I'm not sure if this has been covered but I'm passing this along as a heads-up.
The Spud snapped the threads off one of his new CR9E's tonight
after installing my fresh injectors, and doing my valve inspection. I put anti-seize on the thread and ran it in to 16 ft/lbs and heard that familiar "squeak" that only comes from a thread shearing somewhere in the thread stack....
I tried backing it off and only got the upper half of the spark plug out.....well, this isn't the first time I've snapped something off. Word to the wise, the inside of the threaded-bore surrounding the insulator is 7mm. So, I found a slotted screwdriver in my selection that matched it in dimensions. Basically 6mm at the smallest part widening to about 8mm. I tapped it gently into the bore just enough to indent / grab the bore, and in less than a minute I had it out. "PHEW !!!!!!".
So I'm running NGK part numbers online, and low and behold our beloved CR9E is a 6263 standard spark plug number, and our beloved Iridium is a 3521. I get on the phone and call my favorite 24hr Autozone location (which employs one of the best parts hounds I've ever known), and inquire to the availability. $4.39 and they have fourteen of them in stock.....to say I'm back in the game without a whole lot of hassle is an understatement....
So the lesson here....even when NGK says contact plus a half turn, and our Manual says 16.5 ft / lbs...they can still fail, or The Spud needs a new torque wrench !!! :oldcool:
The Spud snapped the threads off one of his new CR9E's tonight
after installing my fresh injectors, and doing my valve inspection. I put anti-seize on the thread and ran it in to 16 ft/lbs and heard that familiar "squeak" that only comes from a thread shearing somewhere in the thread stack....I tried backing it off and only got the upper half of the spark plug out.....well, this isn't the first time I've snapped something off. Word to the wise, the inside of the threaded-bore surrounding the insulator is 7mm. So, I found a slotted screwdriver in my selection that matched it in dimensions. Basically 6mm at the smallest part widening to about 8mm. I tapped it gently into the bore just enough to indent / grab the bore, and in less than a minute I had it out. "PHEW !!!!!!".
So I'm running NGK part numbers online, and low and behold our beloved CR9E is a 6263 standard spark plug number, and our beloved Iridium is a 3521. I get on the phone and call my favorite 24hr Autozone location (which employs one of the best parts hounds I've ever known), and inquire to the availability. $4.39 and they have fourteen of them in stock.....to say I'm back in the game without a whole lot of hassle is an understatement....
So the lesson here....even when NGK says contact plus a half turn, and our Manual says 16.5 ft / lbs...they can still fail, or The Spud needs a new torque wrench !!! :oldcool:
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I never wrecked cars until I got cleaned up, and I sure as H3LL never twisted a spark plug head off accidentally..... 
