Luxter

That's IT

Apply liberally to all studs.

Jack667

Hi -
I just changed my plugs yesterday at 49k miles. They were changed when I bought the car in May 2010 CPO with 12k miles. The dealer did the 4 year service prior to delivery.

I am looking for a recommendation on a torque wrench for under 40 ft/lbs. I have two so far - a 1/2" Craftsman and a 3/8" Kobalt. Both are pretty good, but I don't trust them for the lower settings. I see Lux mentioned the Snap-on. Looks cool, but a bit pricey...

I have some custom exhaust on my car so I was not able to easily remove the mufflers. I just removed the Exhaust manifold, per the OP recommendation and that worked just fine. If removing mufflers are very easy for some people, I guess it's a no-brainer. But if it's tough for any reason, the job can be done with the mufflers on. Like the OP, I'm not even going to bother with removing mufflers (or trying to) next time.

Also, I saw the note about a low profile T40 and found this at Sears. I think it was $20 or $25. I'd highly recommend it - in general, but especially for changing plugs and getting to the coil bolts:

USMC_DS1

Good go Jack. Looks like you've been tackling these DIY projects in rapid order. Great to see more DIYers on our forum.

I have two dial type PI's, Precision Instruments, and personally like how they automatically set back to zero after each use. Maintaining calibration is the most significant challenge with these types of tools. I used to work in the calibration labs during my tours of duty within Marine Aviation. One of the more common issues we found with the traditional "click" type torque wrenches was the fact that a lot of the aviation techs would forget/neglect to reset the wrenches back to zero after each use. For example, once a tech sets the click type torque wrench to a particular value the wrench would be left at that value until the job was done... that could mean hours and/or days and even weeks in certain cases. Of course, the longer you leave a wrench at a certain value the more that wrench will loose it's calibration and/or gain a bias towards that particular value. With the dial type PI wrenches they automatically set back to zero after each use by design. They're also comparatively small in size so ideal for those tight spaces on our cars. The one downside with these PI's is that by design it's a visual dial break... so you cannot feel a physical break when you torque down in those visually limited accessible areas. It does, however, have a visual marker or memory dial to indicate the max torque applied. The other thing I like about PI's... they're available for a somewhat "reasonable" price on Amazon. Here are a few PI's that should work for most of the projects on these car except for the wheel bolts.

Lower range torque wrench good for coils:
Medium range wrench good for plugs and exhaust manifold bolts:

Jack667

Thanks -
silly question - inch pound inch can be converted to foot pound by dividing by 12, correct?

I went to a conversion website and that seemed to be the case, and of course it's intuitive, but I just wanted to confirm it

USMC_DS1

You got it...

Luxter

Good info J & J,
I presently own three torque wrenches. 1/2" Craftsman, I used to use it a lot, mostly for wheel lug torquing, and similar higher value torque applications.
The second, Mastercraft 3/8" with very low torque range from 30 - 250 in.lbs. I kinda don't trust it too much. Can be occasionally unreliable and certainly requires some exercising prior to use.
The third one, as I mentioned before is Snap-on TechAngle 3/8".
What a wonderful instrument.
Jack667, you appear to be passionate enough to fully appreciate the tool. The range and accuracy is simply unmatched. That is the only torque wrench that I use now.
I know it's not fair to compare $80 product to $400 one, however.....
Call your local Snap-On dealer, ask for a demonstration.
Jack, 40 lb.ft. and below is a bit tricky. Most, if not all wrenches are most accurate in 20% (or often above) - 100% range. Less expensive wrenches have a narrow torque range and manufacturers don't even publish accuracy ranges or deviations or calibration results.
Craftsman is perfectly fine if you need it for wheel lugs only and twice a year or so.
If you are serious about DIY and plan to do more advanced work more often, well..... And I don't work for Snap-On guys!
Did I mention it will do angle torquing too. So, reassembly of a flywheel with torque + angle spec is a breeze.
It also tells you (digital display) the last value applied. Very, very friendly, quality stuff.

eflight

I'm halfway through the spark plug change.
I did the passenger side and that last rear bolt holding the coils on was an absolute nightmare.
I had to go out and buy the shortest T40 I could find and it still was dam frustrating. I almost gave up.
At one point I had the bolt about half way off but could not get the socket off the bolt because it was backed against the bracket. Getting the bolt back on with the new coil was just as frustrating.

Getting the plug back onto the coil after install was no picnic either

I would love to watch a P-car indie or dealer do it just to see how they get to it. I wonder if they have some special tool for a few of those bolts.

Porsche did not design that dam bracket with maintenance in mind that's for sure.

Two things you need to add to the tool list
1. A good work light to see those dam bolts
2. An old blanket to lay on the ground, your going to spend a few hours there.

I'll tackle the driver side tomorrow afternoon

USMC_DS1

Besides the tool set Jack667 mentioned above... this Max Axess set has saved me when it came to all those tight spaces on my various DIY. http://www.sears.com/craftsman-80pc-...1&blockType=G1

Of course, as life would have it I did not have this tool set during the early days of my DIY's like this spark plug change... but I lived through it and learned. Now that you have the passenger side done(hardest of the two) the driver should be easier. GL and forge on-wards... you're almost there.

eflight

LOL , I bought the max access set, just looks like the wrong one, I got the 58 piece set that as it turns out does not have the all important Tox bits. Sigh

USMC_DS1

Classic... I purchased the same set initially but then I saw the 80 piece afterwards so I returned the 58 piece set. BTW, the 80 piece set is now on sale for the best price I've seen so far. Post some pics when you're done. Sounds like you're almost done.

eflight

Well I thought I was done, it started right up, reved fine then the Check Engine light came on

Son of a B(*^()^(^

USMC_DS1

Have you tried driving to see how she runs? Do you have a durametric tool to get some error codes? I know it's appears that the CEL is likely caused by a resent change in the car(changing the plugs) but don't assume 100% that it could not be something else that has caused an issue. Even disconnecting your battery will throw codes. BTW, which plugs did you order/use? What type of car and MY is it? Which torque wrench did you use and what torque value? Did you use anti-seize grease? I know... lots of questions but we'd like to help you figure out what might have gone wrong if it is related to the plugs and coils. Ah... when was the last time you had those coils replaced? Sometimes those coils are on their last leg and will not misbehave until you either get some water on them or move them. GL and keep us posted.

eflight

I haven't bought the Durametric tool yet

Did the plugs, coils, oil change and brake flush
Oil level shows just shy of full
Brakes feel great

Brand new plugs from Peilcan (Bosch), Brand new coils from Suncoast
No anti-seize, MY2006, 26K miles.
22 ft lbs (30 Nm), Sears torque wrench

Car starts great, no CEL at first then CEL comes on right when it gets to idle at about 900 rpm,
Drove it, got to temp, stopped, restarted, CEL comes on

It drives fine, sounds great, nothing wrong by ear.

My fear is that one of the connections on the coils is not perfect and I cant bring myself to tare the car all apart to check them all. A trip to the dealer is probably next

USMC_DS1

Without a DM tool it's kinda involved to troubleshoot. The p-dealer is a good safety stop at this point. It may be as simple as a loose connection or bad "new" part. Sounds like you executed all the right steps. GL and keep us posted.

eflight

Here are the old plugs, they all looked fine
The coils looked good too, one of them had a crack on the side of the square block

Yeah, at this time, the only option is go to the dealer or pray for the CEL to go away.

Hopefully the dealer computer system can figure out the problem and fix it relatively cheaply