4g64 sucked #3 plug into cylinder - HELP

OK time for the pros to answer this one.

What would cause a spark plug to be sucked into the combustion chamber.

My #3 is unreachable with a plug socket.

How did I find out? Oh, severe vibrations on the interstate when I lost cylinder #3. Then the wire boot had shot off. And then there's the photographic evidence:

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x...s/DSC03471.jpg


So what do I do now? And, how the hell did it happen"? I spent 4 hours searching this issue online and only managed to find ONE relevant topic, involving a 2002 RSX, and even then only a piece of the electrode fell into the chamber.

Has anyone heard of this before? And how do I fix it?

thanks

steve

Did you not use the correct spark plug? Only way I see that hapenning is if you used a spark plug that didnt have the correct thread size/pitch.

More then likely you have a damaged set of valves, possible damage to the head, and piston and/or cylinder wall damage on that cylinder. Were you able to pull the plug out? Youd be lucky not to have stripped threads for the spark plug in the head too.

If you get the plug out, do a compression test, if thats ok, throw another plug in it and pray lolz. Good luck man!

That's more than just the threads on the spark plug that got damaged, somehow the hex part of the spark plug that is larger in diameter than the threads got worn down as well. The threads on the head are probably trashed. Remember, the head is only aluminum. You can Heli-Coil the threads if you want, but like Seth said, there's going to be internal damage to that cylinder from the pieces of the spark plug that got broken off on the piston stroke. I can't remember how the intake strokes of cylinders overlap on an inline-4, but I know I've had broken material sucked into other cylinders before on my V6.

i would pull the head off, check for damage, and possibly have the hole rethreaded. ive never seen that happen.

I did not install these plugs, they were in here since I got the car a year ago.

Can't get the plug out. You can see in the pic the seal is clean in a perfect circle where the socket was spinning around, not grabbing anything.

Compare that image with an image of the #2 plug, which is fine:

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x...s/DSC03473.jpg

the bad plug is way shorter so it's either shrinking magically, or it magically got sucked INTO the chamber, somehow defeating the threads AND the wider hex nut too?? I am at a loss......

It will be cheaper to just buy another head and go that route.

Don't bother buying a new head unless you're sure the cylinder is OK as well. Might as well just drop in a whole new engine then.

I am still at a loss of words on how your spark plug was able to be "sucked" through? I can't see how the hex got so grounded down that it was almost the same diameter as the threaded head of the spark plug?

Either or I see that you are going to need a new cylinder head. The head is aluminum and if the threads are stripped I wouldn't even try to reuse it. Helicoiling is a idea...but head goes is exposed to alot of heat, vibration, and high cylinder pressure.

Like what others have stated though...you are most likely better off dropping a healthier motor in. I honestly think the one you got right now is a goner.

Have you tried to used a extemely longed nose plier or a magnetic tool grabber to try to get the spark plug out?

I am also at an extreme loss as to how the spark plug hole got big enough for the entire plug to go through. Could there have already been a heli coil in there that blew out? That would be my best guess.
Sadly, I think pulling the head is the best idea, because there will likely be piston / cylinder damage from the plug bouncing around in there.
-Jeremy

I thought about it some more and this is just strange. Usually when spark plug threads get stripped, the plug blows OUT! I'm with Jeremy, looks like it was Heli-Coiled before or something. Maybe the plug got stuck as well and somebody stripped the hex trying to get it out.

Hey Jeremy whats up! Didn't know you were on TGC too.
We talked on HRCS several times. This was the 7g I was gonna swap a 4g63 motor into, but of course, I sold that motor, I could use it now!!!!

I'm trying to sell the whole car, start over with something else. This is above and beyond me. (Unless I buy another motor....arrrrgh...could be cheaper than a new car....hmmm)

You're definitely going to have a hard time selling the car without knowing the actual damage. If you're going to be honest about it, you might as well tell them the whole engine is shot (swapping a junkyard engine in is by far the cheapest option here). :?

the picture in your first post looks to me like your spark plug wire boot has seperated into two pieces.

compare the plugwire boot you pulled out from that cylinder to the other cylinders,

and you will notice that it is missing a little rubber donut(looking) thing.

this happens a lot unfortunatly, but its not difficult to get it out.


you can try a grabber if you'd like.

or you can simply put your entire body weight onto your ratchet as you try to turn. this should get the plug loose to where you can completely remove the plug. once its freed from the threads, you can pull it out with a telescoping magnet.


in closing. your engine is fine.
buy new plugwires,
and if the reason the boot seperated, was that there was oil in the spark plug tube.....
then you need to install a new valve cover gasket set. :D

actually. i DO see oil in those tubes. get some new plugwires, plugs(while you are at it) and a valve cover gasket.

wouldn't be a bad time to do the cap and rotor.

Holy crap, John you're absolutely right. I don't know why, but the end of that plug boot looked suspiciously metallic to me. In all honesty, the OP didn't give us nearly enough information. Such as: did the engine actually act like it was kicking the bucket before this occurred? Had I realized it is actually running fine, I would have never suspected otherwise :lol:

Great call John. I was too busy concentrating on the plug itself that I didn't even notice the surrounds of it. Since you stated it was a seperated boot and I looked at the pic again and I now clearly see it..but if it was a picture more focused away it would of been more clear.

