Continuing the recent trend of DIY tools, we’ve selected spark plug sockets as today’s list of choices. While not all of us set gaps and fiddle with old fashioned points systems, there’s a solid chance most of our readers have had cause to throw a new set of plugs in their beater at some point or another.
Digging through a pile of random tools for the correct spark plug socket can be a trial (rumors say this will actually become a 24 Hours of Lemons penalty soon). If you do spring for one of these things, make sure it lives in a good spot of your toolbox.
Speaking of, many socket sets include one or two of these tools but it never hurts to have an extra on hand. Some of these stand-alones are also more robustly constructed or include special extensions that may not appear in an all-encompassing socket set. Also, don’t forget that not all spark plugs are sized equally, so check your application before hitting the ‘buy’ button.
This socket is for 5/8-inch plugs and a 3/8-inch ratchet drive. An entry angle is said to guide it home more easily and has serrations the depth of the fastener. Large hard-stamped, not etched, sizing identification marks should be visible even to us old guys with failing eyesight.
A knurled grip on the extension shaft provides workers with a non-slip surface for low torque applications. The interior magnet inside of the socket retains and protects the spark plug for easier installation and is said to not wear out over time like a traditional rubber gasket.
Unsure of your whip’s spark plug sizing or simply work on a variety of different cars? Picking up a five-piece set might be a good idea. This unit has a couple of metric sockets along with three in Freedom units. The sizes are both etched and hammered into the socket walls.
This spark plug socket set includes 5/8-inch, 3/4-inch, 13/16-inch, 14mm, and 18mm sizes plus a handy storage rail. The rubber retaining ring ensures plugs stay on the socket and the tapered 6-point socket ends grip the flat sides of the fastener head, not corners, to prevent round-off.
Here’s a pro-grade tool whose unique design helps prevent breakage by locking the plug porcelain core to the plug hex. This permits it to turn as one complete unit rather than exerting torque on the plug itself and risking snapping the thing off.
This specific item is designed to help mechanics finding themselves working on Blue Oval products, particularly those equipped with a three-valve 4.6L or 5.4L V8 engine. It’s also compatible with the jumbo 6.8L V10 found in mid-2000’s Ford trucks.
Building on the set listed two entries above, this five-piece set has a series of extensions to assist mechanics and DIYers intending to tackle multiple jobs on multiple cars. Note there are fewer socket sizes in this kit – three, not five – but the varying extension lengths are very handy.
Each spark plug socket has 360-degree swivel action for maximum flexibility, while the five sizes give you the extra reach you need for tight spots on a wide variety of applications. The sockets’ interior magnets retain and protect the spark plug for easier installation.
No extensions, no swivels, no problem. This is just a basic spark plug socket which is all a person needs in some instances. After all, most of us probably have enough extensions kicking around the garage already without adding more by way of an all-inclusive set.
We’ve waxed about the Craftsman brand before but, for those still wary thanks to the disappearance of Sears department stores, be assured the tool brand stands on its own without interference from a meddling bricks-and-mortar overlord.
This is a 5/8-inch spark plug socket sitting on the end of an extension making for ten inches of total stretch. A smooth 360-degree ball swivel means one should be able to reach into wretchedly tight engine bays like that of a 1995 Aerostar.
A fully polished and chrome plated mirror finish is said to resist corrosion and is easy to clean (you do wipe your sockets off before firing them back in the toolbox, right?). A knurled shaft prevents slipping, though it doesn’t run the length, and its size is laser etched into the socket.
On occasion, an off-brand delivers a good surprise. Sunex is hardly a household name in the vein of Snap-On or Matco, but this item has earned a 4.8 out of 5-star rating from over 100 customers, with an impressive 96 percent giving these things 4 or 5 stars.
This seven-piece set includes a trio of impressively tall sockets, all of which are common spark plug measures. They are for use with 3/8-inch ratchets and include a blow-molded case that you’ll likely bin immediately after opening the Amazon box.
Twelve point sockets are usually looked upon with great suspicion but real-world customers of this item give it good reviews, praising its usefulness. A foot-long extension will help you reach pesky spark plugs and also confirm that Subway is giving you a correctly measured sub.
With the extension attached right to the socket, there’s no worry about needing to fish a socket out of the well because it decided to divorce itself from the extension. Thin walls help ease access but, as with most things in life, go easy if you don’t know what you’re doing.
Are there special sockets for spark plugs?
A short answer would be, yes. To elaborate, the purpose of a spark plug socket is to make it easier for you to install or remove spark plugs from your vehicle.
If you are a DIY person and prefer maintaining your cars yourself, you would need merely one or two sockets, i.e., typically those that are compatible with the spark plugs that your vehicles have. Here, the size matters. If you choose a socket that is of a smaller or larger size than the spark plug, you might not be able to clean or replace it as the removal and installation process wouldn’t be easy.
On the other hand, if you are a professional technician who deals with several vehicles a day, you would want to get a complete spark plug socket set (typically the one recommended by the service station that you work with). Such a set comprises sockets of almost every size, and therefore, you wouldn’t have to look any further while dealing with the plugs of any car that is assigned to you.
Are magnetic spark plug sockets any good?
Before answering this question, it is imperative to understand that two types of spark plug sockets are available in the market, namely:
Coming back to the main question, yes, they are good and are specifically designed for the purpose. The fact is, they are even better when compared to rubber boot spark plug sockets. In the latter case, while the socket may do the job, the rubber boot that it has is prone to wear and tear. Furthermore, some people have also complained about the rubber being fallen off and getting lost.
