Kevin

A little New Years fun here....

This is happening to you guys without you knowing it..

What do you think has happened??

ttAmerica RoadsterAWD

The shop mechanic refuses to get dirty and scraped knuckles to take off the passenger most-foreward spark plug??

Jaime

chris walrod

All too common on the dealer serviced n/a cars

InTheAir

One of these kids is not like the other. Can you tell which one it is?

--Sesame Street.

viperbob

"it is too tough to take out that plug number 6. The customer will never know". I have seen this numerous times when doing a major service. Scary. I even saw one that plugs 5 and 6 were not changed the last time. Unreal....

Kevin

Folks, I have wrenched on three engines in the last 8 months that have had this situation. As Bob has just mentioned, it even happens on #5.. The funny thing was that #6 plug was half way out of the hole, with two other plugs finger tight. You can't really press the mechanic because he can reach into his tool box to make up the 6 plugs...

Please read, here is the solution!

Purchase your own plugs before hand.. I prefer the Bosch over the Beru.. Once you have the new plug set, purchase a $12.00 metal/hobby electric engraving tool. Engrave you initials, or your present mileage on one of the metal shoulders of the plug. Anotherwords the surface that the spark-plug socket fits over.. This proceedure doesn't do anything for you the first plugs change, but when you change your plugs again, you can check and see if they have been replaced.

This is a common problem.. I would say that 1 in 3 cars have this happening...

Felix

Out of curiousity, what would the owner/driver notice on old plugs?

Kevin

Look at the condition of the 6th plug.. Five cylinders will be producing max power and 6 will and could be misfiring.. The result is a reduction in power and a mid to higher RPM shudder.

Jay993turbo

I found the same thing when I changed my plugs, number 6 was a Bosch plug, the rest were Beru. I found it very unnerving. Man, the audacity of these dealers!

Rickard 993 Turbo

very sad to see things like this

It's why i do all my work by my self

DzusFast

It's sacralige. It goes against the principles, these mechanics should be burned at the stake! They belong at tune-up masters working on'67 Dodge Dart slant-sixes.

amfp

Not sure it is specific to dealers, it is any lazy tech in uniform. Probably same person who charges you for two oil filters when they only replace the easy one.

viperbob

A lot of this behavior is motivated by dealers that are flat rate shops. This means that when a tech gets a car, he is expected to get it done in a certain amount of time. If he finishes in less time, then he can move on to another car, and will in effect get more money at the end of the week if he can bill 60 hours for his 40 hour week. In these cases, that last plug is probably 40-50% of the time for changing the plugs. So that 6th plug goes in his tool box and he is off to the next job. And even if you ask to see your parts, he has a bin of parts other customers did not want and just fishes out a similar plug to your other 5. As Kevin states, you need to really be able to trust your shop and their mechanics.

Kevin Ross

Kevin, ViperBob...

Can I say, as a fairly recent entry to the TT club, and one who has taken much from this board over the past 4 months while I went through the engine rebuild, etc etc with my car...

... thanks so much for this kind of information. You guys and others make this a fantastic resource, and your willingness to share information is outstanding. Since posting my last CEL issue, and taking the advice of FC-Racer to get another opinion, I have now had everything sorted and running brilliantly! I have never had more fun in a car...

So, seriously, thanks muchly for all the input I know I will get from you and others in 2006!

Bill P.

For you DIYers, if I ask my mechanic what tool(s) he uses to remove that 6th plug or how he accesses it, what should I expect to hear??

Regards,

Bill