‘Send WD-40 down the whole’: Expert says your mechanic is probably pulling out your sparkplugs wrong, reveals key to do it right
Before we get into one the many useful clips from our beloved car repair guru and prolific TikTok creator Rich Poisson (@fordbossme), it sounds like some words of congratulation are in order. In recent clips he shares some details about his new position with a repair shop where he’s purely doing the work he loves (“working on everything that’s not an Audi or a Subaru” as he says frequently) rather than being part of the management and ownership team at his former Chicago-area shop.
In in a clip from mid-June, Poisson starts by observing a repair tech using an extended arm on a socket to slowly and delicately loosen a sparkplug on a Ford Triton. Since sparkplugs are known to be somewhat fragile and can be a time-consuming piece to remove if they break, the thinking goes that it’s best to work carefully even if it takes more time.
Poisson quick cuts in after a few seconds to teach us otherwise.
How to make sure your mechanic doesn't ruin your sparkplugs
“I used to try to go low and slow and controlled and all this other stuff to try to stop them from breaking. Then I went to a Ford training seminar, and the instructors in the class was like, Don't do that,” he said.
“You do more damage that way versus getting a really good quality socket down in there, whether it be impact or whatever. A nice extension that's got a nice little locking tab on it and an impact and just pull it right out of there... Don't try to sit there with a ratchet and do it. Impact it out of there because if it's going to break, it's going to break.”
By looking around on YouTube you can find clips that go into quite a bit of visual detail to explain and demonstrate the process of removing and replacing Ford sparkplugs. One of them uses a combination approach to first loosen the sparkplug with a manual tool, and then using an impact gun to finish the job, so this may all be a matter of personal taste or feel rather than following one specific mechanics’ orthodoxy.
Wait, what's a sparkplug? And how often do I need to replace them?
As this Toyota dealership blog notes, sparkplugs are key to your engine because they provide the spark of electricity needed to get your engine moving. Modern sparkplugs last about 50,000 miles. But refer to your owner's manual, or just Google the make and model.
One key trick for removing sparkplugs
The important point Poisson does make is how helpful it is to start the engine and let it run for a few minutes so the sparkplugs warm up and, in theory, be somewhat easier to loosen instead of snap apart.
“Start the vehicle up, let it get up to not complete operating temperature, but somewhere in between cold and hot, like a third of the way, pull it in the stall, pull them right out,” he said. “I found more success doing that than trying to sit there and slowly turn them out with a ratchet.”
In the comments on the clip there were plenty of folks in line with Poisson’s thinking, which comes as no surprise since the guy seems like a top-shelf mechanic.
“Yes this works great I’ve been doing it for years get it warm hit them with an impact,” one of them wrote.
@fordbossme #stitch with @Norm G ♬ original sound - Norm G
Another said, “Bringing engine temp up slightly sounds like the key.”And another advised using the universal mechanical solvent to loosen things up: “Send WD-40 down the whole warm, the engine up aluminum expands when it gets hot put the impact on no broken sparkplugs do not install welded plugs”
The Daily Dot reached out to Poisson via direct message, and to Ford via email.
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