How short does a torque wrench need to be to change the spark plugs in a 1999 C2?

I'm going to tackle changing the plugs and coils in mine soon and I don't own a torque wrench yet. I decided to get a 3/8" drive spark plug socket with a swivel adapter on Amazon. I'm looking at 3/8" torque wrenches but not sure which one to get. One 3/8" Torque wrench I'm looking at is 10-80 ft-lb but it's 14.5" long. I'm not sure if that's too long for this job or not.

I've done a lot of searching and reading up on changing the plugs but haven't found the answer to this one yet.

 

Depending on how much stuff you take off (i.e. exhaust brackets) you may not be able to get a torque wrench on all 6 of them, but you'll certainly be able to hit maybe 2 or 4. Don't sweat it. Just use it on the ones you can get to, and in doing so, calibrate your arm to feel how tight it is, and then use whatever means you can to get on the other ones. Torque wrenches are great tools, but if you torque enough fasteners you should get a good feel for what "tight" means, and be able to do it close enough by feel when the wrench won't fit. You could even measure the number of degrees from "first contact" of the crush washer to when the torque wrench clicks on the ones that you can easily get your wrench on, and then duplicate that angle on the ones you can't reach with a big wrench.

 

Good idea. I remember reading that you absolutely positively NEED to use a torque wrench or bad things could happen. I haven't decided if I want to take the mufflers off yet. I have small hands but I also have a low tolerance for frustration.

 

The advice given by dkraige is spot-on. Spark plugs can usually be installed without a torque wrench. There are many other things where a torque wrench is critical. Plugs are not one of them.

As mentioned, if you can determine when the crush washer has seated, it is often 3/4 of a turn further to get a good installation.

 

Thanks for the advice!

 

I'd advise against taking off the mufflers, if you have small hands and a good variety of socket depths and extension lengths. You'll probably cause more frustration dealing with all the rusted bolts on the exhaust than you will struggling to reach a couple of the plugs. If you take the mufflers off you will no doubt destroy some of the mounting hardware too, so you'll incur more costs than if you work around them. Many folks will advocate taking them off though, and state how fast and easy it is to do so. To each his own!

 

Use the swivel ratchet and get it good n' tight! In all seriousness, usually the spark plug packaging has instruction how to tighten it without a torque wrench. if they don't look it up on their website. The are only 2 tupes of plug, one with and one without a base washer. The ones with a washer need to be turned more than the ones without when they touch the head.

 

Too loose is better than too tight, not convient but you do get a 2nd chance!

 

All Porsche owners have small hands. Why else would we drive Porsche's. If we had large hands, why would there be a want (need?) to own a Porsche. Ferrari drivers have even smaller hands. McLaren/Lambo have hands so small, hardly visible to naked eye.

 

Like your president?

 

Interesting, coming from a Canadian...

 

I have a Prime Minister...same as you. I'm from the centre of the universe: Toronto. LOL.

 

You watch too much US TV !!!!!

 

LOL~

 

Maybe. However this one has low miles and the mufflers had already been replaced so I might get lucky there.
Good advice. I'll take a look at the package when everything gets here.

OK, stupid question. Where do the tubes go?? At first I thought the tubes were the rubber connector on the coil but apparently not. I haven't seen any of the DIYs mention anything about the tubes except to inspect them. Do they simply slide into the hole in the cylinder head?

Will I need to modify the space between the head and the heat shields to use the newer 997 style coils? Pelican talked me into those and they said they *think* that the modification only applies to a turbo (I have a 99 C2S)

Is any dielectric grease OK? I just got a small $7 tube on Amazon