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No car maintenance round here please, but...

pbwpbw
edited March 2012 in - Writing Problems
My male lead has an old transit van which he's very fond of, petrol not diesel. It hasn't been starting properly. He had to change the battery, which he's done and now he needs to clean the spark plugs.

Can anyone tell me, in the engine, which bits of the lid do you have to take off to get to the spark plugs, and then how do you clean them? If the van was misfiring very badly, would he need to replace some or all of the spark plugs with new ones?

Or is it all automated these days? Do verhicles still have spark plugs etc?

(It's just that I haven't had a car for a few years now, so I'm outdated with it).
I'd just like to put in some description of what he is actually doing, whilst I am writing his inner monologue.

Comments

  • "My male lead" - I'm obviously not fully awake yet. :)
  • Spark plugs are still required!
    I think you might be better to google the make of car you want to talk about (it's an old one, maybe a Ford so there will be sites with info on!) and ask around any forums you find. I suspect he's going to have to replace them, not clean them!
    If it's an old car, any garage mechanic will be able to talk you through what's needed.
    Good luck!
  • Or go to the pub, pick on someone with grease under their fingernails, buy them a pint and take notes!
  • edited March 2012
    If it's a Ford Transit, it has an old-style engine, so will definitely have spark plugs.
    You can quite often get Haynes Manuals for older vehicles in charity shops, so worth a look next time you are out and about. I have a vague memory of being able to renovate spark plugs with feeler gauges - to do with the gap across which the spark jumps; but that is second hand knowledge and so highly unreliable. I'll ask Mr BB. He used to do up our Austin Maxis so should know something.
    There is a Ford Transit Forum (I just googled) where someone will be glad to help.
    One thing - glow plugs are diesel, spark plugs petrol. See - I have listened to Mr BB over the years!
  • I have asked Mr BB, who says he doesn't know Transits, but usually the splugs need cleaning if they are greasy and black, which means the mixture is too rich.
    The feeler gauge is to check the size of the gap.
    You would unscrew the splug carefully to remove it. The splugs receive a spark from the distributor in a particular sequence. He says that in some Transits there may be 6 of them, in others 4.
    Recommends you ask a Transit man to be accurate.
  • [quote=bertiebear] usually the splugs need cleaning[/quote]

    Are we talking plugs or slugs here? I showered first thing :(
  • You're not a slug, SM - you're one of those dear little creatures with your home on your back. (Imagine if we all had to carry our homes around - there'd be downsizing like it was going out of fashion).
  • Jeepers, peepers! Don't choo lot know nuffink abaht motahs?????

    First question - how old is "old"? Fords are still building Transits - I drive a year-old version - but they stopped using petrol engines in them about eighteen years ago (possibly earlier!), so it could be either a "straight-4" engine, or V6;

    Straight-4's & V6's are very different lumps - but to find the spark plugs, it's the same process; there's no 'lid' to remove - just follow the ignition leads from the 'distributor' (as mentioned upstairs ^ ) to the rubber caps on the other end of the leads, pull off the caps one at a time - underneath, you'll find the spark plug! Find the relevant 'box' spanner either in the van's toolkit or a socket set; unscrew the plug from the 'head', clean the thread & curved electrode tip with a soft wire brush; using a set of afore-mentioned feeler gauges, find one with '25' etched into it (this will give the required 25-thousandths-of-an-inch gap distance); slide the feeler into the gap between curled electrode and internal tip - if the gap's bigger than the feeler, gently but firmly tap the curved electrode on a solid part of the engine, or maybe a kerbstone, etc, until the gap closes enough to 'bite' the feeler while still letting it pass between the electrodes. If the gap is too small to begin with, open it up very gently with a fine screwdriver, then repeat either process until that 25-thou' gap is set. Refit the 'plug, fit the lead/cap - next, please! (NEVER remove all four/six at once if inexperienced - it's all too easy to refit the plug caps in the wrong order, and then you'll be in trouble, as the engine won't run... ;-) )

    Hope this helps, anyway! If you need more details than just this basic stuff, e-mail me via my profile details... ;-)
  • Glad to help, PBW - though you'd be wise to 'gen-up' on diesel Transit engines - they don't need spark/glow plug 'gaps', as diesels don't have spark plugs, obviously...and the glow plugs do just that - "glow" hot for a few minutes only on start-up to assist a cleaner cold-start, then usually shut off on a timer once the engine gets warm enough to sustain itself (do you understand how the diesel works, via high compression of its gas intake causing combustion at peak 'stroke'? No spark involved at all)... There is nothing pertaining to petrol engines that is relevant to diesel servicing, aside from oil/coolant/fuel & various filter checks, etc; not complicated to learn, but important to get right, for sake of detail...

    Another point is that if you judge the rapid advance in technology today, and the way successive governments are leaning with their emissions laws & regulations, there's a high chance that - in a decade or so - we may find that internal combustion-powered delivery vehicles may well be out of favour in 2025, with electric-powered (or at least assisted) very much "de riguer" instead, and only such machines will be permitted in towns & cities; it's a veritable can-of-worms, is future transport!...And diesel will probably cost at least £100 per litre, too...

    Any more vehicular technical enquiries, you know who to shout at! ;-)
  • :-D

    Yes, that'll do nicely, PBW! It's your story, after all - and every 'infernal' combustion engine needs its oil changing from time-to-time...and you could always have a giggle by the man forgetting to refit the engine sump plug, and the new oil pouring straight through & splashing his boots as it splatteres all over the driveway... ;-) (Done that once!)
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