6/8/2004 03:00:26 PM|||Mike|||I drive a moderately old pickup truck.

The gas gauge doesn't work, but fortunately the warning light does. After a fill up (about 17 gallons) I used to be able to go, assuming good driving conditions and a reasonable proportion of the miles spent on highways, 300 miles before the light went on.

The engine developed a nasty shake - like a very off-balance wheel - at low speeds, particularly when cold and damp. So I considered the possibility that a piston is not firing reliably. The cheapest to fix reason for that to happen is a spark plug not working properly - broken, out of adjustment, just plain too grungy. Even if they aren't the problem, they could certainly use some maintenance. So I decided to clean, adjust, and possibly replace, them.

Something about me: I don't love cars. The truck is a tool to get stuff from point A to point B. Cars are not even a slight hobby for me. I pay people to change my oil.

Went to the car stuff place. Basic plugs cost a buck each. I'm in bad financial shape, but not bad enough to clean a spark plug for a buck. Bought 6. A gap gauge also costs a buck. Total cost: Seven clams.

Went home, popped the hood. Borrowed a spark plug socket and ratchet from one of my kids. One plug at a time, I pulled the wire off, unscrewed the old plug, adjusted the gap and screwed a new one in, and plugged the wire back in. Did them one at a time because switching wires would be A Very Bad Thing.

My grandson used an extra wrench to stick the old ones in his toy car - he's 2.

Took me a couple of hours of sunshine and fresh air.

The shake still happens, once in a while. Not often anymore.

I drove 360 miles on my latest tank of gas before the light went on. That's an extra couple of days of commuting per tank. about a 20% improvement in mileage. I'm pretty sure that a piston wasn't firing, at least not most of the time, and the gas that went into it was just being blown out unburned - very bad for the environment besides being expensive. I saved almost the entire cost of the job in one tank.

I highly recommend new spark plugs.
|||108672842606896347|||Spark plugs