Technical Car/Motor Issues > Ford KA, KA2, KA3 - long life plugs
Thread Author: Cathay Pacific Driver Replies: 13

 Ford KA, KA2, KA3 - long life plugs - Cathay Pacific Driver
hello all

Need some new spark plugs for Ford ka . Choice of Champion 703 Bosch +46
NGK PTR5D-10 DENSO IT16 which are the 'long service ' ones ? Which are recommended & perferred?

Thankyou.
 Ford KA, KA2, KA3 - long life plugs - Zero
what year and model of ka is this...

Reason is, depending on the model and year the plugs may be rusted into the head, and be the very devil to get out.
 Ford KA, KA2, KA3 - long life plugs - R.P.
CPD,

This may get moved into the Technical thread shortly. Wanted to make sure you knew how to find it if it disappears from here...
 Ford KA, KA2, KA3 - long life plugs - Cathay Pacific Driver
Hello RP

Ok Thankyou


>> CPD,
>>
>> This may get moved into the Technical thread shortly. Wanted to make sure you knew
>> how to find it if it disappears from here...
>>
 Ford KA, KA2, KA3 - long life plugs - Cathay Pacific Driver
>> what year and model of ka is this...
>>
>> Reason is, depending on the model and year the plugs may be rusted into the
>> head, and be the very devil to get out.

hello Zero

Its a V reg and plugs are ford ones and no rust on them.

Thankyou.
 Ford KA, KA2, KA3 - long life plugs - Zero
Ok right, well long life plugs are a waste of time in this engine. Reason is that the plugs rust into the head and you need to change (or loosen) them regularly. If they haven't been changed it he last 36k/3years they are probably rusted into the head and will need careful removal (snapping a plug in the head is real easy - been there done that). New plugs need coppa slip on the threads before they go back in.

Any correct size plug will do, its not exactly a performance engine where you will notice any improvement.
 Ford KA, KA2, KA3 - long life plugs - Cathay Pacific Driver

>> will need careful removal (snapping a plug in the head is
>> real easy - been there done that). New plugs need coppa slip on the threads
>> before they go back in.
>>
>> Any correct size plug will do


Does coppa slip change the torque setting for sparkplug tightening ?
 Ford KA, KA2, KA3 - long life plugs - busbee
"Any correct size plug will do, its not exactly a performance engine where you will notice any improvement. "

That is a bodge job. You should fit plugs with a correct heat rating for that engine.
That way the plug nose will stay in good condition.

 Ford KA, KA2, KA3 - long life plugs - carmalade
It's an old fashioned endura engine lifted from Noah's ark.Stick with the standard plugs and don't waste money on long life variety.hth
 Ford KA, KA2, KA3 - long life plugs - Bigtee
And set those tappets i bet there clattering they all do.
 Ford KA, KA2, KA3 - long life plugs - Cathay Pacific Driver
Thankyou all.

Will smear some coppa slip on new sparkplugs and in the 'wells' around the sparksplugs thats attracted dirt/rust. Ford want £15.00 for sparkplugs will try a motor factors for ngk which are identical to Ford ones if rumours are true.
 Ford KA, KA2, KA3 - long life plugs - Number_Cruncher
>>Does coppa slip change the torque setting for sparkplug tightening ?

Yes! If you apply copper slip, and use the standard torque, you will overtighten the plug.

The way to avoid this problem is to hand tighten until the plug seal contacts the head, and then tighten a further angle to make the seal.

Off the top of my head, I can't remember if this engine has a seal ring, or, a taper seat.

If a seal ring, 1/3 to 1/2 of a turn

If taper seat, 1/16 to 1/12 of a turn



 Ford KA, KA2, KA3 - long life plugs - RattleandSmoke
We just used cheapo NGK ones. 20K later and still no miss fires etc. Also without being funny the underneath of a 99v Ka is probably not pretty, so unless it is a very good example the car might not last as long as the plugs anyway.

 Ford KA, KA2, KA3 - long life plugs - madf
The seats are tapered.

My son had a Mark 3 Fiesta with this engine and I never had any problems removing the plugs after using Copperease. The set in the car when bought had obviously not been changed for a long time, so I built a little bridge of plasticine below the plugs to form a well round the plus and filled it with Rust Ease (WD40 is a waste of space for rusty joins) and left it for two days. Came out without too much difficulty.

Standard plugs on ebay about £10 delivered or less- will be fine.

Clean the HT leads fro the distributor to avoid tracking through dirt and damp and they'll be good for 10k miles.
Last edited by: madf on Thu 22 Sep 11 at 09:27
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