Spark Plug Disaster

JohnnyCash · **Posted:** Sat May 17, 2008 11:01 pm

So......................I learned how to change spark plugs today.
First time ever.
That's the good news.

Bad news is my education is going to cost me...........probably quite a bit.
I broke the screw on which you attach the mounting nut for the very back ignition coil. Ate too much spinach last night.

Jeep runs, so at least I don't have to get it towed. (that would be extra embarassing).

From what I can see that screw is molded into that large plastic cover, so I guess I'll have to get the entire cover replaced. What is that cover called, and does anyone have an idea how much it will cost me to have a professional replace it?

You may laugh now.
(My excuse is that I had my wisdom teeth pulled yesterday, and I'm on drugs and sick, and it's 90 degrees out. Had to keep stopping and coming inside whenever I felt like I was going to throw up).

JohnnyCash · **Posted:** Sat May 17, 2008 11:19 pm

I just found out the name of the cover I broke:
Intake Manifold Cover.

I broke the mounting nut for the ignition coil.

I also just found out that 70-inch pounds is a lot different than 70-foot pounds.
You see..........I bought a torque wrench to make sure I did everything perfect, and I wrote down to torque the mounting nuts to 70-ft pounds.

So since my torque wrench was nowhere near that number I just kept pulling thinking it couldn't possibly break, because I'm only at like 20 ft-lbs. Needless to say I didn't make it much farther.

Have to remember to use that thing called common sense next time. I'm still blaming the drugs I'm on for my wisdom teeth removal.

BeepBeepJeepJeep · **Posted:** Sat May 17, 2008 11:44 pm

JohnnyCash wrote:

I just found out the name of the cover I broke:
Intake Manifold Cover.

I broke the mounting nut for the ignition coil.

I also just found out that 70-inch pounds is a lot different than 70-foot pounds.
You see..........I bought a torque wrench to make sure I did everything perfect, and I wrote down to torque the mounting nuts to 70-ft pounds.

So since my torque wrench was nowhere near that number I just kept pulling thinking it couldn't possibly break, because I'm only at like 20 ft-lbs. Needless to say I didn't make it much farther.

Have to remember to use that thing called common sense next time. I'm still blaming the drugs I'm on for my wisdom teeth removal.

If you are new to wrenching (like me), a good rule of thumb is to look at the hardware that you are wrenching vs. the size of the tool you are using. When you are working with small nuts and bolts, it is always a good idea to use the smallest socket wrench possible. For example, you don't want to use a 3/8ths socket wrench on a 8mm bolt (speaking from experience, broke a valve cover bolt in half on my girlfriend's car because it didn't "feel" tight). After fixing my mistake, I went back and re-wrenched all the bolts on with a 1/4in socket, and it was much easier to get an idea of how tight the bolts actually were.

JohnnyCash · **Posted:** Sat May 17, 2008 11:50 pm

BeepBeepJeepJeep wrote:

JohnnyCash wrote:

I just found out the name of the cover I broke:
Intake Manifold Cover.

I broke the mounting nut for the ignition coil.

I also just found out that 70-inch pounds is a lot different than 70-foot pounds.
You see..........I bought a torque wrench to make sure I did everything perfect, and I wrote down to torque the mounting nuts to 70-ft pounds.

So since my torque wrench was nowhere near that number I just kept pulling thinking it couldn't possibly break, because I'm only at like 20 ft-lbs. Needless to say I didn't make it much farther.

Have to remember to use that thing called common sense next time. I'm still blaming the drugs I'm on for my wisdom teeth removal.

If you are new to wrenching (like me), a good rule of thumb is to look at the hardware that you are wrenching vs. the size of the tool you are using. When you are working with small nuts and bolts, it is always a good idea to use the smallest socket wrench possible. For example, you don't want to use a 3/8ths socket wrench on a 8mm bolt (speaking from experience, broke a valve cover bolt in half on my girlfriend's car because it didn't "feel" tight). After fixing my mistake, I went back and re-wrenched all the bolts on with a 1/4in socket, and it was much easier to get an idea of how tight the bolts actually were.

Yes, I am extremely new to wrenching. Just changed my oil for the very first time a couple months ago. I am so pissed about this spark plug thing because I was pretty much all done, and had everything perfect, then I made a really really stupid mistake. I can't find the intake manifold cover on the internet, but I think the part + labor is going to be a little expensive.

BeepBeepJeepJeep · **Posted:** Sun May 18, 2008 9:58 am

JohnnyCash wrote:

BeepBeepJeepJeep wrote:

JohnnyCash wrote:

I just found out the name of the cover I broke:
Intake Manifold Cover.

I broke the mounting nut for the ignition coil.

I also just found out that 70-inch pounds is a lot different than 70-foot pounds.
You see..........I bought a torque wrench to make sure I did everything perfect, and I wrote down to torque the mounting nuts to 70-ft pounds.

