Searched forum with the #4 cylinder problem. that's the main issue I concern about. Because I want to drive the rl for about more than 5 years and to across America with it.:act035:
The reason why it's only happened to older RL's is because it seems to take a good bit of time before this condition rears its ugly head. It could be that it has the potential to affect all RL's, Pilots, Odyssey's and even Accords. On the other hand, I changed my spark plugs in my '07 at 110k miles or so. The stock plugs weren't loose nor did they give me any trouble when taking them out. I consider myself lucky in that sense. Others have not had as much luck. The best thing to do would be to pull the coil packs and check the torque on the plugs once a year. When I initially put my new set in, I did not use an actual torque wrench and tightened them by hand. About 10k miles later after not feeling good about not using the wrench, I checked them all. To my near horror, two of the front were hand tight and the rest were not very tight. I made sure to tighten them all to the recommended 13 lb./ft. and plan to check them all again in the spring.
This might of been covered in a different posts, but I didnt see it right away. How does the spark plug coming loose effect the cylinder? I cant see how it could do any more harm than pulling out the threads. I cant see how a loose plug could do any damage to the valves, piston, or cylinder bore. Unless part of the plug breaks off. Anyway, this has been bothering me. I am the type that needs a logical explanation in my brain before I am a believer.
Haha! I know you can do it. 3/8" socket wrench, spark plug socket, torque wrench and two 6" extensions. Oh and an Allen key for the bolts on the coils.
See? Now I gotta go pull out my allens and try them to get the right size. Told you it wuz gonna take me at least 15 minutes to find the right tools. Sheesh.
My understanding is that the heat of combustion leaking past the loose plug destroys the plug (and parts fall inside the cylinder) and the heat will likely damage the coil pack. Although that last will be minor in the scheme of things.
I know this was another post, but was there ever a decision made on the use of anti-seize for reinstalling old plugs? I was thinking someone said the original metal composition that took the place of anti-seize would degrade and was not viable for re-install. I cant seem to find that post now though.
I did NOT put anti-seize on when I put them back in.
I wouldn't use the AS on the plugs at all - new or old. And I would totally recommend using the torque wrench. As I said, I always thought "good and tight" was the rule with plugs, too. I tightened mine by hand the first time and when I checked them 10k later, they were ALL loose. I used the torque wrench and 13 lb./ft. is certainly tighter than what I did the first time. Too tight is probably just as bad as too loose, though. Use a wrench!
Your stock plugs are NGK's. The best pm you can do is check and re-torque the plugs about once a year or every other oil change and replace them when you do the timing belt service.
Ahh! I've been seeing these threads popping up and haven't been reading as thoroughly as I should have. I thought the NGK were alternate spark plugs which didn't require anti seize and were not prone to the "exploding engine" phenomena. Thanks for the info.
Your stock plugs are NGK's. The best pm you can do is check and re-torque the plugs about once a year or every other oil change and replace them when you do the timing belt service.