to send the remaining 2 plugs and now theyve fucked that up too!! What IDIOTS! I'm so pissed off, this means I won't be able to use my car for another 2 days.

    Ontop of all this, I've lost one of the rubber bits on the end of the leads, so I've just wasted another hour looking for that with no success! ARRGGHH!!

    Anyway, sorry for the rant, but just had to get that off my chest. Does anyone have a spare lead, or just the rubber bit on the end that they could send me through the post?



  • sorry, no luck with te lead here, but I have to say reading your post it started off sounding a lot worse than it is. For a moment there I thought you had meant that someone had rammed the wrong fitment plug into your block and cocked up the thread! thank god that's not the case!



  • @blackmoth, give me your adresss via pm mate, I will send one rubber out to you as soon as I have the adress, got loads of the poxy little things lying around. And dont worry about it too much its only there to stop moisture build up. the lead its self has a hat on it that prevents most of the moisture reaching the plug anyway.



  • that'd be awesome mate… You probably know exactly what i want, but just to confirm, its the thing that should be on the end of here:

    But wait…are you in holland? Thing is I really wanna get my car going asap and I dunno whether I can wait a week or whatever for postage...



  • No worries mate, just about every car has one of these rubber bits and some motorbikes aswell, just ask around any scrapyard. Or ask at your local garagge for an old lead.



  • I can't really get to the local garages, as I have no car :(

    Also, none of the breakers will send it to me, maybe it's too small for them to be bothered with. If anyone on here can source one I'll send em a few quid via paypal…



  • OK, I should be sorted now, had to spend £9 for one spark plug though :x and another £6 for the lead!

    Ah well, I just want my car back, so I don't car right now…I have it booked in for MOT on Thursday, can't wait till its back on the road.



  • I was told the plug would arrive Tuesday first thing…It didn't...I called them and they said they would call back...they didnt....I rung again and same happened again. Then I called on wednesday and a girl said that the van delivering my plug had broken down! But she said it would be here first thing Thurs morning, so I was eagerly waiting for the postie this morning and NO BLOODY PLUG AGAIN!!! I was so pissed off and called them up shouted at them and demanded a full refund, which they said they would do...

    Then I had to take all 5 new plugs out again and put the 6 old ones back in so I could get it to the MOT!

    I'm happy now though, as it flew through the MOT, only the windscreen squirter thingy needed fixing and the guy did that for free, as I helped him do the test. http://youtube.com/watch?v=fS1t8Vp5EBw

    Its sooo nice to have him back on the roads and drive legally again! :D



  • @admin, maybe its an idea to create a "black list", of companies that dont keep their word or have been known for ripping people off. This is something we have also done here in Holland and believe it or not, it does helps.



  • yeah, could be worth it…If you're planning to buy sparkies, don't get them off either of these sellers on ebay:
    aj4151
    autoorders
    The customer service just doesn't exist for these companies...!



  • I think this is a good idea especially for Ebay sellers.

    Glad to hear you got through the MOT okay Moth. My last MOT cost me the best part of a grand :cry:

    What was wrong with your washer jets and how did you fix it? I only ask because mine wont put out more than a trickle (and yes I have checked my water bottle :lol: ) ?



  • Stick a pin in the little holes of the sprayer mate, works a treat :lol:

    you can correct the direction of the spray in this sway as the jets can swivel.


 

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