Motor Vehicle Maintenance & Repair Stack Exchange
Motor Vehicle Maintenance & Repair Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [sparkplugs]

spark plugs are used to ignite the fuel-air mixture in a petrol/gasoline engine.

292 questions
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11 answers

Spark plug broke off in engine - can I drive the car?

I own a 2004 Volvo XC90 T6 2.9L AWD with 6 cyl. (Twin turbo, with catalytic converter.) While changing the spark plugs, one broke-off (all the ceramic below the threads and possibly the metal finger of the plug - I'm not sure) and fell through the…
VolvoXC90_T6
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What is the difference between normal, platinum, iridium plugs?

What is the difference (besides price) between normal, platinum, and iridium spark plugs?
krumpelstiltskin
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25
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7 answers

How do cars drive through deep water as shown on many videos online?

I have read many warnings about driving a car through deep water. Some problems that this can cause is destroy the catalytic converter and in petrol engines water can cause damage to spark plugs. And in diesel cars I thought you needed a special…
Linux_user0987
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23
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11 answers

What happens if a single spark plug unexpectedly goes down in a multi-cylinder engine?

AFAIK vehicle manuals say owner must replace spark plugs every N miles. Suppose he fails to do so and a single spark plug unexpectedly dies in an engine with multiple cylinders right in a freeway. What likely happens to the vehicle?
sharptooth
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23
votes
2 answers

How do I know when to change my spark plug

I ride a Piaggio scooter with a single cylinder engine. Recently I broke down and the engine wouldn't restart. It turned out the spark plug was stuffed. How can I ensure that doesn't happen again?
WOPR
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17
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3 answers

Why one should not leave fingerprints on bulbs and plugs?

I have read that one should not leave greasy fingerprints on their spark plugs or on their light bulbs. Why is this a thing? On what else one should not leave fingerprints? How does one avoid leaving fingerprints (latex gloves or, say, cleaning the…
Baran Zadeoglu
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16
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2 answers

How much does spark plug gap affect fuel efficiency?

I've read conflicting reports regarding how plug gap can affect fuel efficiency. For example, I've read that too small a gap won't cause a clean burn, or that too large a gap can cause misfires due to the voltage being insufficient to jump the…
Robert S. Barnes
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5 answers

How to properly change out spark plugs?

I am looking into how to change out my spark plugs on my 4 cylinder 2005 Mazda 3. All I know to do is: 1: Open each cylinder. 2: Use a spark plug socket (with the rubber insert) to remove the old spark plug in each cylinder. 3: Insert new spark…
tarheel
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12
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2 answers

Is there a measurable benefit to replacing spark plug wires?

My 92 Civic has very old spark plug wires, probably original, but their resistance is in-spec (under 20k ohms), they have no external damage, and the vehicle has no misfire or other symptoms associated with bad wires, aside from having worse gas…
R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE
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2 answers

Do I really have to pull the engine to remove broken spark plugs?

I broke 2 spark plugs in my Buick lesabre 3800. The plug is broken at the top of the nut. The porcelain is all broken off in the socket. Took it to a mechanic and was told he would have to take the entire engine out in order to extract them. Right…
Byron
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10
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2 answers

Do I need a new sparkplug?

I spent some quality time trying to get a Toro mower started. It has a Kohler engine. Many, many pulls and no life. It had gas leftover from last summer in it (8 months old) and the mower itself is ten years old. So that was working against me. …
nuggethead
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10
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5 answers

Can I use a 15lbs torque wrench for 13lbs spark plug job

My civic has 100,250 miles and the service came up for the spark plugs. B124, I am reading and it says after replacing the plugs to torque it to 13 Lbs. The only torque wrench I have is minimum 15 LBS. Would this be too much torque? What are the…
RobNav
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10
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2 answers

Impact wrench on spark plugs?

'07 Cobalt LS, vanilla 2.2 I may have to remove the (probably 10-year-old) spark plugs, which I suspect may be stuck. If so, I'm wondering if it would be prudent to hit them with an impact wrench to break them free.
George
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10
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4 answers

Estimate for head removal / reinstall

In changing the spark plugs in my 2000 Ford Mustang GT (4.6L), I sheared one of them (number 3) The ceramic is totally removed, as is the hex nut. The threaded portion as well as the ground electrode remain screwed into the head (and moderately…
Christopher Lates
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10
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1 answer

Where do spark plugs get their electricity?

Where is the electric charge coming from and does it have a large amount of electric charge to it?
LostPecti
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