Truck scared the bejeezes out of me last night

[Russianwolf]

Okay, for those that don't know, I drive a 1970 Jeep Gladiator pickup to and from the train station. She ain't pretty, but she's **** near unstoppable, and as far as I can tell everything on here is original (including the shock that fell of last fall) except the muffler.

So I'm driving home last night. I'm in no rush, doing about 35. All of a sudden the god aweful racket starts. First thing that goes through my mind is exhaust manifold as I suddenly sould like a cessna trying to take off (fortunately I didn't lose power so I knew it wasn't the engine falling apart).

So I make my noisy way home. grab LOML and a flashlike and go out to survey the damage. crawl under and can't find any obvious leaks (could it be the gasket is blown all the way???). I so go to look topside (thank god it's an old truck and I can see the bottom from the top, try that on a honda). Look down and....... nothing...... the sound doesn't even seem to be coming from down there. So I look upwards a bit and low and behold....... there is a sparkpllug completely out of the block. Screwed that puppy back in (after checking the threads and the burn pattern on it) and tried again. She's growling like a tiger again.

1970 Jeep Gladiator .................................................. .......$600
New tires .................................................. .....................$450
Having your blow manifold turn out to be a loose spark plug.... priceless

[TheRic]

I hope you checked the others to make sure they were tight. I would wonder how it got that loose.

It's always nice to find out that what you thought would cost several hundred $$$, only takes a few minutes of time and no $$$

[mater]

I know that was a relief. I had the same thing happen to me one time.

[LCHIEN]

I'd check the other spark plugs. They're supposed to be put in with a torque wrench.

[Russianwolf]

They're supposed to be put in with a torque wrench.

I was taught you want to go just barely over hand tight, nothing like getting one out that's in too tight.

Not sure what caused it, but I'll check it from time to time to make sure it doesn't happen again. She's parked this week anyway as I was busy and didn't get the inspection done before month end. I'll be going to the station on Saturday.

[Ed62]

I was taught you want to go C

I'm sure not a mechanic, but that just doesn't sound right to me. I think Loring might be right about the torque wrench, but I never used one. But they were always more than just barely over hand tight.

Ed

[Russianwolf]

I'm sure not a mechanic, but that just doesn't sound right to me. I think Loring might be right about the torque wrench, but I never used one. But they were always more than just barely over hand tight.

Ed

Hand tight (using the socket so you can grip it) then about 1/4 to 1/2 a turn. It's never failed before. The friends I grew up with couldn't afford torque wrenches.

[LCHIEN]

Hand tight (using the socket so you can grip it) then about 1/4 to 1/2 a turn. It's never failed before. The friends I grew up with couldn't afford torque wrenches.

If I remember corrctly, every spark plug that came in a printed package always had the compression washer and specs on torque. Now the torque was relatively low for the size of wrench you might use (usually a 3/8 drive socket set) but it sure would not have backed out over time!

[bmyers]

Some plugs have a compression washer, some don't. I'd rather have one fly out of the cyl. than seized into the block so it cant be removed any day of the week.

But I amazed that you lost a cyl and didn't notice a loss of power. Doesn't say much for that cyl I guess.

Don't be surprised if that plug is difficult to get back in there. The threads are prolly caked up with carbon at this point due to blow by. A little anti-seize compound couldn't hurt..

Bill

[p8ntblr]

I'm assuming she looks like this

[footprintsinconc]

picture ?

after reading your post, i thought i'd ask you to post a picture of your truck. but scrollling down, i see someone else has done it for you

[Kristofor]

But I amazed that you lost a cyl and didn't notice a loss of power. Doesn't say much for that cyl I guess.

Bill

That's Displacement on Demand! You can pay extra for that fuel saving option on newer cars.

[TheRic]

...But I amazed that you lost a cyl and didn't notice a loss of power. Doesn't say much for that cyl I guess.....

As it worked itself lose over time you probably wouldn't notice the slight drop. By the time it was lose enough to fall out it wouldn't have been doing much good.

[crokett]

That happened to me in my first car. Was driving home one day and everything got real loud and no power. (well less than a 90hp engine had anyway ). Pulled it into the car dealer my brother worked for and popped the hood. There was a dent in the hood from the underside and the plug was lying on the block, still sparking.

[Russianwolf]

I'm assuming she looks like this

I would love to get a new Gladiator. I like Wranglers and that one has a deisel engine in it. but mine looks more like this (the first pic is what she'll look like when I'm done. except Renegade Orange on the bottom. Straight from the 1970 Jeep brochure)

Truth to tell, I'm so tired of the primer grey that I'm thinking of doing a quick paintjob with farm equipment paint until I get around to all the bodywork (fixing all the rust). Gloss white for the top and Allis Chalmers Orange for the bottom