So. Here's my truck, 121k miles after its birth. Took an hour to get the #s 8 and 7 spark plugs out. Guess how many times they had been replaced previously?





Never. Original Motorcraft plugs, wires, and most likely cap and rotor.




I then gave up after this happened:


Guess where the rest of the plug is?

 

Wedged deeply up your...engine block. That's my guess.

Just cause it's all motorcraft doesn't mean that it's original, though in your case, I believe it to be true. I used all motorcraft crap when I redid all of mine.

 

not good...

Gonna take the head off?

 

Did the electrode come out of the threads?

If so, soak the crap out of what's left with PB blaster or equivalent penetrating oil overnight. Afterwards, if you can get a torch in there without damaging anything else, get it [that is, the stud] good and cherry hot. Then take wax [I've used toilet gasket wax in the past] and melt the wax over the stud [a long pair of needle nose works well for this.] The wax should suck down into the threads much like solder and lubricate the threads.

Then try using a stud extractor and see what results you get. The trick is that you usually want to work the stud back and forth, but in this case that probably won't work.

 

To the right of the picture, just out of frame?

Sorry, that is rough. Hope you can get the rest of it out.

 

If I can get the plug out without removing the head then that's totally how I'll roll. One of those dentist-style suction tubes should make quick work of any bits that drop into the cylinder.


I like your idea DBGrif91. I'll give that a shot first since I'm still searching...



If I absolutely have to drive it, I'm assuming I can get by with unplugging the injector for that cylinder and running that spark plug wire to chassis ground?

 

I did mine when I first got my 95. It had 155k on it factory everything plugs were close to .90 gap wires still had 1995 motorcraft printed on them and I have no idea how the nub on the rotor was firing through the build up on the cap terminals

 

ouch! theres a first! let me know how you fix it. post up so if anyone has it happen we can fix ours too, thanks for sharing.

 

Someone sure had to put that on tight as hell for that to happen!

Always a good idea, to put abit of Anti-Seize on the plugs tread to prevent this from happening.




I also did a complete Ford Motorcraft tune up on my 300 including gas filter!

 

If I am looking at the picture right, and understanding you correctly, you have the threads and part of the plug still stuck in the head. If thats the case, it is not the first time I have seen it (actually seen a couple 5.0's in Exploders do that, and some propane powered Schwans trucks do it).

Anyways, if its the threads/part of the electrode and insulator left in, heres a trick that I've used before.

1) Crank the motor over, by about the 5th or 6th revolution, you should hear a "POP!", this will be the remains of the electrode and insultor popping out the top of the remains of the plug.
2) Once you have popped the electrode remains out, soak the threads down with PB Blaster and let soak in overnight, then carefully use an EZ-Out to tap into it and remove it.


If it won't come out with an EZ-Out, it can be drilled out, but be warned, that is a real B!TCH to do.

 

That is the exact process I went through with mine!

 

Calling a few shops tomorrow to see who's had the most experience with this... I sure haven't. Usually I'd tackle the job meself but for this one I'll draw the line at spraying PB Blaster and let the pros take it from there.

Although if we do have to pull the head I'll do that part. That would cost quite a lot at a shop.

 

As long as the ceramic and/or electrode haven't fallen into the cylinder it's a do-able job. Just crank it over like Ward stated. It will blow the electrode and ceramic OUT. Then you just heat up the "threads" of the spark plug. Install easy out and it should come out.

 

Sorry to revive this thread, but I searched and came up with this.

My 351w seems to be in a similar situation, only I have not broken a plug off yet. My plugs look just like these pictures, the stripes and the rusty base. I was attempting to do a full tune up yesterday and when loosening the #1 spark plug my normal ratchet wouldn't work.

Tried my larger ratchet, wouldn't budge.

Put a cheater on the large ratchet, wouldn't budge!?

So, basically scared myself thinking I most likely would have snapped it off if I had used more force. I have never had to deal with stuck plugs before.

I have been soaking the base of the plugs with PB blaster with the engine hot and letting it soak the last couple days. Is there a better time engine hot/engine warm/engine cold to try and get the plugs out? Cant afford to have one of these suckers break off.

thanks!

 

Your doing what I would do in that situation. Just keep soaking it in PB blaster for a couple more days. When you decide to try and get it out, warm the engine up to temp and then try. Be careful though as to not burn yourself. When you go to put them back in apply a thin coat of anti-seize to the threads to make them easier to remove next time.