Basic Car Care & Maintenance : Checking Car Engine Spark Plugs
Hi, this is Jeff Wong with Expert Village,
and today we’re going to learn the basics of maintaining your vehicle. In this next
segment we’ll be looking at the spark plug wires and the spark plugs themselves. So,
in most vehicles you’ll be able to find the spark plug wires as the group of wires that
go into the engine; usually in a group of four or six or eight. So, if your wires are
exposed, what you can do is a basic check and make sure all the wires are firmly secure
in their place, you can do this by just pushing down on these wires and checking and making
sure their secure. And also check on the other end, where they go into the distributor cap
and give them a little push and make sure their secure. So, checking the spark plugs
themselves is a little bit beyond basic. It involves a little bit of tools, and if you
don’t feel comfortable with removing you spark plugs from your vehicle you may want to bring
it in and have them checked out. So, we’ll go over the steps to removing a spark plug.
So, you have your basic ratcheting wrench here, with the extension on it because the
spark plugs are usually deep in the engine. And this is a special spark plug socket. Inside
there is a rubber washer so that when the spark plug becomes loose after you taken it
out the rubber washer will grab the spark plug and enable you to pull it out of the
engine. So, lets demonstrate by taking one of these spark plugs out. So, first we firmly
grab one of the spark plug wires and we pull up until it pops out. So you can see they
are pretty long. So, if you look inside you’ll be able to see the spark plug. So, take your
wrench and slide it in; it should be noted that different vehicles have different size
spark plug holes so find the socket that corresponds to your vehicle. So, turn in a counter-clockwise
fashion until the spark plug breaks loose. Some of these may be rather tight if they
haven’t been changed before or if they’ve been sitting for a long time. So, you unscrew
the spark plug, like a regular screw and once you feel that its become loose, you can pull
up on the wrench. As you can see the socket has held the spark plug in place and taken
it out. If you examine the tip of the spark plug, it should be a grayish-white color.
It should be clean from any oil. If your spark plug is wet, dark black or any other strange
color besides this, there is probably something wrong with your engine and you may want to
get it inspected. So, now since this spark plug is okay and this car has been running
fine, we’ll assume that the rest have been running fine. But, for yourself you can check
all the spark plugs. So, to replace the spark plug, we simply reverse the process we used
to take it out. So, we take the socket, make sure the spark plug is secure, and we slide
it back into the hole. And what I like to do is I like to remove the wrench actually
in this initial stage, and finger tighten the spark plug. Now what this does, it insures
that the threads are lined up so that when I tighten with the wrench I’m not stripping
the spark plug or the hole on the engine; which could be a costly repair. So, once the
spark plug is snug or finger tight, I take my wrench and I tighten the spark plug. So now that the spark plug is firmly in place,
take the spark plug wire and I place it in and I push it down; and you should be able
to feel a click when the spark plug wire snaps into place and attaches to the spark plug.
Be sure all your wires are nicely aligned and you?re done. So, as a note when tightening
your spark plugs, you may want to use what’s called a tork wrench; and what this wrench
does, it has an adjustable amount of force and it will actually slip when the amount
of force you dialed in is reached so that when you install your spark plugs you don’t
over tighten them. So, you can check on the spark plug box for the corresponding tork
specification for your vehicle.
great vid, very insightful thanks.
great help! thanks
This guy barely even has an accent.
you're just racist.
that engine is running lean the spark plug tip is white
Hhhahahaha at booya
morons!
should be more informative like WHEN to replace things in your car. thanks though
genius the way you explain each vid !! ********** stars
way to not use a torque wrench to tighten the spark plug.
gosh who cares where hes from or what color he is…. some white people find racism in everything,,,,,,
@workingthrash yep
Put anti seize on the threads on aluminum head engines
Jeff has helped a lot with all his videos. thanks expert village!
with my school i can be a fucking doctor but i don't want to…my real passion are cars…
At 2:00 The spark plugs should not be that tight!!!
This could cost you a new cylinder head.
And make sure to used anti-seize.
@dosteddaram Lol
@stuartwhite224 You're an ass. Plain and simple.
thanks man, very helpful, couple things, some place says to use some anti seize grease when re-inserting them, and another says only tighten then as much as your thumb and two fingers can tighten on 1 hand, cheers
@1nazchan if you're talking about oil change/spark plugs change/etc…. Most of that info can be found in your CAR MANUAL…. it tells u when to and you can even record ur maintenance in there…
oooo, v-tec
I like your expalnation man but where you found though? You maybe my great expert for my vehicle.
my spark plugs r black as fuck, lmao
Cool video bros
I've watched all your videos.. thanks helpful
the 4 people that disliked this are the desperate housewives
tune ur engine!
LOL
Hey man Thanks!!!
he twitched at 00.10 😀
Hi, Jeff. I'm doing a research project on automobile industry, but have little background knowledge of cars. Do you know what brands of cars use spark plugs and which don't? Right now I am researching Hyundai. Thank you.
Nice video, but the only additional I would insert would be this: NEVER remove a spark plug from a warm or hot engine. The spark plug body is made of iron or steel and is much harder than the often aluminum heads, and the spark plug threads (in the head) can be stripped easily over time. I change my plugs around 35-40 K miles even tho they are warrantied to 100K. Performance is improved and for most drivers that is two years of driving or more. In addition I would suggest that the user buy a anti-seize product to coat the plug threads so as to help prevent a seized plug down the line. I realize it seems like 'overkill' to many, but until it occurs and you have a hefty bill you realize it is too late. I leave my car parked overnight before I change plugs, and that is the reason I do my own minor maintenance. I've seen folks in a hurry because they have 'customers' waiting in line, so they do what needs to be done without concern for engine temp and they just 'do the job'. As in all things SAFETY first. dwh
There are several wires that go to that box thingy on your video, how can you tell which wire goes to the spark plug?
if my car not starting… or while driving then stop?
what to do? what to check in engine exactly?
This really didn't need to be 5 minutes long…
Thanks Jeff- Very clear instructions!
Please don't look at them and call it wayyyy more to it
Please don't look at them and call it wayyyy more to it
I think he's hot
Thanks brother
this video is awesome though I didn't do anything you said and instead just tried to start my car again and it started up perfectly after not starting for 5 days. Been running perfectly since. Had to have been your video, i give you credit. thank you sir.
no dialectric grease…fail