Mock away - the junior mechanic has another question - spark plugs

So, my lovely van has a few issues in low revs (like there isn't any grunt...)

There's an occasional miss fire, and therefore I want to do what the interweb says is an easy 15 minute job of whipping out the spark plugs for a clean...

Easy until you give a hammer to a novice... Before I go meddling, do I need a specific socket to do this... I'd rather not be pulling out leads and getting rubbish into the combustion chamber...

Any photos / advice...

(and feel free to mock!)
 
Hahahahahahahahahahmockmockmockmockmock and mock again;)

I jest, sensible questions. First of all do you have a socket set? if yes then it might already have one in there - or you will need to get a 21mm spark plug socket to match the drive on your socket set (usually 1/2" or 3/8") something like this.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/21mm-spar...660472?hash=item41a915ec38:g:G60AAOSw5dNWi4YH

If you haven't got a socket set then you need to get something like this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Silverlin...225520?hash=item2810e66170:g:WZsAAOSwKtlWrNPG

There's loads on ebay so you may want to go better quality.
 
Front to back of engine. I cleaned spark plugs 1, 2 & 4, but #3 is hard to get to. Is it the distributor... And can I just unbolt it to give me space...

The other three were helped by a clean but not looking too sooty...
 
I'd check in the dizzy cap also while it's off...might be worn..look at the four pins inside there for bad wear or signs of burning.
 
Was one plug in particular sootier than the rest or damp with petrol? Slightly sooty plugs wouldn't really be the cause of the problem you describe (unless there is a dodgy plug or lead that only makes contact at high revs) sounds more like a fueling problem. Check there is oil in the carb dash pot first of all and top it up with engine oil (just to the top of the inner tube - where the piston pushes in. Bonnie was the same until I did a modification to the carb needle, problem solved.
 
Was one plug in particular sootier than the rest or damp with petrol? Slightly sooty plugs wouldn't really be the cause of the problem you describe (unless there is a dodgy plug or lead that only makes contact at high revs) sounds more like a fueling problem. Check there is oil in the carb dash pot first of all and top it up with engine oil (just to the top of the inner tube - where the piston pushes in. Bonnie was the same until I did a modification to the carb needle, problem solved.

I was just looking through old posts in this part of the forum for mechanical tips and read what you said Panky about carb dash pots. Not having heard about these I googled them and understand a bit more now about the need to top them up with oil. I have a Weber carb on my 1725 and wondered if this also had a dash pot or is this particular to SU or Zenith carbs etc as I had not come across this before?
 
No Webers or Zeniths don't have a dash pot just the SU and Stromberg so one thing less for you to check- are you suffering from dash pot envy;)
 
I was just looking through old posts in this part of the forum for mechanical tips and read what you said Panky about carb dash pots. Not having heard about these I googled them and understand a bit more now about the need to top them up with oil. I have a Weber carb on my 1725 and wondered if this also had a dash pot or is this particular to SU or Zenith carbs etc as I had not come across this before?
No Webers or Zeniths don't have a dash pot just the SU and Stromberg so one thing less for you to check- are you suffering from dash pot envy;)

Thats great thanks Panky! Definate envy! :p
 
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