Removing spark plugs

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Tigerfan
Posts: 65
Joined: Tue May 05, 2009 4:46 pm

Removing spark plugs

Post by Tigerfan » Sun Jun 09, 2013 7:47 am

Hi Guys, just going through the knuckle scraping finger twisting removal of the plugs from my Tiger. This is the first time with the engine in the car.

Allways knew No 8 is tricky, but having difficulty with No4. It seems that the clearance between the manifold and the plug is too tight to get a standard plug socket to securely fit over the plug. Is this normal?

Cant remember having this difficulty when fitting the plug before engine installation, then again out of the car its bound to be easier. Thought about turning down the outside of the plug socket to increase clearance, but its pretty thin walled and may weaken it too much.

Any comments/advise appreciated.

Thanks Rich

bigbob
Posts: 379
Joined: Wed Aug 19, 2009 11:31 am

Post by bigbob » Sun Jun 09, 2013 9:13 am

No 8 is the easiest due to the access hole in the passenger footwell. Look for the rubber bung under the carpet. I've ground down a plug socket to improve access, you can get away with thin wall as there shouldn't be too much pressure required on the plugs. A variety of extensions & swivel joints with your socket help a bit. But it's never a quick job.

Tigerfan
Posts: 65
Joined: Tue May 05, 2009 4:46 pm

Removing spark plugs

Post by Tigerfan » Sun Jun 09, 2013 1:50 pm

Hi,
Its No 4 that's giving me the trouble as the plug seems to have very little clearance to the manifold so the plug socket spanner wont go on enough to gripwithout slipping off. I know about no 8 and the plug in the floor although I find I can access it from underneath the car with various knuckles on my wrench.
Rich

ksherlock
Posts: 91
Joined: Thu Jun 30, 2011 9:25 am

No. 4 spark plug access

Post by ksherlock » Mon Jun 10, 2013 12:30 am

I found that when I refitted my exhaust manifolds, that it is possible to move them slightly fore and aft by about 2 mm due to the size of the bolt holes being somewhat larger than the the size of the bolts. Although this does not sound much ,it could be that if you slackened the bolts and pushed the manifold forward slightly that would give the spark plug socket just that little bit extra clearance to enable it to fit better on the plug.

tigerguy2
Posts: 67
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2011 4:13 am
Location: Chicago, USA

Post by tigerguy2 » Mon Jun 10, 2013 1:27 am

The above suggestion about a slight shift fore/aft in the manifold certainly sounds promising. Is there also an issue of clearance for the socket over the plug and then being able to turn it? If so, have you tried the tool kit socket and tommy bar? That might give you a little extra room in the spark plug axis direction. I also vaguely remember using a 12 pt. box end or flex head spanner on the hex end of a plug socket to get some of the plugs out.

Cheers, Gene

meadowhog
Posts: 392
Joined: Fri Dec 16, 2011 1:50 pm
Location: South Bucks

Post by meadowhog » Wed Jun 12, 2013 6:45 pm

Grind a bit off the corner of a box spanner. Make sure you grind enough to get a partial turn. When grinding make it a taper to keep as much of the strength as possible. Once its started it should get easier.

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