I am trying to revive a '74 F100. It has a 360 V8. I got all the spark plugs to come out except one, and it is stuck. I have used pentrating oil on it for a couple days. Tried to let the engine run and warm up. Then try and remove it and nothing.

With out taking off the head, is there any suggestions out there?

I have thought about putting an impact on it, and turning the air way down, to try and knock it loose. But I wasn't sure how much damage that would do either.

Thanks,

Izzy

 

Which plug is it?

Impact wouldn't necasarily hurt anything, but it could gall the threads.

Have you tried a breaker bar? A long handled ratchet with a pipe work on all plugs except #8 and possibly #7.

Josh

 

A impact wrench would put less strain on the plug then using a cheater bar. I would try it out. You would be hard pressed to ruin any of the threads.

 

Do you have access to a oxy/acet. torch? That kind of heat will make short work of getting that to come loose. This might sound stupid, but have you tried tightening the spark plug up any? Sometimes that is the ticket to get stubborn bolts to break free.

 

try to soak it down with pb blaster. if you run it, soak it cool, run it warm and soak it again. do it a couple times and it should free up. it works on rusty exhaust bolts.

 

Thanks for all the help guys. Fyi, the plug in question was the pass. side rear.

I ended up putting the impact on it. The Impact had a hard time getting it out. After 20 mins. of screwing around, I heard a pop. I hit the impact one more time, and it spun out.

This right hear is why I run Anti seaze on 99% of everything.

And Masterbeavis, if I had a torch I would have tried it. Maybe the torch would have caught all the old oil on fire and burnt the garage down. Then I could get the money out of it.

Also, I did spin the plugs both ways with the other 7 plugs. They worked out fairly well doing that. This last plug just did not want to move at all.

 

I have put a torch to old caked up oil/grease, it does not burn very well, but it does get bright, pops, and burns your skin when it hits you. Anti-seize is you friend, as you already know. For freeing up stuck and stubborn bolts(especially exhaust manifold) in a pinch, you can use a cheapie propane torch that screws onto those 1# cylinders. I do and it normally works like a charm, I just have to be VERY patient, about 5 minutes each patient. I have a hose for mine, so I do not have to deal with inverting the bottle and shooting flames. One day I will get an acetylene setup, but I do not have the room to store it. (and do not want to fork out the scratch for the very small tanks, nor deal with trying to find a replacement tank because you cannot get them filled in CA.)

I do not like having greasy engines. The less grease on the motor, the less fuel to burn if for some reason it catches fire, and more importantly, less stuff to fall in your eyes while working underneath of it. A bit of purple cleaner once in a blue moon, and a garden hose will work wonders in keeping that engine compartment SPOTLESS (aside from oil re-leaking everyplace)

 

Masterbeavis,

Thanks for the advice on the propane torch. Never thought of using one of those. Worst thing is, it's sitting on the bench right in front of the truck.

As for the oil/greese on the engine, that is one of my pet peeves. As soon as I get it running down the road, and the temps get above freezing, I will be degreasing the engine. It's just so much nicer working on something when you aren't covered in grease. Plus you can see where stuff is leaking when it starts.

 

Ya can't sneak it to a car wash?? I know they LOVE that! On the way home (take the long way) hopefully the water will have a chance to evaporate.

 

I have thought of that, but when I give the old girl her first bath, it's going to be an all day/weekend ordeal. Not to mention by the time I get to the point I want to clean it, it will be March and warm enough to do it at home, where I can take my time.

 

$4 in quarters will get alot of gunk off of your truck

 

they dont accept my truck :-( might be that whole it is primer on the cab not regular paint. the primer seems to like to come off with water and leave red on the sponges who knows

 

Heh, we are talking about the coin op car wash, you know, the place you go after a good days mudding to wash 100# of mud off of your truck before you go home.

 

100# of mud? You better mind a better place to go. I can get 100# of mud build up driving down a gravel road after a heavy rain.

You want to talk about the car wash guy hating life. (5) trucks coming in after a hard day of mudding. Trucks looked good afterwards, but we left about a pickup load in the wash bay.

 

Heh, the reason for stopping at the the car wash because the vehicle you are in happens to be Dad's, and you only took it to go take grandma to church Sunday morning. :-" The mud here sticks to things like it has glue in it. It will not willingly release till it has a chance to dry.