Vent: Kept finding loose spark plugs on 172s this month

I've been doing A&P work at a small FBO in Ohio for about 3 years now, but this last month I pulled three planes in a row where someone had under-torqued the spark plugs on the Lycoming O-320. They were barely hand tight on the bottom plugs. It's not a hard thing to check but whoever did it was rushing or just didn't care. I caught it because the mag check was rough during run-up and I pulled the cowling anyway. One plug actually had carbon tracking from the gap being too loose and arcing out. I've seen this cause cylinder damage if you fly it long enough, especially on longer trips. Has anyone else run into this pattern lately or is it just this shop's luck?

2 comments

2 Comments

irisg5723d ago

Yeah I printed a torque chart and taped it inside the hangar door.

janab8223d ago

I get that the tape helps, but what about when the chart gets greasy and unreadable after a few months of wrenching? I laminated mine and put it on a binder ring so it stays clean and I can flip through sections. That way you're not squinting at smudged numbers when you're in a rush.