Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Seized spark plug

Same as me Tim!

Spark plug torque for the taper seat plugs on my Roadster are 12 lbft. Same plugs used in GDI Plus 4.

Ford state that the 1800 and 2000 Lt engines are 12Nm and the 3.0 Lt is 14 Nm 9 and 10 ft lbs respectively. As they built the engines this is what I would follow when setting mine. These are from the workshop manual. However as I do use an anti-seize i do it by feel much like tim explained with an appropriate tool and in fairness a lot of experience in using them. So if anyone is in doubt they should use the given settings and if only the upper third of the plug has had anti-seize applied, should you wish to use it, all should be well. This will give some penetrative protection from water ingress down the threads.

We used to make steel for spark plugs. Thousands of tons a year. Also used for other end use.
It is a low carbon steel, similar to EN1A spec.
0.1%carbon so at the lowest mild steel spec. It was also a resulphurised steel as rhe sulphur content helped with machining. A bit of extra manganese to combine with the sulphur and help in oxygen control , everything else at low levels. It was not easy to make as whhen you go that low in carbon content in the molten bath of metal the oxygen level shot up and there was a danger of ending up with ingots like Aero bars, full of holes that would self weld inside but those at th3 surface split open to leave a useless finish. When ready to tap the furnace a " block" was put in with so that refinement was stopped for long enough to tap into a ladle. The block was a deoxidiser to "kill" the reaction temporarily. Tapped a5 1600 degC. Rolled to billets and sent to a finishing mill in the Birmingham area where it would be rolled to hexagon shaped feedstock to high speed maching units.
We'd also add lead shot during casting as the lead helped lubricate during high speed machining.
We started with open hearth furnaces and moved to two 150tonne electric arc furnaces. From an art to brute forde!
Great memories of those days.

Thank you for sharing that - I found it fascinating as I know very little about the technicalities of steel production.

A few years ago I successfully removed a tight spark plug using a spray called Arctic Hayes Crack-it shock release spray.

Used by plumbers and available at Screwfix, it cools the plug which then shrinks to permit release.

Me too!

Sounds awfully like free cutting mild steel (FCMS)

Made a Morgan 3 speeder front propshaft end from a bit of FCMS which I had been sent in error by the stock holders. Barely lasted 500 miles before the splines became non existent!

Arwyn

Yes. Free cutting mild steel. Designed to make machining easier.

Fiat Strada manual says torque is 27 lbs. I just use the T - handle as mentioned above and wrist tight.

The 2.0 twin cam collects rain if you have louvres!

One of the first engines I worked on around the age of fourteen was an old side valve that had been out in the rain for a while leaving rusty spark plugs wells. Managed to remove three plugs but the fourth wouldn't budge. On a whim poured vinegar into well and left overnight. Couldn't believe how easily it came out the following day.