Spark plugs

[Ray Winstone]

My Griffith LE seems to be missing a beat or two when I take her out, and I am wondering whether it is a faulty spark plug. It is a bit of a splutter when in third gear and sometimes in other gears but not as noticeable. My question is replacing the spark plugs a straight forward job or should I just take it in to a garage? Any tips on replacing spark plugs would be gratefully received.

Thanks, Stu.

[Harrytsg]

DIY surely, always wind in a spark plug by hand to make sure you do not cross thread it.

[EGB]

Rear plugs are difficult. Need a swivel head wrench and plug socket to remove safely without breaking. Check your plug leads first in particular the dizzy to coil.

[Simon says]

The correct NGK plugs seldom fail unless well past there servicable life but then i would have to question your service intervals/garage, try leads, cap arm, plug extenders etc 1st.

Edited by Simon says on Sunday 15th April 13:04

[nawarne]

All good tips above.

If you can get the car started in the evening and open the bonnet to check for sparking/arcing on the dizzy cap/leads/plug extenders, then that can be a good check of the HT system.

Whip the dizzy cap off and look for arcing tracks on the inside and then inspect the rotor arm for wear pitting on the tip. At 20/25 quid for replacements it's a good idea to change these every couple of years. Get genuine Lucas replacements though. Your local Land Rover dealer should have them.
Nick

[More Steam]

There's lots of components on the ignition side which suffer from the intense heat given out by the RV8. You could have an HT lead o. It's way out, or one of the plug extenders. I had a couple of these go down in the past. it's worth keeping a spare plug extender and a spare of the longest HT lead anyway, so it would be worth getting them and systematically testing each one.
The coil can be a bit of a weak point also.
As stated above, the first place I would look is the dizzy cap. Also check out the rotor arm as these can wear over time. These 2 items are cheap and worth replacing on a regular basis.

[hurststeve]

The top of my spark plug socket is hexagonal (as most are I think) and I use an open-ended spanner on it to get to the most awkward plugs.