The Easy Way

Cars nowadays have some incredible maintenance intervals for changing sparkplugs. We drive a 2000 Chevy that calls for the plugs to be changed every 100,000 miles. In case you haven't done your own upkeep on a car, here is the problem with that. The threads on those plugs gradually accumulate combustion deposits as your engine runs, and as you near 100,000, they are harder and harder to remove. If your engine has aluminum heads, you may strip the threads when you unscrew the plugs. Luckily, there is an easy way to mitigate this problem. When you reach around 35,000 miles, pull those plugs, smear a little Anti-Seize compound into the threads, and put them back in the engine. Do not put compound on the shoulder: you want it to grip the head when you tighten down.

Another problem you are likely to encounter with sparkplugs is removing the boots. Soon after you acquire a car, and every 30,000 to 40,000 miles after that, ease the boots off the plugs and give them a generous shot of silicone spray inside and out. This will keep them pliable, and allow easy removal. If you do not do this, you are likely to tear them to pieces when you try to remove them at your 100,000 mile service interval.

Cheap sparkplugs may tempt you when you are looking at the selection in Wal-Mart. Plugs for your car may come in cheap, better, and platinum. The cheap ones are fine, but they will start missing somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 miles. I prefer the platinum, because I know they will stand up to hard driving, and they really will last for 100,000 miles in a good engine. If you drive an oil burner that fouls plugs, then you definitely will want to buy the cheaper grades since you will be changing plugs often.