I have 2:
You need a stack of spare crushable plug washers…and with a projected tip plug (the P in BPR5ES) its unlikely it’ll make any difference IMHO.
I started the project and found it hit and miss as to where the “gap” would wind up. After one plug I decided I had better things to do.
I believe I found it once in the Bentley manual. It said 26ft lbs. I mentioned it on this forum and the consensus was that was too tight. I tighten to 20lbs using an inch-lb torque wrench, and anti-seize?? In looking at the NGK video and looking at their torque chart for 14mm plugs, it seems that 20lbs is about spot on. They also repeat the warning about the anti-seize…we live and learn, mostly!
I was going to make that point but then considered that I am the guy who opens up generic fuses, inserts Lucas paper labels and re-solders the end back on:
My note (on the torque wrench case) says 18-21.6 ft-lbs for aluminum heads. That precision suggests I got it from a authoritative source but no idea when or where. I tend to the light side using about 225 in-lbs.
I have always used anti-seize (except on some sensors) and had no problems. Perhaps some anti-seize can interfere with conductivity?
This is even more important to get right than checking the plug gap out of the box, which, in my experience, is usually correct (with the original N5 plugs, anyway). Since the head is aluminum, it’s easy to over-torque and strip the threads! I believe the owners manual says 27 foot pounds.
Back in the day when I didn’t have a torque wrench–or even know what one was–a kindly mechanic at the dealer told me, “finger tight and then a quarter turn, no more.”
A few years ago I saw that mentioned on a car related web site. They suggested using a copper based anti-seize.
Given that Autolite, AC and Champion also discourage the use of anti-seize on plug threads I think I’ll leave the anti-seize in the tool box the next time I change spark plugs.
I guess that might depend on whether the plugs have new crush washers or they’re going back in with the old? I mean, even the best finger on the world isn’t going to crush that washer.
Edit: unless you’re Desperate Dan (for my countrymen)
FWIW, I’ve never used anti-sieze and never had a problem in 50 years. The “finger tight and 1/4 turn” with the wrench from the Jaguar supplied tool roll worked from 1971 - 1974. After resurrection in 1986, I’ve been using a torque wrench.
Only a couple of times I had problems on an XK engine, and it resulted in me installing a threadsert.
That’s not such a big deal, but if it happens on Volkswagens, the air cooled kind, it’s a really big deal. I would never ever put a spark plug in a Volkswagen engine without any sntiseize.
Yep… and I maintain that on these relatively low-performance engines, indexing will buy you bupkis.
In the link you referenced, much of the talk was about lean-burn engines, where indexing might have made measurable, at-the-wheel gains. Last I looked, a Jag wasn’t a lean-burn engine.
My work on a dyno, with a box stock 1200 Datsun engine, and its highly-modified counterpart, confirms that. I also never saw instructions, on any street engine I worked on, that required plug indexing: if it made tgat much difference, the manufacturers would have made note of it.
On that modded engine, I had to index the plugs only to ensure the ground electrode didn’t contact the piston crown.