Spark plug broke off

According to your signature you had a HG job done at 170k? New plugs would have been installed at that point....I would think?

Where are you in CA?

 

Good they got it out and the new one in. Those threads on the old plug look pretty rough - hopefully that happened after it was removed, perhaps when they were separating their removal tool from it.

 

Yeah looks like they had something that grabs/clamps on it.

 

They drove an extractor into the inside of it, and unscrewed it from the cylinder head.

Then they clamped the plug into a bench vise and did (UNPRINTABLE HORRORS) to remove the extractor tool from the plug shank.

 

lol, did they mention where the ceramic went? Sounds like they did a good job, exactly as hoped and expected. to them.

 

Glad it was resolved without too much trouble ($).

 

+1.
Best of luck for you in the future with the car, but HEY!!!
I've been on PINS AND NEEDLES here because you forgot to answer the MOST important question!!!



...who won the softball game?

 

First thought about the ceramic. It is pretty long even considering it is the bottom half, The length would help it from turning sideways enough to get past the electrode. Bits and pieces could get by but most if not all of the spark plugs I have broken were clean in two.

Lots of time I feel certain I can tackle a "Simple" job only to be reminded when a problem arises that I am not a mechanic. Kuckily I have a very good friend next door that IS a mechanic.

 

Just remembered an experience I had when I was about 17 with a Volkswagen. A sparkplug blew out while driving down the road. I was figuring on an expensive repair when I took it to a mechanic. I was called the next morning and told it was fixed for little to nothing. They drilled and Heli-tapped the threads. I asked if they took the head off ad he said they start the engine and drill it to keep the cuttings out of the cylinder.

 

He said they what?

 

Usually they will start the engine with that plug out and hope to eject any bits of debris out the spark plug hole. There isn't much else you can do to clean the debris out short of pulling the head. Even bits of ceramic won’t hurt much - it is brittle and will crush into small pieces.

 

That sounds, at first blush, like one of the worst ideas I've heard in a lifetime of listenin'.

Even snaking a vacuum hose in there sounds more promising.

 

The vacuum hose blocks part of the plug hole, limiting the size of a piece you can get out, in addition to the hose having to snake around to exactly contact any debris. The engine compression of about 10:1 generates a lot more “push” than a vacuum at 1 atmosphere generates “pull.”

 

Well, I would just use a magic vacuum hose that all the debris finds its own way to, same as the magic spark plug hole the debris all finds its way out of on the compression stroke (but never back into on the intake stroke).

 

Well, that’s how a lot of experienced mechanics do it. It must work for them.