On the other hand, a magnetic spark plug socket, as the name suggests, is made of a magnet that snaps on the spark plug when placed upon it. In addition, even a magnetic socket has a rubber washer inside it. Because of this, while the magnet forms a firm grip over the spark plug while removing and installing, the rubber makes sure that the plug remains protected against damages that may be caused to its material otherwise.
Are all spark plug sockets the same?
No, they are different. Depending on the type of spark plug your vehicle has, its size may vary and so does the size of the socket. As mentioned earlier, if you have a socket that doesn’t fit well on the spark plug, removing and installing it would be cumbersome.
Therefore, it is recommended that you, being a professional, get a complete OEM set that comprises sockets of almost every size to deal with all types of plugs that you come across in your day-to-day work.
Although you can replace a spark plug without using a socket, the process would be tedious and time-consuming. With the help of a good quality socket, the process that could otherwise take several hours to complete can be done merely within a few minutes.
From time to time, TTAC will highlight automotive products we think may be of interest to our community. Plus, posts like this help to keep the lights on around here. Learn more about how this works.
(Editor’s note: This post is meant to both help you be an informed shopper for automotive products but also to pay for our ‘90s sedan shopping habits operating expenses. Some of you don’t find these posts fun, but they help pay for Junkyard Finds, Rare Rides, Rental Reviews, and whatever else. Thanks for reading.)
[Main Photo Credit: sima/Shutterstock.com. Product images provided by the manufacturer.]
I have #1 and it is very helpful on the Liberty where the plugs are a good ways down in the head (do an image search on “2010 Liberty coil” to see what I mean).
Also good for gently starting the spark plug in the hole way down there without cross-threading it. [Some old-timers use a length of hose with an inside diameter which fits the terminal of the spark plug, under the theory that the terminal will ‘slip’ inside the hose before transferring enough torque to cross-thread the plug – but most hoses have a ‘curl’ to them, so watch the angle.]
Stop using “best” in these advertisements.
These aren’t actual reviews and you haven’t actually tried them.
Unfortunately, that’s what modern “reviews” often consist of. Someone tallies information from Amazon and calls it a review. We used to have real experts run real tests. Not so much anymore.
Better than a tally of reviews, I did read a review a couple years ago that was almost as bad. They reviewed will making programs and sites. The review was based entirely on ease of use. No attempt was made to review the quality of the will that was produced. The reviewers had no legal background. Very sad.
Your auto parts store – and local tool store, if you are lucky enough to have one, will carry other items that may be much better. This is a lame click-to-buy-and-we-get-a-few-cents-commission article. This article gets one out of five stars, for lack of effort.
I have not seen #2 yet. Looks interesting but it doesn’t really address the total problem. What happens is the metal shell gets stuck in the head. Yeah the porcelain usually breaks too and is left in the way or extracting the shell. So yeah this might help but you may still need to purchase the extractor kit to get that stuck shell removed. Of course the idea is to not break the plug in the first place and it really isn’t that hard to do. Follow the current Ford procedure and they will come out in one piece. They do hint at that in the video for the tool but tell you to use penetrating oil which is wrong. You want to use carb cleaner as that will dissolve the carbon that causes the problem.
Rocket Surgery level (11 pages): https://www.aa1car.com/library/ford_tsb_08-7-6.pdf
[Page 2, Figure 1 – the anti-seize isn’t applied to the threads]
Not really, if you do the first part right you don’t have anything to extract. The key is to stop if it takes too much torque to turn the plug, turn it back in an 1/8 of a turn and reapply the carb cleaner, wait another 15 min and try again.
Having recently gone shopping for these, here are my observations: – Between rubber, metal prongs and magnets, magnets seem best but I can see where they might not work on certain plugs like shorties. – The holes they’re in these days are VERY narrow (and often down to 14mm hex) so thinwall is a MUST (this was the #1 reason why I had to buy a new one) – More plugs now are 12pt (seemingly mostly on euros)
IMO just as important is a GOOD LOCKING extension so you don’t get that socket stuck at the bottom of that deep narrow hole.
Number 2 looks like a decent set, and Number 3 (the Ford removal too) is mainly for the 5.4l 3-valve Triton V8, which is infamous for spark plugs breaking during removal. There are plenty of different favorite techniques used by technicians to get them out.
Me, I just an old Craftsman socket (5/8″ or 13/16″ with the foam rubber insert, depending on the application), with a locking extension. On OHC engines, I gently wiggle the extension and socket while pulling on it, after installing a new plug – sometimes even with a locking extension, the socket can get stuck on the plug, down in the tube, if you just pull up on it. Definitely an “Oh crap!” moment.
I just finished doing the second timing belt service on my 121K LS 430, and changed the plugs while I was in there.
most of these tools shown will not work in that application due to the long extension colliding with either the battery box or the master cylinder booster.
Maybe other longitudinally mounted DOHC V8 applications would be the same.
What did work was, plug socket with no insert, 3″ extension, separate universal joint, then a 6″ extension, then the ratchet.
Once the plug unscrewed free from the head, I went back in with 8″ of 3/8 ID fuel line to fish it out.
Also, I like the fuel line for starting the plugs too. I never use a socket to start a plug in an aluminum head..always 3 or 4 turns by hand so I know the threads are engaged before I lay a wrench on it.
I cut my teeth on Corvairs, that’s where I learned how important all this trivia really was.
there is no “best” Many cars require a SPECIFIC socket or socket/extension combination to access one of the plugs, or even several different combinations on the same car. (did that for 40+ years)
I would bet a complete socket set that nearly all of these “best” tools come from China. Sending our dollars there is not really the best thing to do with them.
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