where's me plugs ?

[peanut]

I've only had my S2 6 months or so and have done absolutly no mechanical servicing or repairs at all. My last S2 only lasted 6 months before I sold it so imagine my surprise this morning when I went to remove one of my plugs to find the plug buried in the heart of the engine out of reach ?


Because of the earth strapping on the Hi tension leads I am going to have to dismantle half the ignition system to remove the extension tube then i hope my normal plug socket will reach and fit ? are the plugs a standard size ? will a normal plug socket fit down there ? how difficult is it to retrieve the plugs ?


http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p261/peanutNboo/s2engine.jpg

 

[Riverside]

There should be a plug socket & bar in the car's toolkit that's suitable. IIRC it can also be used to close the sunroof manually if you run out of electricity []

 

[peanut]

Have you got an 89 S2 engine ? what does your plug tool look like cos I don't seem to have one in my tool kit . Is it just the regular t -bar swivel jobby that came with the 944Lux ?
Its going to take me an hour to remove and reinstall the ignition leads and plugs so I want to know there are unlikey to be any problems

 

[Alexw]

funnily enough ive just done this! Its a normal fit, theyre pretty easy to get out to be honest. The most diffictult bit for me was ive lost my wratchet jobby and had to do it by hand. The tool in my tool kit in the boot doesnt fit but i dont think everything is there, plus its rusted up so bad i wouldnt want to use it!

 

[Diver944]

I just pull off the HT leads and use a normal spark plug socket and a small extension bar to reach down to the plugs.Takes a few minutes, nothing special. What's going on with your HT leads, I've never seen any like that before? [&:]

 

[zcacogp]

Never had a problem - my plug socket is a tight fit down the spark plug tubes, but it works just fine. Never had any problem. (Although I still have a small moment of dread each time I do it that I will lose the plug socket down there!)

I'll reiterate Paul's question - what's going on with those plug leads? I've never seen any like that before either.


Oli.

 

[peanut]

yeah weird isn't it.
Its a US ignition system I think its called nolead ? I'll take another look tomorrow. Each of the leads are heavily shielded and have individual earth straps. Its gonna be a right performance to remove it all. The extension tubes appear to be part of the leads so won't seperate. Even the coil is differant
notice the air filter arrangement.? the open paper type filter is in front of the radiator under the front valance somewhere. I think I have to remove the valance to change the air filter[]

 

[morris944s2john]

ORIGINAL: peanut

yeah weird isn't it.
Its a US ignition system I think its called nolead ? I'll take another look tomorrow. Each of the leads are heavily shielded and have individual earth straps. Its gonna be a right performance to remove it all. The extension tubes appear to be part of the leads so won't seperate. Even the coil is differant
notice the air filter arrangement.? the open paper type filter is in front of the radiator under the front valance somewhere. I think I have to remove the valance to change the air filter[]

As your car wont start, I would suspect these silly looking leads. Maybe all that crazy looking earthing arrangement has broken down and is sending your spark to earth. That would prevent your car from starting!

 

[morris944s2john]

ORIGINAL: peanut (changed by morris944s2john)

yeah weird isn't it.
Its a U/S ignition system I think its called nospark ? -snip-

[][][]

 

[homesea]

I am with John, I have seen those type of leads on many cars that dont run right or dont start. I have swaped back to standard and all was well.

 

[psi]

I changed the plugs in my S2 today and couldn't believe how easy it was compared to my lotus. In the elise it's a 40 minute job by the time you've got the cam cover off changed the plugs and refitted all the cheap lotus plastic trim again. In the porsche I was delighted with what was a 10 minute job and the car ran a lot smoother than I expected it would.

Does anybody know what the correct torque settings are for the spark plugs? Couldn't find it in any manual.

 

[morris944s2john]

any update? Did you get the car started?

 

[peanut]

ORIGINAL: morris944s2john
As your car wont start, I would suspect these silly looking leads. Maybe all that crazy looking earthing arrangement has broken down and is sending your spark to earth. That would prevent your car from starting!

no it isn't the leads. I wouldn't expect all four leads or plugs to all fail simultaneously. I have checked the spark and its fine. Its probably a fuel delivery problem ie pump but I've not had a chance to jack the car and check it out yet. Hopefully will get some help this w/e as most of the testing is definitly a 2x man job

 

[morris944s2john]

ORIGINAL: psi

I-snip-Does anybody know what the correct torque settings are for the spark plugs? Couldn't find it in any manual.

http://www.clarks-garage.com/shop-manual/eng-18.htm

Clarks garage has the answer "Install the new spark plug and torque to 18 to 22 ft-lbs (25 to 30 Nm). "

 

[psi]

ORIGINAL: morris944s2john

ORIGINAL: psi

I-snip-Does anybody know what the correct torque settings are for the spark plugs? Couldn't find it in any manual.

http://www.clarks-garage.com/shop-manual/eng-18.htm

Clarks garage has the answer "Install the new spark plug and torque to 18 to 22 ft-lbs (25 to 30 Nm). "

Thanks you sir.

 

[Frazerb]

Talking of leads etc can anyone tell me what the resistance should be through a 100% lead.

Looking like my slight "missing" every so often could actually be due to the leads now - plugs and dizzy replaced which did make a slight improvement but last link in the chain is the leads - also the expensive one!!!!!

Thought I would therefore get the meter out before parting with over £100.

cheers..FB

 

[Neil Haughey]

Don't need a torque wrench, just use the tool in the toolkit, tighten until the plug goes finger tight then add 1/2 to 3/4 of a turn (works on lots of cars and lots of plugs). The tool itself also helps to prevent over torquing because you would need to have mega strong hands to over tighten with that thing.

To make it easy to get the leads off use a pair of long pliers as a lever i.e gently grip around the head and under the lead and use the cam cover as a lever brace. This makes it really easy to prise the leads up enough to get then pull them out, without damaging the lead.

One can also use an old plug with a clean undamaged thread as a thread chaser, each time the plug is withdrawn it picks up oil and dirt of the thread in the cylinder head.

Takes 10 minutes tops to change all 4 plugs.

 

[morris944s2john]

Peanut, did you get your car running?

 

[peanut]

sorry John didn't see your post.Thanks for asking I must have posted an update elsewhere.
Yes I got it going again thank god.

I put a can of petrol in , charged the battery then just kept the ignition on turning her over . Once the engine started to catch I still kept the starter going so it helped the engine pick up. It took about 2 minutes before the engine would turn over without help from the starter.

I think when the tank got really low and the car was left for 2x weeks some water in the petrol tank seperated from the petrol and was drawn up into the injection system.