Spark Plugs - How to change and check for signs of other problems

Spark Plugs are a simple and easy easy way to keep you car performing well and you fuel economy high. They typical last 15-30k miles and with most cars costing around $10-20 in parts its a cheap maintenance tactic to keep your car running great.

How to tell if is time to replace, well there's a few thing to look for when your looking at a spark plug. Color, shape of electrode, and fluids on  plug and and contact point. If you don't want to pull the plugs every oil change (which I recommend) you can also get a feeling on when to change your plugs by keeping track of you mpg and your overall cars performance. Weak acceleration, rough idle and poor mpg are all sign of failing plugs.

First thing to look for and the easiest to see is if there are any fluids on the plug. Fluid above the thread mean a possible valve cover leak, below or on the thread signifies a leaking head gasket or possible piston ring failure.

Next is the color. The plug should be a light tan color. Dark or black mean to much fuel, white means not enough. These signify possible fuel issues such as bad distributor cap, rotor or even a fuel filter or pump.

The electrode is the the next thing to check. It should be a larger flat stem, as the plug gets older it will become a finer and finer point until its almost invisible.

Notice the worn electrode, but there is no fluid
on the plug and the color is near perfect

This is the same plug brand new. Here you can
see how much larger the electrode is

Lastly is the contact point. To check this you will need a spark plug gap tool (available at any auto part store for a few cents). Every car has a specific gap for optimal spark firing. if the gap is to small it will make contact to often if to far (which will happen over time as the electrode wears down) it won't make proper spark causing bad MPG and performance

Here's how to access and replace them when and if needed. You'll need a park plug socket (5/8 fits most cars) and about an hour of time. Thats it.

Do one plug at a time checking each for signs as above. This will prevent the spark plug wires from becoming mixed up. They have a specific order they go in and if not put back on in the correct order your car will NOT run.

Simply remove the plug wire insert the spark plug socket and remove the plug. Then replace with new pug if needed making sure to use threat protectant and not over tightening. The reason for the thread protectant is most heads now are aluminum and spark plugs are steel. The two metals will react causing the treads to to wear out. When tightening they only need to be hand tight or else you can strip out the head causing serious damage.

Thermostats - What they do, when they go bad and how to replace them

Thermostats control the water flow from block to radiator. They work by a temperature controlled spring which when heated to a preset temp open a valve letting water flow through the passage back in to the radiator for cooling. Why is it needed? well in certain climates like here in Florida we really don't, but in northern climates where it get cold or freezing it prevents engine damage. In older cars thermostats were often removed to increase cooling but in newer cars this is not a great idea. Though it can be done, most newer cars require the engine to be at a certain temperature to  go into a normal driving mode. Until that temp is met the car will maintain a higher fuel percentage  also known as "cold start" mode to prevent any internal damage being done.

Unfortunately factories have not adopted a fail-safe model thermostat into cars yet, all though most cars now have fail-safe replacements available at your local auto part stores. How do you know if your thermostat has gone bad? Well there is an easy way to tell. With the car at normal operating temperature or starting to over heat if diagnosing a problem. Carefully feel the top radiator hose for approximate heat. Then feel the lower hose they should be at the same temperature. If the lower line is colder then most likely your thermostat is not function properly and should be replaced.

The steps to replacing are pretty simply and can be done with little effort on most vehicles. You'll need a drain pan, couple hand tools and some more antifreeze to replace any that leaks out during the change.

First locate the drain plug on the bottom of the radiator and empty the fluid in the pan. You don't have to do this but will save you a ton of mess and allow you to reuse all your fluids.

Next locate your thermostat housing. Each model car has one, but they are NOT located in the same areas. Once located there are normally 2-3 bolts holding the housing to the engine.

Remove the bolts and the out housing shell to reveal the thermostat. depending on the vehicle there maybe a gasket between the housing cases or simply one on the thermostat itself, below are pics of both.

Gasket on thermostat

Gasket on housing

Next simply remove and replace the thermostat with the new one making sure to place exactly how the old one was in. Its important to get the same direction and placement as there is a small weep hole that needs to be in a certain area to ensure proper functioning of the part. And, if placed in the wrong direction the thermostat will not open at all. Then simply reverse the steps to access it to finish the install.

When filling the fluids back in, leave the radiator cap off and start the car after returning all fluids. This will allow any and all trapped air to escape preventing any air from trapping the thermostat valve shut.

O2 Sensors - What they do, Replacing and Cleaning

O2 sensors can are a misunderstood subject. First let me explain what exactly they do. In laymen terms it senses the fuel mixture and the temperature of the exhaust gas to determine a few things. One if the car is cold (just started) which means it will need more fuel or not and Two it adjusts the fuel being deliver to the cylinders based on how rich or lean the mix is in the exhaust tube. When the check engine code for this is triggered, it doesn't always mean the sensor is bad. A lot of the time is just clogged up by carbon from low grade fuel and need of a tune up. Here the steps to first remove, clean and re-install the o2 sensor or skip the cleaning if you'd rather just replace it.

We've removed the heat shield to give you a better view. Now, most cars have 2 o2 sensors an "upstream" and a "downstream". Basically it just mean one before and one after the catalytic converter, the reason for the rear one is to determine if the catalytic converter is functioning properly. There are specialty tool and socket that are specifically made to remove these, but most like ours can be done with your standard 7/8 wrench to save money on a tool you'll rarely if ever again use.

To remove simply unplug connector from engine/body harness. Place wrench on the O2 sensor and turn counter clockwise(left) to loosen. Then simply unscrew it and remove.

