Cleaning Spark Plugs is a Simple Job...

: Did he also show you how to install new spark plug gaskets or re-anneal
: the old ones?

: Yep.

Which reminds me... should one try to do that on the spark-plug thermocouples
for measureing CHT? It's always bothered me that they *replace* the original copper
gaskets.

No. As long as you get the gasket/washer/thermocouple on the same way
it came off, it's fine.

Which, by the way, is also true of the regular copper washers/gaskets
under your spark plugs, per my A&P.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

In article 77TYe.360799$_o.107797@attbi_s71,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:

For example, our Subaru Outback has developed a very annoying rattle in the
right rear that starts at around 50 mph. It's a harmonic rattle, and we've
looked at EVERYTHING trying to find something loose, to no avail. Yet,
clearly, there is something very loose, somewhere. Our best guess at this
point is that it's something inside the right rear door -- but I haven't had
time to rip it apart to see.

turn up the radio!!!!

--
Bob Noel
no one likes an educated mule

It certainly is an easy job. You get your mechanic to save a set of plugs
for your engine from some other owner who has more money than good sense and
changes them with a few thousand hours left on them, you sent this set to
AIrcraft Spark Plug Service in Van Nuys CA, and they send you back
surgically clean, gapped, and "bomb tested" plugs with a new gasket in a
sealed plastic tube for about $4 a plug.

If one of the plugs will not pass muster, they will sell you a good
reconditioned plug in approximately the same wear condition as the bad plug
for about $8.

This is the inexpensive way to do it.



Jim

Wow. I'm not exactly sure why you had to waste 132 line to tell us you
just learned how to clean your sparkplugs, but I'm shocked it took you so
many years to learn to do it. Do yourself a favor and get one of these...

http://www.chiefaircraft.com/cgi-bin...arkPlugCleaner

It cleans your plugs in short order, and does a good job. Just don't
over do it. You can prematurely wear them out by "over" cleaning them
with one of these.

--- Jay



--
__!__
Jay and Teresa Masino ___(_)___
http://www2.ari.net/jmasino ! ! !
http://www.OceanCityAirport.com
http://www.oc-Adolfos.com

"Jay Masino" wrote in message
...
Wow. I'm not exactly sure why you had to waste 132 line to tell us you
just learned how to clean your sparkplugs, but I'm shocked it took you so
many years to learn to do it.

I got a lot of information out of Jay's post about his experience cleaning
the plugs. I'm a fairly new aircraft owner and have thought about pulling
the plugs to recheck the gap and clean them as needed. But after reading
through Jay's post, I'm not about to attempt it yet without having someone
giving me some guidance. I also don't have the luxury of an on-airport
mechanic available to ask for assistance like Jay has.

Until I get the proper equipment needed, some guidance, and some old plugs
to practice on first, I'm not about to touch my plane's plugs, yet. I kept
Jay's post so at least I have some idea as to what and what not to do...

-Greg B.

5hours will eventually become 2,... after you have more $$ invested in all
his neat little time $aver tool$

good to work on your own things.. stocking up his Cola closet was a nice
touch.

BT

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:SjLYe.157590$084.124008@attbi_s22...
Lately I had noticed just a smidge of roughness in the engine. Not a
roughness, really, but a slight vibration, maybe a little, tiny,
occasional miss? It was not detectable by anyone except someone who flew
the plane as often as I do (and, in fact, Mary often couldn't sense it),
but it was definitely there.

It had been 150 or so hours since we last had our spark plugs cleaned and
gapped -- a good 50 hours past optimal, according to my A&P (although
burning unleaded mogas extends that interim dramatically) -- and I had the
day off with which to test my brand new "spark plug cleaning/gapping kit"
from Aircraft Spruce. I was determined that, for once, I wouldn't bug my
mechanic about stupid, "grunt work" -- I would do it myself!

"As long as I was at it" I decided to change the oil and filter, too. We
only had 29 hours on the oil, but it had seen some hard, hot, summer
hours -- and we like to aim for every 25 hours, anyway. And then, since I
was getting all greasy anyway, I figured it was a good day to put a new
battery in the "Mighty Grape" -- our fuel hauler which Mary was forced to
be push-start last week, due to low electrons.

I, of course, figured cleaning and gapping the plugs would take an hour,
maybe two, tops. As always, I was off by a factor of four. The first
thing I realized was that I had NO idea how to gap the plugs using my new
gapping tool. It was totally different from the automotive feeler gauges
I had used in the past, as was the "feeler gauge" they supplied that
looked more like a dental tool with short lengths of guitar strings
sticking out of both ends. What the hell was I supposed to do with *that*?

No problem -- the kit (which came in a VERY handsome walnut box, BTW) came
with instructions. Unfortunately, said instructions had been xeroxed from
another xerox, which was probably copied from an old mimeograph back in
the 1960s. I could barely make out every other word, and nothing really
made sense.

Staring ruefully at that beautiful, useless walnut box, I reluctantly set
off for my mechanic, kit in hand, feeling sheepish and silly. I mean,
really -- all I was doing was trying to gap the stupid spark plugs!

Always a gentleman, he cordially showed me how to work my new tools -- and
then showed me how to clean the plugs with a dental pick. Of course,
this looked like it might take all day, so he then showed me how to use
his cool little plug cleaner -- a Radio Shack engraver with a special
attachment for getting down around the electrodes. It gently vibrates (as
all engravers do) the holy hell out of the crap and corruption that builds
up in there, allowing for proper inspection of the porcelain.

