I just bought my plugs (NGK BKR6ES-11). How important is it to have them torqued to specs? On the box it says to hand tighten, then 1/2 to 2/3 turn.

 

18-21 ft-lb. I normally use 20.

 

From my 1997 integra owner's manual:

6. Torque the spark plug. (If you do not have a torque wrench, tighten the spark plug two-thirds of a turn after it contacts the cylinder head.)
Tightening torque:
13 lb-ft (1.8 kgf*m, 18 Nm)

Tighten the spark plugs carefully. A spark plug that is too loose can overheat and damage the engine. Overtightening can cause damage to the threads in the cylinder head.

 

13lb-ft is correct

 

13 lbf-ft according to Helms manual(96 integra).

I had one shoot out of my 86 prelude si(R.I.P.) when I tried to start it. It stripped the threads out of the head. I had to use a heli coil kit to reinstall it. Needless to say the motor never ran right again. Then it wouldn't pass emissions

What a shame, I had to get rid of her and get a GSR

 

No! 13 ft lbs.

 

My 18-21 is from NGK's website. It is listed as the spec for aluminum heads. I guess I will use the helms spec next time. I have never had a problem with NGK's spec though. I would give you the web page, but it is in my palm and I used plucker. I have to figure it out.

 

While I'm cleaning the threads on the head....should I be worried about pieces of debris that may fall down in there?

 

Would like to know this too

 

before you remove the spark plugs from the kind of heads that have that chamber where the spark plug goes into (like most hondas), you're supposed to use a pressure blower or vacuum or whatever and get all the crap out of that chamber so nothing falls into the spark plug hole.

 

are the torque specs the same for the ls , gsr, typer..lsvtec?

 

something to keep in mind.

All torque wrenches reguardless of type are most accurate in the middle 2 quarters. What that means is the top and bottom 25% are not as accurate as the middle 50%. meaning. out of a 100ft lb wrench the first 0-25 lbs and the 75-100lbs are less accurate of readings as the range of 26-74ft lbs.

basically use the correct wrench for the job. for small jobs a good 1/4" drive torque wrench set in "inch" pounds is probably more accurate.

but again, this is probably getting too critical, but for those that care, this would be the proper procedure.

 

I believe all 4 cylinder honda motors are 13 ft-lbs. If I remember correctly, v-6's are 16 ft-lbs.

 

a lil OT.. I forgot where i was reading this but the factory OEM spark plugs in a comparative test acutally did better than any aftermarket plug...just a lil FYI

That is for a GSR

 

http://plugs.janmax.com/comparison.aspx

 

i think you are correct. Most all aftermarket plugs are hype. just replace with OE plugs, even from honda is pretty cheap. try ahmotor.com