MrLeadFoot

Anybody know what it's "supposed" to be?

Thanks.

99C5Vert

I asked the dealer... they said ask Bubba with the big wrench over there :

Umrswimr

Just tighten it. It's not load bearing, so as long as it's tight, it doesn't matter.

Tombone

18 foot pounds.

MrLeadFoot

Thank you!

VERYSOON

Leadfoot

Not to get too technical, ft/lb measurement is 18, however, there is a rubber gasket on the plug. You can really overtighten and destroy a gasket. Keep this in mind.
I learned the hard way trying to set a cork oil pan gasket at 10 lbs. Gaskets sort of trick a torque wrench because they reduce friction. I'd recommend just snugging it up with a 15mm wrench then check for any leak.
g

MrLeadFoot

Yes, I'm aware of the gasket, and I, too, previously learned about gaskets when tightening too much and crushing them in the days of the cork gasket.

To be on the safe side, I put a new one in about 2 weeks ago, when I did an oil change. But, due to a decarb last night, and what I saw happen to the oil from the procedure, I did another change today.

Interestingly, when I did that oil change two weeks ago, I had to use a 1/2" air impact wrench to remove the plug. Yes, it was THAT tight. Breaker bar and even hammer-to-wrench only served to start stripping the plug. Thus, the air impact wrench. As you might expect, I thought I'd be extra careful not to tighten it too much upon replacing it. And even though I just tightened it to feel with a standard-length ratchet, when I went to remove it today, it was quite a bear. From my experieince thus far, it appears that aluminum threads seem to like to hang on tight to bolts.

So, I thought maybe they should only be snugged to 7 lbs., or so, but I kinda doubted that, so I thought I'd check on the online manual, but the site is down. Thus, my post.

When someone said 18 lbs. I just went slightly past snug, which I guess is about 12 or so.

VERYSOON

Sounds good.
You can't really do a torque spec anyway without using a crow's foot on that plug from my experience. Don't understand how that plug could have gotten that tight.
I enjoyed your decarb pics. Bet you don't have any mosquitoes for a while.
g

MrLeadFoot

I wonder if my problem is that I'm doing the changes when the car is cold. Next time I'll do it when warm, to see if the heated pan helps things when loosening the plug.

Mosquitoes are no longer an issue in my, and my surrounding, neighborhood! I had fun doing the decarb. I don't know if it really did anything, although the car does seem a little more "responsive", for lack of a better word. But, I'm not sure if it's psychosomatic or not. I really did it at the suggestion of my tuner, who is seeing some false knock at the top range, and was suspecting excessive build-up on the pistons. I'll be seeing hiim next week. I'll post results of his findings. That willtell us all if the decarb really does something.