Spark plug thread gone.

[Alexis]

well my buddys ford took a dump on him. It seems who ever did the first tune up didn't do it right. One of the spark plugs stripped the threads.......how can this be fixed.

[dwaite72lnghrn]

I think most auto stores have a repair kit for it, like Heli-coil.

[Alexis]

do it your self or get a shop?

it's a 99 crown vic 4.6L. The plugs actually go into a slot, so you need a extension to get the sparkplug lose and a magnet to pull it up. Seems alot of items have to come off the motor to get the job done right. We got a buddy who has a connection but won;t know till monday if it's a go or not. I rather have the info at hand if he doesn't pull through.

[dwaite72lnghrn]

I had a safari van that had a plug thread break off in it, I sent it to a shop and the cost was $750 they had to pull the head to drill it out. I don't really like working on the new engines because you spend 3 times more effort just getting to the real problem and then you have to put all the hoses wires and plastic covers back on.

[RON WOODGEARD]

It takes a pretty good sized tap, and you need to drill and tap it to put the Heli-coil in it.. But you will save a lot of money if you guys remove the head and take it to a machine shop.. Let them do the machine work then reassemble yourselves.

Also remember if you want to do it, Don't do it on the engine, you'll get metal shavings into the cylinder..

This is so common, I'm surprised some Sparkplug company doesn't make a slightly oversized self tapping sparkplug ????

[Dick Dale]

Ron, sounds like an idea for a money making invetion

[cableguy0]

if people would pay attention and not use an air ratchet to start spark plugs in the whole this really wouldnt be a problem. not trying to sound like a jerk but i have seen so many heads ruined with all 4 spark plug holes destroyed cuz some jerk was trying to save time and use air tools or just flat out cross threaded the plugs

[RON WOODGEARD]

Originally Posted by cableguy0

if people would pay attention and not use an air ratchet to start spark plugs in the whole this really wouldnt be a problem. not trying to sound like a jerk but i have seen so many heads ruined with all 4 spark plug holes destroyed cuz some jerk was trying to save time and use air tools or just flat out cross threaded the plugs

CableGuy,

You are right !! But that doesn't fix his friends delima now.

I like to help remedy the situation instead of Chastize the person who did it...I think there has already been a lesson learned...

[cableguy0]

oh i know ron i didnt mean to sound like i was putting his friend down.chances are the head should be pulled and taken to a machine shop and drilled and helicoiled

[Alexis]

I don't use air tools on any motor, so don't get that idea. He just bought the car about 3 months ago. The problem started when a spark plug was thought to be loose after a rescent tune up, they didn't touch the plugs. We took out the coil pack and found out it was loose. When I pulled it out I found the threads of the block around the threads of the spark plug. When we got a new spark plug it did not match the one we pulled out. We check other spark plug and they all were the same......someone ****ed up when the tuned the car up. Ron I was actually thinking the same thing, i got a nieghbor down the street who runs a machine shop.

After we found out the plugs were not the same we changed all the spark plugs. Well I did......We will see tomorrow.

thank for all the input guys. Cable guy I understand your stance.

[68LSS1]

With the repair kits you just use the tap and install the Helicoil or Sav-a-Thread. No drilling required. There are special thread chasing type tools for spark plugs holes from specialty tool makers. They are not cheap, like $68.00 for the KD brand. There used to be a kit that you could get by thread pitch and came with 4 different reach inserts. The tap had a hex for a socket. You then picked what reach insert you needed, screwed that on the plug then installed them together. Put the piston close to TDC and put a oil soaked paper towel to catch and chips, remove it and blow it out with some air. Pulling that head will be a pain. I want to put a set of the newer PI heads on my '97 Mustang but I'm dreading the dual overhead cam thing. Probably won't be too bad once I get into it but I'll just wait until I blow this engine up.
Also when using aluminum heads, never remove the plugs from a warm/hot engine. Let it cool completely before removing them and use some anti seize when you go back in with the new plugs.