Does it make a difference if the engine is hot or cold when you change the plugs?( besides the fact you could burn your self while the engine is hot,) i am going to change plugs, but i hear everyone snaps them off, i was wondering if i had a better chance if the engine was hot , to keep from snapping them off and breaking them loose,or do you guys suggest any methods to keep from snapping them off, just scared im going to snap a couple off when i change them.

 

cold so you wont burn your self , but if you are worried , change them warm...

 

I would only change the plugs when the engine is cold. Most of the time the reason that a sparkplug gives people problems is because of not properly maintianing the vehicle. If a sparkplug is not changed for a while then the carbon builds up on the threads of the plug and that is when you run into problems. If you run into problems when taking out the plugs you might use alittle bit of PB Blasterand let it soak into the threads some, and if that doesn't work just slowly work the plug in and out till it loosens up.

 

+1

 

Cold. You never want to be torqueing anything, whether it be a bolt or a spark plug, into hot metal. The torque measurement is not correct if the metal is hot.

 

If they snap off, it's gonna be the porcelain part anyway, so who cares? The actual 'nut' part the socket grabs will still be intact.

 

any heads that arent aluminum - doesnt matter, hot or cold. do w/e

aluminum heads. - always cold, stone cold

 

Ahh I see you've never been victim to the hex snapping off while the threads stay in my cylinder.
It happen to me a few years ago on my own truck the day before I was to go on a long road trip.
Luckily I was able to get it out with a big screw extractor, some heat and 1/2 a bottle of penetrating fluid.
Talk about sh**ing bricks.[sm=bangbang.gif]
It was a Champion truck plug AND had anti-seize

 

Ive snapped off the porcelin part of the plug before on older cars , (no biggy) but i was thinking about the threaded part getting snapped off, just thought that i might have a better chance if it was hot to get them out, then after the engine cools off, i would put the new ones back in, i dunno just call me paranoid....., dont know what i would do if i snapped the threads off

 

cold.
the aluminum heat shield tubes/cylinders around the plugs can be a pita. if you keep those heat shields, blow them out with compressed air to remove the dirt and mud and sand and crap that's down inside them. if you don't, then when you remove the plug, all that crap will fall down inside the cylinder. if you keep them you will need to use a plug socket with the rubber boot inside to hold the plug, so you can extract it from the tube. in my opinion, these tubes increase the chance of getting a plug cross-threaded, because you cannot start the threads with your fingers, but instead have to insert the plug into the rubber/socket thingy, and then start the threads. i removed my heat shield tubes and threw them in the trash. as best i can tell, there is no harm in doing that provided that you don't allow plug wires to touch the exhaust manifold.