Serious Engine Issues?
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 550
Likes: 0
From: Dallas TX
Serious Engine Issues?
Last week I had to have my car towed to the dealer because I was driving down the road and a 3rd spark plug on the driver's side "fell out". The dealer told me the plug must have just worked it's way out and they replaced it and sent me on my way.
Today I'm driving home, and all of a sudden I hear the same horrible sound eminating from under my hood. I pull over immediately knowing that my spark plug came out again. What I can't understand is why this would happen. Can anyone please give me some advice on why and how this is happening? Is this a harbinger of serious issues and repair costs? I'm somewhat freaking out. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Today I'm driving home, and all of a sudden I hear the same horrible sound eminating from under my hood. I pull over immediately knowing that my spark plug came out again. What I can't understand is why this would happen. Can anyone please give me some advice on why and how this is happening? Is this a harbinger of serious issues and repair costs? I'm somewhat freaking out. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 246
Likes: 4
From: Denton County Texas
Well if it came out a second time then the threads in the cylinder head are damaged. Last resort you can heli-coil it but I wouldn't recommend it due the shavings falling into the cylinder.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 2,167
Likes: 11
From: Powell TN
Cruise-In VIII Veteran
Last week I had to have my car towed to the dealer because I was driving down the road and a 3rd spark plug on the driver's side "fell out". The dealer told me the plug must have just worked it's way out and they replaced it and sent me on my way.
Today I'm driving home, and all of a sudden I hear the same horrible sound eminating from under my hood. I pull over immediately knowing that my spark plug came out again. What I can't understand is why this would happen. Can anyone please give me some advice on why and how this is happening? Is this a harbinger of serious issues and repair costs? I'm somewhat freaking out. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Today I'm driving home, and all of a sudden I hear the same horrible sound eminating from under my hood. I pull over immediately knowing that my spark plug came out again. What I can't understand is why this would happen. Can anyone please give me some advice on why and how this is happening? Is this a harbinger of serious issues and repair costs? I'm somewhat freaking out. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I'm not saying to do this, because a sea-doo head is a lot cheaper than a corvette head, and I just fixed the symptom and not the problem, but it worked for me and the sea-doo motor turned higher rpms and had a higher compression ratio. Heli-coil is probably the best way to go for a permanent fix.
Here is a definition of blue Loctite:
Blue Removable No. 242, 243, 246, 248, 2432 & 2440 - Used for things you may want to unscrew with minimal hassle. It cures into a brittle, glassy bond that takes one good twist to break, but removes cleanly after that. Preferably to be used with Valve Covers, Water Pumps and Oil Pan Bolts.
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 1999
Posts: 22,025
Likes: 192
From: At the beach in little Rhody
There is a proper torque on the spark plug, 15 lb-ft I believe on the 2nd and up installation. I would pull the plug and try and inspect the head and the plug (plug may have aluminum in the threads). Count the number of turns required to remove the plug and then pull the plug in front of it (#3) and count the turns. If you find out the bad one is say 5 turns and the good one is 10 turns then you will have an indication the plug is likely cross threaded until tight but incorrectly installed. There is a thread chaser you can buy, but without a borescope I would be afraid to do this because you need to make sure there are not chips left in the cylinder. You may need to pull the head to correct this (may be a good time for upgraded heads).
