Blew a spark plug out of the block!

Had this happen to my '89 Toy PU when I had just started a 400 mile road trip to get back home. Plus I had an exhaust leak, oh man it was so loud and horrible :) heli coiled it and got another 80k out of it before I sold it. I vacuumed out what I could, then barely turned the motor over in the hopes of discharging any shavings that may have remained. Worked great lol
 
psraff said:
Old thread, I know but it turns out I blew out a spark plug. I'm pretty sure the threads are gone in the head as well. Does anyone know which TimeSert kit I would need to repair? It claims "Over the Fender", but cutting any threads into a cylinder seems not a wise choice. Will be ordering a new coil and plugs as well. Does a new boot come with a coil, or is that a separate purchase?

I don't have time for this shit right now... I leave for the Slope in three days and I'll be gone for several weeks. I hope my kid won't need my 4Runner for any reason (She does have a good Jeep, so I'm not that worried about it). I'm just stressed and depressed like never before...

Maybe I'll look for a mechanic that does house calls (good luck with that....).

Please help...

+ TIME-SERT® SPARK PLUG THREAD REPAIR KITS + spark plug stripped thread repair kits for spark plug problems, thread stripped spark plug repairs in damaged threads in spark plug hole stripped out approved thread repair, aluminum head spark plug repair
Click to expand...
dip the drill bit and tap into grease. it will catch the shavings.
the tiny shavings that remain will just get burned up.
 
Here's an idea of what I did on a V6 Grand Caravan.

I worked from about 3 am to 5 pm and had a 40 minute commute, 7 days a week, but the parts shop was right next to my work. I decided to change the plugs while the van was cool at work because it should be pretty simple. Well, someone had previously cross threaded the center rear plug. The one that is under the manifold.

Off I walked through waist high grass for three day... minutes to the shop, grabbed a heliocoil kit and went back to the van. I don't remember how long it took to do, but I was home in time to eat a late dinner.
 
Don't know about a timesert but my mechanic did the helicoil at 207k, that was 70,000 miles ago and all is still well.


I asked him what caused this - he said poor metalurgy - had seen it happen a few times before to the toyo 3.0 and 3.4s. Hope that helps. :cowboy:
 
All good info. Thanks everyone. I just ordered the Time-Sert kit off Amazon. It's pricy, but after talking with several mechanics today they all agreed this was the better set of the two. I should have all the parts waiting for me after I return from work in several weeks.
 
I really hate to bring up a dead thread, but after your guys spark plug shot out. Were you still able to start your engine off of the 5 cylinders? Trying to figure out if therea something more wrong with mine.

Sent from my SM-N976V using Tapatalk
 
K20vids said:
I really hate to bring up a dead thread, but after your guys spark plug shot out. Were you still able to start your engine off of the 5 cylinders? Trying to figure out if therea something more wrong with mine.

This happened to me and I drove it back home 7 miles at 45 mph. Sounded like a tractor but thats the way it had to be. Used a new helicoil and torqued it down, ran good til i sold it then who knows.
Click to expand...
 
same, i drove about 15 miles on 4 cylinders(pass side coil melted killing the driver side cylinder as well)
Spent the money for a timesert kit because i've seen a few cases of the helicoils letting go and i just rebuilt this motor.
 
I would recommend against driving or atleast disconnect the injector.Cause there will be a lot of unused fuel getting dumped into that cylinder and fuel vapors in the engine bay. AAA membership is fairly affordable and let's you tow'as soon as you signup.
 
spartacus said:
I would recommend against driving or atleast disconnect the injector.Cause there will be a lot of unused fuel getting dumped into that cylinder and fuel vapors in the engine bay.
Click to expand...

very true, i did disconnect the injector on mine but it was easily accessible being the front pass cylinder
 
Thanks for the input everybody, I'll be helicoiling with red lock right. Is our spark plug thread M14x1.0 or M14x1.25? I see both kits for sale and I wasn't sure which one I needed.

Sent from my SM-N976V using Tapatalk
 
k20vids said:
thanks for the input everybody, i'll be helicoiling with red lock right. Is our spark plug thread m14x1.0 or m14x1.25? I see both kits for sale and i wasn't sure which one i needed.

Sent from my sm-n976v using tapatalk
Click to expand...

1.25
 
So this just happened on my 99 SR5 with 182k miles and the shop says the threads are too damaged to retap? Is that a thing or should it be able to be repaired somehow? I havent seen it yet but can take pictures tonight..
They basically told me I need to replace the head or engine as a whole
 
vagrant318 said:
So this just happened on my 99 SR5 with 182k miles and the shop says the threads are too damaged to retap? Is that a thing or should it be able to be repaired somehow? I havent seen it yet but can take pictures tonight..
They basically told me I need to replace the head or engine as a whole
Click to expand...
There won't be enough to retap, but there should be enough to use a timesert though. They may not want to do it and therefore saying they can't. If they can't/won't try a timesert it might be worth getting a second opinion.
 
vagrant318 said:
So this just happened on my 99 SR5 with 182k miles and the shop says the threads are too damaged to retap? Is that a thing or should it be able to be repaired somehow? I havent seen it yet but can take pictures tonight..
They basically told me I need to replace the head or engine as a whole
Click to expand...

Use this video to learn how to fix it with a helicoil. I've heard time serts are better but the helicoil I installed in my wife's BMW has held for a pretty long time now.

The one thing I wish I did is figured out a way to hook a small hose to a shop vac and vacuum out all the metal shavings from the cylinder after drilling and tapping the hole for the helicoil. If you Macgyver a small hose to a shop vac, maybe by duct taping into into the shop vac hose, you'll be able to suction all the metal bits off the top of the piston. Good luck!

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9o40FoJjHlY" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
Last edited:
Bad Luck said:
There won't be enough to retap, but there should be enough to use a timesert though. They may not want to do it and therefore saying they can't. If they can't/won't try a timesert it might be worth getting a second opinion.
Click to expand...

The second shop I called said they believed if the shop its at now couldnt do it they didnt think they would, so wouldnt even try.

Im hesitant to try to fix it myself, I can wrench but just not good with drilling and retapping, usually end up off center.
Has anyone tried using the triple oversize inserts for fords? I havent gotten exact measurement but the hole is bigger than a 5/8" tap. I dont want to give up on fixing it yet but the body is rusting badly so its not worth fixing if the head needs to be pulled.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

Total: 387 (members: 3, guests: 384)

Forum statistics

Threads
278,306
Messages
3,554,045
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Share this page

Trending content

Back
Top