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Have just experienced my first spark plug ejection. Need advice on latest best option for repair. Not at my computer or would do the research before asking. Thanks for patience and any advice.
Also the recommended torque of 8Ft LBS is to low that is the reason these plugs blow out, torque to 15Ftlbs when installing. If lubing the threads with anti-seize reduce to 12Ftlbs.
Thanks, but I'm not going to invest in a tool set. Truck has 140k on it and I'm probably going to fix this cheap (found Dorman part no. 42025) and pass it on to someone who wants to put the next 100k on it.
Okay, I did find the Helicoil Sav-a-Thread kit at O'Reilly for a reasonable price... cheaper than the Dorman kit. It doesn't come with the goofy long-electrode spark plug that looks like it came off the 3V Triton... so I'm going to use it instead.
Well, that was an experience I don't look to repeat anytime soon. Trying to tap a recessed spark plug hole while laying over half the engine is no fun at all! I'm sure there may be better tools than what I had, but the fact that the plug is almost under the windshield and angles toward the back doesn't make it easy, no matter what tool you're using.
I have a question for anyone who's used Helicoil before... the knurled end has the same outer diameter as the rest of the insert, so what's to keep it from tearing up the threads and continuing down the hole into the cylinder? Obviously, it would take more torque, but with this being such difficult location to access, it was hard to tell any difference in torque as I tapped the larger hole.
At one point, I felt an increase in torque like I had gotten to the bottom. I looked down the hole with a mirror and flashlight and saw bright metal on the top of the piston. Apparently when the engine cut off, it just happened to have this cylinder at TDC, so the end of the tap actually bottomed out against the piston. I bumped the starter motor to move it down, and finished tapping the hole.
When I put the insert in, it was very difficult to tell that it had gotten flush with the top of the hole. I sensed a slight increase in torque required to turn the ratchet. I'm letting the RTV cure over the next 24 hours and then will try starting the truck. I have very low confidence in this actually working...
Reassembled everything tonight after letting the RTV cure for 24 hours, and it runs but it's a little rough. I've got a feeling it's the coil since they're crap shoot. I'm going to temporarily swap back to the one that blew off, just using the boot and spring from the new one. The screw mount broke when the plug blew, so I'm just really trying to see if the coil makes it run any smoother.
The other thing that occurred to me is that the plug grounds through the head, so it's possible I got too much RTV on the OD of the insert and there isn't good electrical continuity. I can test that pretty easily, and I doubt it's the case - should be plenty of metal-to-metal contact between the insert and the head. In fact, it feels kinda silly to even say it... but there, I said it.
Anyway, I'm just happy it didn't pop the new insert out... I know they don't last forever, so I'm just trying to get it driveable to sell.
Well, I think I'm screwed... I pulled the plug and found this.
My assumption is that the insert went in too far. I pulled the fuel pump fuse and cranked and didn't hear metal-to-metal, so I don't think it's a lost cause yet. However, I need to figure out a way to keep the plug from going in too far. When I tried reinstalling it and just not torquing down as tightly, the engine sounded worse. Thinking a washer with an OD slightly smaller than the unthreaded recessed hole in the head that leads to the threaded portion. Then the plug should bottom out against the portion of cylinder head that isn't the OD of the insert, which would keep it from continuing to push the insert further in.
It's either that, or use loctite on the old spark plug, reinstall it and hope the insert can be removed. I used hi-temp RTV on the Helicoil per the instructions, rather than loctite as I had read in some posts online, so that's the only reason I think this option might work.
Opinions on best way to get myself out of this jam?
Successfully removed insert this morning... doesn't look too bad. Piston touched one edge of it (maybe a quarter inch of the circumference about one thread's width).
Sorry for the oversize picture but my phone won't let me resize it.
