Pinto Car Club of America

I'm no mechanic.  But I used to be able to tune my car, change the oil, etc.  But that was a few years ago!

Well, my Pinto was parked in the driveway for just over a year.  The last tune up and oil change was done by the garage that fixed my brakes in 2004, before I started driving my Connie instead of the Pinto....

So, I'm driving the Pinto again.  Runs great, except the engine seems to run a little rough at high speeds. Thinking maybe it's time to check the plugs, maybe change them (I think they're an off brand).   I just checked my plugs during lunch break here at work, and see they were set at the wrong gap by the garage, .045 instead of .034.

Could one of you mechanically oriented folks tell me, how does the wrong gap affect the engine?  It's been so long that I knew about tune up stuff I've forgotten -- it affects timing, doesn't it?

b.t.w.  The plugs look clean, just a slight grey haze, thank God, no oil.

Remember, plug gaps get bigger as a plug wears.

Plug gap does not affect timing but is set relative to the voltage the ignition system is capable of giving (stronger ignition...larger plug gap)...more compression & worn rounded spark plug electrodes also require smaller plug gaps or a stronger ignition.

If it has electronic ignition, chances are it would run just fine at .045 on a stock  engine with no noticeable difference as long as everything else is ok.  It takes a huge amount of energy to fire a plug so sometimes the spark will jump to an easier ground source (bad plug wire or boot) if the plugs are gaped incorrectly or worn.

It cost about 6.00 to change plugs, It wouldn't hurt to do it, set the gap correctly and rule out at least one simple thing.

Be sure to check the point gap.  After sitting the lubrication on the cam lobes dries out and the rubbing block on the points wears quickly.