In the past few months, I've had 2 cylinders blow plugs out being #4 then recently #1, after some serious trial and error, I was able to tap both cylinders and drop sinks in and new plugs. Of course I had to replace the coils as well, cause they looked like they had been through a war.

So last night being Xmas Eve, on my way to a friends for dinner going up hill and hitting 50MPH I get a misfire and lose power, check engine light, and since it had been happening intermittently on #5 on the same hill and speed for 2 weeks, I checked the code again(I keep an Actron in the truck), and it was #4 this time, because yesterday I was actually at the parts store and got a new coil for #5, just my luck. So fearing it may damage the hotsink I dropped in weeks ago with a new plug, n not wanting it to blow out again, cause #4 is a nightmare, wrapped in a migraine, basted in rage , I got it towed. Once home I pulled #4 coil and to much surprise, it was Melted. I've replaced the coils and plugs in the past and seen bad coils, as well as the blow out coils from the plugs popping, but never melted.

Is this from the notorious coolant leak issue, or something else? And on top of that I have to figure out a way to get the tiny piece of rubber out wedged next to the plug.

And last week, my IAC Valve was stuck, truck would start but not run without my foot on the gas, took it off, hit it with liquid wrench and WD-40 and let it sit on my base board heater to warm up from the 20+ weather outside, all seemed well afterwards, but I was suffering from a rough idle while in drive, with my foot applied on the brake. Which seemed to clear up with replacing coil #5, but I didn't get all that much time to test drive last night thanks to #4. I did hit the IAC Valve again yesterday with Seafoam Deep Creeper and cleaned out a lot of crap.

2000 Expedition 4.6L SOHC Windsor

 

If the rubber is soft enough to move at all just push it down with the plug socket and get the plug out. Either blow the residue out with compressed air or fish it out with wire or ??? I don't think a coolant leak could cause the problem you describe, it sounds like a serious overheating problem in that cylinder. When you get it running again I suggest that you use an infra red thermometer and check the temperature in that area of the engine. You may have a blockage in the coolong system at this point.
I would wish you a Merry Christmas but you're probably all merried out at this point, the new year has to be better. Good luck with it and keep us posted on your progress.

 

Mel, thanks for the response, on Xmas Day. I did try to the push the rubber piece down last night with the plug socket but it still sits 2 high, and just spins on top of the plug. I finally got the air compressor filled, and am gonna try n blow it out 2mrw, if it doesn't snow too bad. Its too dark already and n I don't have the patience to wrk on it in the dark, if it was #1, no prob, but not #4, but I usually end up doin ridiculous things at odd hours so we'll see. I'm not sure how I'm gonna check temp, not sure if I can get my hands on a IR Thermometer. I'm just hoping the plug didn't back out or blow out again, even in the slightest. I'll keep ya posted.

 

I'd lay odds that the spark plug hole repair is leaking and allowing hot compression stroke gasses to pass up to the COP and melt it.

 

You can get small handheld IR temp probes for $20 or $30 bucks at most auto stores.

 

Also at Harbor Freight or Northern Tool. If you never had an overheating problem Alloro could be on the right track about the plug getting loose.
To get the rubber out you might try a length of stiff wire or a very skinny screw driver, bend the tip to make a hook and go fishin'.

 

Two other things you can do is, get a small vacuum and connect a smaller hose to the larger hose with tape of some sort to it to be able to use the suction to hold the rubber piece, or use one of those bendable claw type of tools to grab it with. Also a bendable mirror with a light will come in very handy with your situation to be able to see what your doing.

 

Alight got all the rubber out while its snowing, n my hands are numb, so please forgive the typos. I think I know what may have caused the melting. I believe this was an original Motorcraft Coil on Cyl #4 that I had swapped from another coil previously, that with all the cold and heat and cold and heat these past few weeks, it just went. And by that I mean in each coil is packed in the center of the spring with either a small metal or ferrite core, I think this cracked and eventually lead to the melt down. I may be wrong, but the core in the coil was completely obliterated. And the spring was blackened. I'm gonna give it a go with the other coil I have laying around that needs to be replaced and see if that will get as far as the Advanced or my mechanic and then check and see if the coil is again in anyway melted.

The Spark Plug and hotsink are extremely snug and when I had the engine running with the COP off it was too hard to tell if gases were escaping. Between the air flowing around the engine, and the wind n snow blowing around there was no way to be certain.

And if this wrks, I need to figure out why the truck idles so rough in drive while at a complete stop.

 

It will likely smooth out with a good coil. Check each and every one of the electrical connections at the coils and the fuel injectors, a bad connection at one of them will cause the rough idle and often a miss under a load.
Congrats on getting it done under the conditions you now have, tomorrow you will have even more of the same. Just be glad you're not doing it tomorrow.

 

Hey Mel thanks for stickin with me on this. With the snow and 40MPH gusts 2mrw I'm gonna hold off, till a still day before I check again for escaping gases, I still think if even a small possibility I should still check for it. Think I have a can of Snoop floating around, I can test with. And considering not all of the coils have been changed on the truck, I may get a new set of coils, since all the plugs are fairly new. I'm sure I can find a set on Ebay for a better price than Advanced or Auto Zone. I also wanna make sure the head isn't cracked, or anything else. I'm also thinkin new EGR as well. N I know I've got a few leaks as well between Oil, and Transfer case, so after the new year, I think I'm gonna have the local guys to a huge once over on it. For the amount of money I drop on this truck monthly for repairs, its starting to make more sense to spend it on financing, it's the same amount of money and I don't have to worry about breaking down every time I get behind the wheel. Cause I **** you not, this is becoming a near weekly issue. Its a toss up at the moment, between a New Expedition or a new Dodge, I know blasphemy, but $$$ is a much bigger issue than loyalty at this point, so I need to look into who has better offers and incentives.

 

I can understand your pain and feel for you.
Before you buy a Dodge you should do a search about warranty service by the Chrysler product dealers. Believe me it ain't pretty. If I can find it again I'll email or PM a link to you. It is down right scarey, especially since the non-automotive investment group bought it. It looks like they are bleeding the company dry and looking at the immediate bottom line only.

 

Yeah I'd appreciate that. I'm lookin at the lease options on a New Escape at the moment, want something a bit more fuel efficient, but still enough room, for hauling computers, and friends from time to time w/ 4WD. N the triple black Escape I just built is pretty damn sexy. I wouldn't mind the Hybrid but at $29K to start its overpriced even my Ford Mechanic friends who wrk at the local Ford Dealerships all want one, but think they're excessively overpriced, even after the State n Fed rebates. Right now, Dodge does have much better incentives, on the RAM, vs. the Escape, it's matter of lower monthly payments between a vehicle and insurance, cause insurance is killing me after a 3yr old DUI, and no accidents in now 12yrs. Right now it's a numbers game. Thanks again for all your help and info. Even after I get all this squared away I'll keep updating so anyone else with the same issue can learn from me. I wouldn't wish this upon anyone, weelllllll, maybe 1 or 2 people.

 

Ok, so after dickin around with the truck the past few days and still hearing what sounds like a tick, I looked n saw the replacement coil bouncing up as if the plug blew out again. Well the out gassing part was correct. I pulled the plug out and it was melted as well, tear dropped up 1 side of he plug completely melted, and the entire end of it was gone or melted as well. So I checked the hotsink I dropped in and it appeared to fine, ran a rethreader thru it just to be safe, and dropped a new plug in. Now once I charge my battery I'll let you guys know the outcome, but other than running lean in that cylinder, I have no idea what woulda caused a spark plug to melt.

 

 

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