Miata Mailing List: November 1995, Message #13
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   From: ronvanvl@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca
Subject: Handy Sparkplug Tool
   Date: Wed, 1 Nov 1995 10:14:41 -0500


Well, I put my baby away for the winter (sniff). As usual, I pulled the
plugs, and squirted a little oil in each cylinder prior to leaving it sit
for a few months. I was so impressed with myself after finding solutions
to a couple of problems that I thought I should share them with you all
(please indulge me). 
 
For those of you who have replaced your plug wires, take one of the old
ones and snip the wire off the sparkplug boot. That leaves you with a
nifty tool to hold the sparkplug while you spin it in or out of the head.
This beats the heck out of my socket set - the rubber insert in the socket
was too tight - as a result the socket would stay on the sparkplug after
installation - an aggravating problem with the Miata's recessed sparkplug
bores. Using the sparkplug socket without the insert is not a solution,
unless you don't mind having your plugs regap themselves as they fall into
the sparkplug bore. All I use the socket set for now (minus the rubber
insert) is to provide final torque down or to loosen the plugs. I find the
rubber boot also gives me great "feel", reducing the likelihood of
damaging the threads. 
 
Tip number two - for those of you who store your Miatas, a 20cc medical
syringe is the hot ticket to inject a little oil into each cylinder.
Allows you to exactly measure how much oil to inject (I used 4cc per
cylinder) and prevents you from slopping oil in the sparkplug bores. Also
makes you feel like you're giving your patient the best medical care
possible (wear a white lab coat while you're doing this). 

___________________________________________________________________

Ron Van Vliet		e-mail: ronvanvl@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca
4 Parnell Place		tel: (403)458-5151
St. Albert, AB		fax: (403)477-4706	
Canada T8N 5K7		MCA Wildrose Chapter - '90 Classic Red