2000 GT, Idle flucuates between normal and around 300rpm

[mathesar]

Originally Posted by AirBrontosaurus My fault, I must not have been clear. What I meant was, my problems were exactly the same when I had too little spark. Since you had coolant in your spark system, it seems to me that your problems could be caused by a malfunction in your spark system (since the symptoms were the same as mine). I wasn't necessarily suggesting that your timing got out of whack, but merely that something is wrong with your spark system. My suggestion was to go back to basics and make sure that your spark plugs and COPS all work perfectly. Your coolant leak leads me to believe that something is causing your spark system to fire either not often enough or erratically, thus causing your car to behave like it is. Ok Ill have to recheck all the COPS and make sure no coolant is in the wells, At least I know its running on all 8 cylinders right now, I could totally hear and feel the loss of power when the COP in cylinder #1 wasn't working at all (due to coolant). It seems I'm afraid to check the spark plugs because of all the horror stories I read about stripping heads,plugs popping out and using proper torque etc.,But I know to only check / change them when the engine is stone cold. Thanks again.

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[AirBrontosaurus]

Originally Posted by mathesar

It seems I'm afraid to check the spark plugs because of all the horror stories I read about stripping heads,plugs popping out and using proper torque etc.,But I know to only check / change them when the engine is stone cold.

Thanks again.

Yeah, I know what you mean. The horror stories scared me too. However, in my experience, if you take your time you really have nothing to worry about.

When I did mine, everything went off without a hitch. I made sure to take my time, use plenty of dielectric grease (to make sure nothing gets stuck or corroded in the future), and I never tried to muscle anything.

One thing I can recommend is use a torque wrench. I used mine when I did the plugs and it was nice to know that I wasn't overdoing anything. That way, the plugs are tightened right to spec and I had no worries of stripping them or fracturing them in the head.

My install went smoothly and now I have new, colder, properly gapped plugs!