Old timer told me to never torque spark plugs hot - turned out he was wrong

Met this retired mechanic at a hangar in Phoenix last summer who swore up and down you should always torque spark plugs cold. Said hot torquing would strip threads for sure. I followed his advice on a Lycoming engine and two plugs came loose during a run-up test. Had to pull the cowling and redo all 12. Now I torque them hot like the manual says and haven't had issues since. Anyone else get handed bad advice from the older guys that you had to unlearn?

2 comments

2 Comments

lopez.karen20d agoTop Commenter

Got any other "old timer" advice that turned out to be total junk? I had a guy tell me once to always use a breaker bar on oil filters because hand tight was for amateurs. Ended up crushing a filter on a tractor so bad I had to chisel it off.

eric_murray2620d ago

Four out of five "trusted" tips are just someone's bad experience, @lopez.karen.