Now, I highly recommend trying to clean it before replacing it, these are extremely durable sensors and 9 times out of ten are just dirty. To clean simple use a carb cleaner or a parts cleaner to blast the debris from the inside of the unit and a rag to remove the outer debris.

Before Cleaning

After Cleaning

Then simply reverse the remove, screw in to exhaust and snug down. Do not over tighten it.

1995 Ranger Project - Engine Bay Clean Up

The majority of the rebuild process is cleaning up and polishing the details from the mock up process. Case in point the engine bay, while its functional its far from pretty. So, this post is detailing the steps taken to make this from pig sty to beauty queen, after all we have a beauty of a twin turbo V8

to drop in here.

First step removing the motor so it can be clean and painted as well to match the new paint scheme for the truck and well as get some more mods to prep for the turbos. 4 bolts holding the motor to the mounts, a couple hoses and an engine puller make quick work of removing the engine. Now for easier removal and since we are prepping the bay for paint. We went ahead and also removed the radiator, steering arm and box, air conditioner housing and transmission. 

What we're left with is this greasy multi-colored rust hap hazard of an engine bay, but that will quickly be fixed. First step degreasing and pressure washing. This will be nasty and get crud everywhere around the car so do this somewhere that can be cleaned easily. Take time to tape off and remove anything that can suffer water damage and shouldn't be painted later. Once cleaned use a 80-100 grit sand paper to prep the frame for paint, this will remove any surface rust left and ensure a good bond for the paint. I recommend using a brake line fluid resistant paint, as that is some corrosive stuff and will ensure long lasting paint even after a spill or two. As for the rest of the engine bay. Go over it with 100-120 grit paper and remove any rust, stickers and feather out any deep scratches. Extra prep time here will ensure a better outcome then rushing though to the painting process.

The paint process should be done in a 2 step process. First layer is a rust sealer/primer to stop any further damage, followed by your color of choice. We are going with 2 colors satin black for the frame and the rest flat black. Like before when painting stay 6-12 away using several light edge to edge passes. Allowing plenty of dry time in between each pass. 

With the final color on, we put the newly painted engine back in

(see our other posts for the engine clean up and paint)

1995 Ranger Project - Center Console 2.0 Build

While our project Ranger already had a console we built in a previous post, it was basic and temporary. The position of the gauges were a little awkward for the driver and the shape and finish need some improvements. So we began from scratch making a new sleeker, more driver friendly version. Utilizing less gauges and more shapely style to match the curves around the rest of the cabin.

We started by going back to the drawing board literally. After several ideas of what we wanted and didn't want and what we liked and didn't like about the first console. We came up with basic sketch of what the new one should resemble.

Once decided upon we used the old console as a template so we could match the floor with out making another cardboard cut out like in the previous post. Using 1/2 MDF and a jig saw we mocked up the rough shape of the new console. This one will only be using two gauges and no shift light, so the width could be reduced to allow the seats to sit in further making more room for the seat belts. To sink the gauges into the console, I first used a whole saw bit to drill a 45 degree angle for optimum driver line of sight. then used a piece of 1/16 thick steel to shape the pockets for them to sit in. Tip, you can use the gauge itself to form the circle in the steel so its a perfect fit. Simply start by holding the steel on to the housing and roll the metal around the gauge until you overlap the starting position. This will be a loose but close fit. You'll just need to hand roll the tightness into it from here.

 We assembled the pieces using 5/8 counter sunk wood screws to allow a smooth finish.

Then cut out our rough openings with the jigsaw and applied a light but generous coat

of filler to start roughing out the shape.

Using some painters tape to cover any gaps on the inside will stop the filler from filling in unwanted areas. From here allow ample dry time, and let the sanding fun begin. Using a 60-80 grit paper will speed up the process but be careful not to take to much off MDF is easy to sand and can easily be overworked. 

With the first round of sanding completed check for fitment and and any clearance issues unforeseen.

 

With fitment checked time to add another coat of filler if needed.

Ours only need a little coat to fill in some small areas so we got lucky.

This time use a light 100-120 grit paper so smooth everything and

start to get the final shape.

Check fitment again and if all is well like ours, its ready to be sealed and painted! Next we will make the inserts and cup holders to finish this piece and do the final install.

1995 Ranger Project - Flex-A-Lite Fan Install

Fans are one of the most important part of this truck since we are using a small radiator to save space. We needed hi-output with minimal room being used. To solve this equation we got a set of flex-a-lite dual fans (originally made for a Tundra) and modified the trucks front radiator support to accommodate.  As you can see its a snug fit but they do work perfectly, we just needed to clean up the area and remove some excess metal to allow maximum air flow to the fans and radiator.

While the engine was removed and before we painted, we marked the area not being used by the core support and hood latch to remove as much material as possible. We didn't want anything restricting out much needed cool air flow or getting in the way of our massive innercooler also being added in the area. Using a simple silver metal marker we marked it out and used a combination of diegrinder and air saw to remove the metal leaving a small lip all the way around. This lip was left on purpose, this way we can roll it around the remaining metal giving a smooth un-jagged finish that won't cause any cuts or issues of fraying later.

We were able to remove a large amount of metal with out effecting anything and we went ahead and removed the old radiator mounts since the were no longer needed just to save weight and clean up the engine bay a little more. We also found a couple rust holes in the support that we went ahead and patched while the area was easily accessible. 

The finished result was a perfectly fitting hi-flow minimal room set of fans that will

keep this truck cool and any temperature.