Hi fellow Steemians / DIY enthusiasts!
My first video I've ever done and produced! It was certainly a daunting task, most people don't like to listen to their own voice never mind critiquing it, I'm certainly in that category. I figured I should give it a go though, so here we go! Tips on things I should do next time are welcome; was I speaking loud enough, pointing the camera in relatively the right spots? Let me know!
https://d.tube/#!/v/cmplxty/QmUSZ4SG5QpZk9de4ihCoqEPVBGRv86aYZhiLKHMFUzq54
The history of this post/project is I was driving my car to work one morning and if your car ever says "Service Engine Soon" instead of just the good ol' check-engine light, then you should typically pay attention to that!
I quickly pulled over, turned the car off and grabbed my handy-dandy OBD-2 scanner to see what was amiss. I couldn't recommend buying one of these more to someone, it cost 100$ when I bought it at the time and it has paid off several times over, over the years! It really helps give you some peace of mind when you see those unwanted signals popping up on the dash.
It was an engine cylinder misfire so it isn't something one can just ignore.
Particularly when the thing says "Permanent"! Unfortunately these things never happen when it's convenient so I had to turn around and grab the wife's car to get to work, with plans of researching later.
Take a watch of the attached video if you can, I tried to go into as much detail and tips as I could without taking too much time, I was working in between thunder storms here so I didn't have the luxury of lots of time.
Some things I forgot in the video:
I briefly go over the spark-plug "gap" in the video. The gap is the distance the tip of the spark plug is away from the metal hook, which is how far the spark has to travel. There's a happy medium of gap for all plugs, makes and models of cars. The manufacturer will always tell you what the gap is so if you are changing plugs on your vehicle, research the gap it needs to be and pick up one of these little tools. I think the tool was $1.50? Cheap money for something as important as it is!
The gap on these particular spark plugs was between .030 and .040, with each end being on the periphery of what they recommend. I typically try to go right for the middle if I have to adjust the gap myself but these spark plugs came pre-gapped so I didn't need to adjust them at all. I did however make sure to check each one of them to be sure, sometimes can't trust a manufacturer to be accurate with all of them.
If you had to gap the plugs yourself, there are a few ways in which you can do it. I typically use a pair of pliers that have a thicker end on them to give yourself a good grip on the metal hook. I bend the hook forward with some weight (but not too far, don't want to break the tip!) and then put the gap tool in it to see how far it is. I then use the pliers to gently but securely bend it backwards a bit until I get to the right gap. I repeat the process as necessary, sometimes you don't get it to the right gap the first time, just be careful not to do it too many times or the hook will break.
Lastly there's an image of the 4 junk plugs that I took out versus a brand new one. You can see the wear and tear on the old plugs but they lasted about 70k miles so I definitely can't complain! I always use Iridium-tipped spark plugs because they last very well. They cost a bit more but time and labor to change them is more important to me than saving a few dollars!
Check out my other DIY posts if you'd like! DIY Tomago Cages ; Securely Hanging a Cabinet ; Joint Compound on Ceiling ; Washing Machine Drain Pump ; Bubble wrap insulation on a wall ; Finish work in the bathroom ; Bubble wrap on windows ; Laminate floors in a bathroom ; Ball joints on a car
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