Ford Taursus

[rlumpkin2]

My ford spits and spuds after new wires and plugs. What could be wrong? Help Please

[RickMN]

Crossed wires? Did you route the wires in EXACTLY the same path as the originals? Wires in consecutive firing order should not be routed next to one another. That can cause crossfire. Also, how did you torque the plugs? With a torque wrench, I hope. Undertorque can cause leaks. Overtorque can ruin the plug and strips threads in the head.

[97TaurusGuy]

Honestly now, how many people out there actually use a torque wrench to do spark plugs. It tends to be a tool the average do it yourselfer doesn't possess.

[Huney1]

I agree most folks don't own one and I didn't either until I started working on aircraft. Surprisingly enough, when I worked for Grumman on the Lunar Module EVERY nut, bolt and screw had a torque spec and a NASA monitor was standing by to watch that it was torqued to the right spec. We had some that went up to 2K ft lbs used on the crawler platform better known as the LUT, Launch Umbilicial Tower. Not trying to impres anyone but sometimes what you don't know CAN hurt you or cause considerable grief and if it is an important item then best put the torque wrench on it like RickNM said. Strip out the threads in a plug hole and that is a pain in the rear. Helicoils are marvelous but best left on the shelf unless absolutely necessary. Mine's an el cheapo 'beam' torque wrench but at least it gets me close.

Try a simple test. When you're around a torque wrench loosen a lug nut then tighten it with the lug wrench to 90 to 100 ft lbs. Now check your work with the torque wrench but NEVER use a click torquer to loosen a nut, they're only made for tightening and using it to loosen will throw the spring out of calibration. Tightening a muffler clamp I wouldn't worry to much about the torque, but a spark plug takes a whole lot less touchey-feeley tightening than some people think. Ditto oil drain plugs like the idiot who stripped mine before I bought our Taurus.

They're relatively cheap and easy to find, think mine was about $25.00, and with proper use they last forever. The clicks get more expensive and the micro torquers yet more costly, but for what we do a beam should work fine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torque_wrench