So since my torque wrench was nowhere near that number I just kept pulling thinking it couldn't possibly break, because I'm only at like 20 ft-lbs. Needless to say I didn't make it much farther.

Have to remember to use that thing called common sense next time. I'm still blaming the drugs I'm on for my wisdom teeth removal.

If you are new to wrenching (like me), a good rule of thumb is to look at the hardware that you are wrenching vs. the size of the tool you are using. When you are working with small nuts and bolts, it is always a good idea to use the smallest socket wrench possible. For example, you don't want to use a 3/8ths socket wrench on a 8mm bolt (speaking from experience, broke a valve cover bolt in half on my girlfriend's car because it didn't "feel" tight). After fixing my mistake, I went back and re-wrenched all the bolts on with a 1/4in socket, and it was much easier to get an idea of how tight the bolts actually were.

Yes, I am extremely new to wrenching. Just changed my oil for the very first time a couple months ago. I am so pissed about this spark plug thing because I was pretty much all done, and had everything perfect, then I made a really really stupid mistake. I can't find the intake manifold cover on the internet, but I think the part + labor is going to be a little expensive.

Someone else will have to chime in to let you know whether or not this will fit on your '07...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2004-JEEP-LIBERTY-3-7L-INTAKE-MANIFOLD_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ36474QQihZ013QQitemZ230239262828QQrefidZstoreQQtcZphoto

Listed labor for the intake manifold cover is 2.1 hours..., you'll spend max $200 bucks in labor (much less if you take it to a private shop)

JohnnyCash · **Posted:** Sun May 18, 2008 12:33 pm

Thanks for finding that manifold. I couldn't find one anywhere.
So it looks like I can keep it under $300.

I woke up today and the first thing on my mind was how stupid a person would have to be to tighten that nut so much that it broke. I seriously must have been out of my mind with the painkillers I'm on.

I would never tighten something that much, especially when it's attached to plastic. Drugs are bad.

I wonder if it would be fine for awhile without fixing it.

JohnnyCash · **Posted:** Sun May 18, 2008 3:03 pm

I just got back from driving around town.
The new spark plugs made the jeep noticeably quieter and smoother.

I didn't think I'd notice anything since I only had 20,000 miles.
Only a couple of the old plugs looked screwed up to me, but I guess that's all it takes to make it run a little rough.

detroit_doc · **Posted:** Mon May 19, 2008 8:02 am

JohnnyCash wrote:

I also just found out that 70-inch pounds is a lot different than 70-foot pounds.

I'm sorry to laugh but that's funny! Don't worry about it. It's happened to everyone who wrenches. You learned a lesson that will serve you well in the future.

I've been wrenching for years (family owned a brake shop) and I still do stupid stuff. My latest goof was when I did my tranny fluid on my KJ the first time (messy job!). Everything went well, drained the fluid, changed the filter, buttoned up the pan, filled the tranny, took it out for a ride everything was perfect. It was about 11 o clock at night and I figured since I was already messy I'd pour out my drain pan of used tranny fluid into containers. I got to the bottom of the pan and noticed an o-ring. Yep, it was the o-ring that goes on the filter.

In my younger years I'd have thrown a wrench through the wall and woke up the neighbors with my cussing. But I just shook my head, chuckled, and did it all over again.

JohnnyCash · **Posted:** Mon May 19, 2008 10:10 am

detroit_doc wrote:

JohnnyCash wrote:

I also just found out that 70-inch pounds is a lot different than 70-foot pounds.

I'm sorry to laugh but that's funny! Don't worry about it. It's happened to everyone who wrenches. You learned a lesson that will serve you well in the future.

I've been wrenching for years (family owned a brake shop) and I still do stupid stuff. My latest goof was when I did my tranny fluid on my KJ the first time (messy job!). Everything went well, drained the fluid, changed the filter, buttoned up the pan, filled the tranny, took it out for a ride everything was perfect. It was about 11 o clock at night and I figured since I was already messy I'd pour out my drain pan of used tranny fluid into containers. I got to the bottom of the pan and noticed an o-ring. Yep, it was the o-ring that goes on the filter.

In my younger years I'd have thrown a wrench through the wall and woke up the neighbors with my cussing. But I just shook my head, chuckled, and did it all over again.

Yeah........if I heard of a somebody else doing it I would think it's pretty funny. It doesn't take much common sense to know not to torque the living heck out of a nut that is attached to plastic and is just there to snug down a little coil. Good thing I was on pain medication. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to conjure up an excuse and would just have to assume I'm an idiot. Doh !!!

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Mon May 19, 2008 11:21 am

Ahh, if its running ok and the coil isnt going to fall off(dont think it can) then I wouldnt be to stressed about getting it replaced.

idk if the intake off an 04 would work on an 07. You would need to check out part #'s since they went to fly by wire on the 07's.

dgeist · **Posted:** Mon May 19, 2008 11:45 am

detroit_doc wrote:

JohnnyCash wrote:

I also just found out that 70-inch pounds is a lot different than 70-foot pounds.

