Originally Posted by Brian Carlton

I have a solution that will definitely work and will dramatically shorten the time required to pull those plugs.

Get an impact wrench.

Before you do a thing to the plugs, you must calibrate that wrench to a known fastener. It will take you about an hour or so to find a suitable fastener and tighten it with a torque wrench to 35 lb-ft. and "calibrate" the impact wrench by restricting its air supply so that it cannot have an output greater than 35 lb.-ft.

Do this calibration carefully. Tighten with the torque wrench and carefully mark the fastener for position. Remove the fastener and tighten with the impact wrench and be absolutely sure that the impact wrench tightens the fastener to the exact same position. If you err..........err on the side of caution.

Now, take the "calibrated" impact wrench and blast away on the plugs. My guess is that it will take no more than 5 minutes per plug to safely dislodge them from the carbon.

Why spend an hour turning the plug back and forth 100X, when the impact wrench can do it in a matter of seconds?

The required homework is crucial, however. Don't attempt this without it.


One other option: Find a 30 lb-ft. torque stick. This device limits the torque to the fastener by twisting. Saves all the work of the calibration..............