Of course, the plugs were still covered with gray baked-on stuff, which
can be cleaned off with an emery cloth and some patience. This, of
course, looked like it might take all day, so he patiently showed me how
to use his cool spark plug sand-blaster, where all I had to do was stick
the plug in the hole and push a button. 15 seconds later, voila! The
plug looked like new!

Then, of course, he showed me how to get the old, hardened thread
anti-seize compound out of the threads, using a dental pick and a wire
brush. This, of course, looked like it might take all day, so he patiently
showed me how to use his bench grinder's wire brush wheel to clean all the
old gook out of the threads.

And, finally, he recommended rinsing the newly cleaned plugs in solvent
before gapping them. This, of course, looked like it might take all day,
so he showed me how to rinse them using his motorized parts washer, and
dry them off with a blast or two of compressed air.

Then it was time to actually gap the plugs. The guitar string thingy
turned out to not be a gapping tool at all, but a gap measuring tool. The
one side was a thinner wire (14?) that should pass between the sides and
the electrode when the plug is gapped correctly. The other side was a
thicker wire (18?) which should NOT pass between the sides and the
electrode when the plug was gapped properly. Thus, by the process of
elimination, using the little gap setting tool (a circular collar that
threads onto the plug, with two opposing thumbscrews that squish the sides
in closer to the electrode) you could set the gap more or less properly.

Why this is the accepted way to do this, instead of the automotive feeler
gauge tool method, I don't know. But, after a little practice, it worked.

Then it was time to rotate the plugs. I had fashioned a box with
appropriately labeled holes for all 12 plugs, and my A&P showed me the
accepted way of rotating the plugs. He admitted that there may not be a
lot of logic or utility to the practice anymore, but he advised doing it
anyway.

Then it was back to the plane.

By now the oil had fully drained, and the usual hanger bums had gathered
to see what was going on. I became tied up with them in conversation, so
Mary proceeded to remove the oil filter -- a first for her. She, of
course, as we all do the first few times, managed to dump oil all over the
place. The hanger bums were beside themselves with awe (at the fact that
my wife was actually willing to *do* any of this stuff) and laughter, as
she tried desperately to do a three-handed job with only two. But she
eventually wrestled it to the ground...

Putting the plugs back in required using my other new tool -- a gigantic
Craftsman torque wrench. I had my A&P set the torque properly the first
time, just to make sure I wasn't mis-reading the danged thing and twisting
something off inside the engine. Unfortunately, I discovered that my
torque wrench was a 3/8 inch drive, and my spark plug socket was a 1/2
inch drive -- and I didn't have an adaptor to make them work together.
So, off to the local hardware store to fetch the little bugger, and -- 20
minutes later -- I was finally able to properly reinstall all 12 plugs,
six JPI temperature probes, six washers, and 12 wires.

Then I installed the new oil filter, and Mary added 12 quarts of Aeroshell
oil.

We then, of course, had to reattach the cowlings and do a ground run,
testing for leaks. Everything ran perfectly, without leaks, and --
although we didn't fly, due to high winds -- I think the engine ran
noticeably smoother.

In the end, the job(s) took about 5 hours, although we wasted a lot of
time shooting the breeze. My goal of independence from my mechanic turned
out to be a complete farce, as I ended up needing his advice and tools at
every step of the job. While it's true that in the future this won't be
the case, advice-wise, using his tools sure made the job easier and the
results of higher quality -- and it doesn't make any sense for me to buy
all of those things for the twice a year I need to do this. So, I
suspect I'll not be declaring basic maintenance independence just yet...

As usual, he would not accept any money for all of his help. We ended up
buying a case of Coke for his shop, simply because that's the only thing
he said he needed -- and we felt we had to give him *something*. He's a
great guy, but I sure wish I didn't need him for such a "simple" job...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Wow. I'm not exactly sure why you had to waste 132 line to tell us you
just learned how to clean your sparkplugs

Why, because I *knew* it would **** you off, Jay!

:-)

Seriously, we're not all experts here. I write like things like that
because when I was a new owner, I learned from other posters who wrote stuff
like that here.

Lately, it seems like there has been a dearth of instructional "how-to"
posts (like Mike Spera's excellent "replace the interior" series) here. I
would like to read more of them, and -- when I can -- I will continue to
contribute them.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Hey Jay,
I'm always happy to see you get your hands dirty! With your interest
currently peaked about changing spark plugs, I'd suggest googleing about it.
Both Lycoming and Champion have some good articles online concerning torque,
gaps, gaskets, anti-seize and other spark plug related subjects.
Jim

Jay Honeck wrote:
o, I suspect I'll not be
declaring basic maintenance independence just yet...

As usual, he would not accept any money for all of his help. We ended up
buying a case of Coke for his shop, simply because that's the only thing he
said he needed -- and we felt we had to give him *something*. He's a great
guy, but I sure wish I didn't need him for such a "simple" job...

I always find my mechanic is pleased when after using her tools I sweep
the hangar, go buy lunch, bring the sodas, etc.

Margy

Our best guess at this point is that it's something inside the
right rear door -- but I haven't had time to rip it apart to see.

Is that where Joe or Becka sits?