another spark plug question.....

[MysticMac]

so i bought these motorcraft platinum plugs and haven't put them in yet and i know the lincolns plugs need to be gapped but everywhere online im seeing that i dont have to gap platinum plugs and if i do i can risk damaging them. 05 v6 motorcraft- sp-459 fine wire platinum

 

[oddball]

Gap them to 1mm.
Do NOT pry on the electrode tip by using one of those cheap gap coins. Bend the tang with pliers. Measure with feelers.
Prying against new-age fancy-schmancy platinum tips causes them to crack or break. Most of them come gapped from the factory, but the gaps tend to be incorrect.

Any plug that comes out of the box with a little cardboard sleeve on the business end has been factory gapped. They should still be checked. Plugs without the sleeve MUST be set.

 

[MysticMac]

Gap them to 1mm.
Do NOT pry on the electrode tip by using one of those cheap gap coins. Bend the tang with pliers. Measure with feelers.
Prying against new-age fancy-schmancy platinum tips causes them to crack or break. Most of them come gapped from the factory, but the gaps tend to be incorrect.

Any plug that comes out of the box with a little cardboard sleeve on the business end has been factory gapped. They should still be checked. Plugs without the sleeve MUST be set.

why am i reading *DO NOT GAP* all over the internet?

 

[joegr]

why am i reading *DO NOT GAP* all over the internet?

Because a lot of people do it wrong. You can't do it by shoving a gauge in the gap. This will often break the electrode or crack the insulator.

Here's the approved (by the plug manufacturers) way to do it.

To widen the electrode gap, use a tool that only pulls back the ground electrode, without applying pressure to the center electrode. The tool must not be wedged between the electrodes as that may cause damage to the insulator nose.
To close the electrode gap, carefully tap the plug – electrode first – on a hard surface.

 

[1LoudLS]

why am i reading *DO NOT GAP* all over the internet?

"because if its on the internet, it has to be true"

"where did you hear that?"

"the internet"



lord knows we've had some idiots on here giving out bad advice more than a few times.



how about this, if you don't want to gap the plugs, at least take a set of feeler gauges and verify that the gap is correct, then if it is not, you can take it back to the parts store and exchange it since it is out of spec.

 

[grizzlyls]

Hehe, there is a guy in my briefings at work every morning that swears up and down all the stuff he reads on the internet about the illumanati (and others) is true. Ya mystic, its about quality control, and the fact that these guys have tested a little smaller gap for better performance. Go with Joe's procedure and check the gap to motorcraft standard or the 1mm most use here.

 

[oddball]

why am i reading *DO NOT GAP* all over the internet?

Because, like I said, the shadetree way of gapping plugs in the 70's - which you had to do every few months - destroys modern plugs.

 

[MysticMac]

Hehe, there is a guy in my briefings at work every morning that swears up and down all the stuff he reads on the internet about the illumanati (and others) is true. Ya mystic, its about quality control, and the fact that these guys have tested a little smaller gap for better performance. Go with Joe's procedure and check the gap to motorcraft standard or the 1mm most use here.

** internet as in LVC

 

[cammerfe]

The type of plug feeler gauge that has 'L'-shaped wires usually also has one fold-out arm with a couple of little notches one of which will slip over the side electrode and make it possible to bend it without putting pressure on the center. And, as said, light taps against something hard will cause a tighter gap. 'Ya gotta hav' the right stuff'

KS