I'm sorry to laugh but that's funny! Don't worry about it. It's happened to everyone who wrenches. You learned a lesson that will serve you well in the future.

I had a veteran exhaust guy do one of these to me last week. They were to replace the muffler on the CRD with a section of straight-pipe with two bends to compensate for the offset in the muffler. Well, he does a really nice job measuring/spot welding and cleaning up the whole thing, then hangs it in place to attach it to the rear bendy-part. He gets all the welds almost done and I ask him, "If the muffler had a right-offset, how-come you have it immediately bending to the left when it leaves the cat (looking like a big S welded inline). He steps back, looks at it and realized that he welded the entire assembly in place upside down.... and then proceeded to sawzall it off and completely re-do the whole thing... Thankfully he was honest about it and apologized for it taking an extra 20 minutes.

VTNomad · **Posted:** Mon May 19, 2008 12:57 pm

My organic chemistry professor, a man that has a PhD in Chemistry, missed class, on an exam day. This guy never missed class, and if you weren't in class 10 minutes early, you were late. He was a young guy, maybe 30, from China, and drove a brand new Miata which he added a supercharher to. So we asked him the next class period what had happened.

He said, "Did you know you have to change the oil in your car?"

I said, "Yeah...every 3,000 miles"

He said, "Oh...well I didn't know you had to change it and have 13,000 miles on my car. My pistons are completly seized".

The whole class (150 students or so) burst into laughter.

It turned out this was his first teaching position, and the first place he'd ever lived where he had to own a car. He lived in Hong Kong all his life and went everywhere by bicycle. Poor guy, you would think studying hydrocarbons for 8+ years he would have picked up on that somewhere.

dgeist · **Posted:** Mon May 19, 2008 1:21 pm

VTNomad wrote:

My organic chemistry professor, a man that has a PhD in Chemistry, ...
He said, "Did you know you have to change the oil in your car?"

So, if he had been a ChemE or and ME, it would have been better....

I blame the specialization required to earn a PHD. I supported a bunch of PHD candidates for one job while in school and they could to amazing statistical analysis and EE Emag transforms in their heads but not one of them could figure out a paper jam...

sleeve84028 · **Posted:** Mon May 19, 2008 6:17 pm

sorry to hear about your busted bolt.

Have you tried finding a replacement screw or filling the existing boss? Or is the thing shattered?

If you are going to have the manifold swapped out, find a local shop to do it for you. Don't go to the dealer. That'll cost you a bizillion dollars. Use ebay and search for the shop manual as well. Because that will list all the replacement parts you need for the task.

PS - don't worry... I did the same thing before except to a coolant boss. Live and learn and then try again. But remember to try again. Don't let this scare you away from turning wrenches.

JohnnyCash · **Posted:** Mon May 19, 2008 7:51 pm

sleeve84028 wrote:

sorry to hear about your busted bolt.

Have you tried finding a replacement screw or filling the existing boss? Or is the thing shattered?

If you are going to have the manifold swapped out, find a local shop to do it for you. Don't go to the dealer. That'll cost you a bizillion dollars. Use ebay and search for the shop manual as well. Because that will list all the replacement parts you need for the task.

PS - don't worry... I did the same thing before except to a coolant boss. Live and learn and then try again. But remember to try again. Don't let this scare you away from turning wrenches.

The screw broke clean off close to the bottom. Luckily the ignition coil seems to fit nice and snug without the bolt, so I don't have to be in a rush to get anything fixed. I'm still glad I figured out how to do one more thing like replace the plugs. I didn't learn any of this stuff when I was a kid, so I have some catching up to do. Gotta up the man status.
If anyone sees the factory service manual for 2007 anywhere let me know.

sleeve84028 · **Posted:** Mon May 19, 2008 9:52 pm

Close to the bottom of the boss? It might still be removable. As long as everything below is still intact... don't fret.

post a picture of the damage and we'll see what we can think up.

JohnnyCash · **Posted:** Tue May 20, 2008 12:39 am

sleeve84028 wrote:

Close to the bottom of the boss? It might still be removable. As long as everything below is still intact... don't fret.

post a picture of the damage and we'll see what we can think up.

I'm not sure what a boss is. Everything is removable right now, and it seems to work fine. I'll try posting a picture so you can see what I broke/

See the 7 bolts that are molded into the manifold cover. That's what I broke (the back left one).

So right now the ignition coil is in place on top of the spark plug where it should be, but it is no longer secured to one of the 6 bolts with the mounting nut.

sleeve84028 · **Posted:** Tue May 20, 2008 7:42 am

I'll take a look at my liberty tonight and see if I can dream up a solution to your problem. That is of course, unless someone else beats me to it.

Spark Plug Disaster

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