If its a seperated spark plug wire boot, then you are safe. A good pair of long nose pliers should be able to pull the seperated boot and from there you should be able to get to the spark plug with hopefully no issues.

DOHCstunr....John, right???

Holy Friggin crap, dude. YOU SAVED MY G!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!

I read your post this evening, and told myself, no way. Can't be that simple. The wires were new, I watched the last owner open the package and put them on! That was almost a year ago. A year ago come late March.

So I go outside. I open the hood. Look at the wires. They're fine! nothing missing. But you post made sense, because I could feel a rubbery squishyness in there with the plug puller socket.

Then it dawned on me. It's not THESE wires that left part of the boot in there, it was the OLD wires!!!!!!

I couldn't get the boot out, don't have needles skinny enough (need to get them medical ones....)

So I cut the boot off the #3 wire, just the rubber tip (which is already stuffed in the plug tube anyway) and guess what?? the fu**er fit right in!!!!

Son of a bi**ch!!!

All this time......I have owned this car, for 11 months.....it was like this.
The spark in cylinder 3 must have been arcing quite a distance between the width of TWO plug boots in order for it to fire!!!!

You want to talk about a power boost??? How about the ability to burn 2nd and squeak 3rd, completely by accident??? Feels like a new motor.

Un freaking believable. I almost sold my g today, had three responses from CL.

TGC rocks. THANK YOU JOHN and everyone else in this thread. awesome. where do I donate.

-steve

PS perfect stance on that G, looks sick. And, I want your spoiler. lol j/k

Yeah looking at it again, thats definitely the issue, it didnt get sucked into the combustion chamber. But since there is oil in the spark plug well, thats the reason the boot seperated(may it be from the old or new wires), so change the spark plug well gaskets, clean out the oil, replace the plug, get a set of good wires, and go drive some :)

whats up with the oil in there anyway.

I put a new valve cover gasket in there 2 months ago, with the plug tube gaskets.

also, how the hell do I torque the valve cover bolts to 36 in-lbs (yes INCH pounds) my tq wrench only goes to 10 ft lbs the lowest....

I did them hand tight with a socket wrench and then gave another 90 degree past that.

:-?

Get another torque wrench? Personally, I have 3 for this very reason.

Thats all you need for the valve cover bolts. I usually do hand tight then quarter to half turn past that.

For the spark plug well gaskets, if thye are not sealing, remove them, clean off any oil on the valve cover and the spark plug wells, give it a thin coat of gasket maker or blue rtv then apply the seals, reassemble and let it cure for a few hours.

strange -

the original reason I found this problem was because of a horrid shaking in my front end, I mean, HORRIBLE shaking - and the f'd up thing is, I popped the hood, saw the #3 wire popped off the plug, pushed it back down and all was fine.

Well thanks to DOHCstunr the spark plug issue has been resolved....but after a day of driving today, the shaking problem continues!!!!!!!!!!

For background, I just changed the driver side hub bearing assembly 2 weeks ago.

I examined everything and nothing looks out of the ordinary.

The way the problem shows up is, after about ten minutes of driving, the shake comes. It is violent, and is accompanied by all sorts of noises, like banging metal on metal when you step on the gas. It is definitely not motor related, doing 40mph I shut the ignition off and the violence persists. It gets stranger.

All of a sudden and for no reason, all the shaking, vibrating, banging, rotational noise stopped altogether. Completely normal. WTF???

From this evidence, it would appear that something that normally spins, must be getting hot (because it usually takes 10-15 minutes of driving until it starts).

But why would all the symptoms STOP?
When the vibration is there it feels like both lower ball joints broke, and the knuckle is banging off the control arms and tie rod. But then it all stops. The noise, the vibration....and upon examination, all the parts are tight and in good shape.

like I said, WTF?

This only happened after i changed the hub assy. Which concludes that I must have done something wrong.

Have you tried to lift the front end of the car and try tugging on some of the suspension and drivetrain parts to see if there is excessive play?

How is the transmission shifting prior to all the violent shaking and banging?

k

its the lower control arm ball joint, the lateral arm not the compression arm

I checked it out, and you can lift the hub/rotor assy up off the lower ball joint, then when you release, it makes a squishy, wet saggy sound as the assy slops down onto a worn out joint with a blown out boot. If I move it up and down in a rapid way it sounds like you got a foot stuck in the mud and cant get out lmfao

only question I have is, (never did a control arm)
"Once I remove the bolt connecting the lower lateral control arm to the suspension damper fork, won't the shock force the damper fork down violently? Do I need to support the damper fork with a jack stand or something?"

thanks

steve

Not if you have it raised in the air.

If its up the air no, you should be fine. You will need some assistance though when reinstalling the lower control arm.

by assistance you mean, using a floorjack to push up the balljoint end of the new control arm? I know there's a second jack used in this somewhere....

Yes...either a extra floor jack or another person to push up when you installing the new lower arm.

k thanks

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DOHCstunr

the picture in your first post looks to me like your spark plug wire boot has seperated into two pieces.

compare the plugwire boot you pulled out from that cylinder to the other cylinders,

and you will notice that it is missing a little rubber donut(looking) thing.

this happens a lot unfortunatly, but its not difficult to get it out.


you can try a grabber if you'd like.

or you can simply put your entire body weight onto your ratchet as you try to turn. this should get the plug loose to where you can completely remove the plug. once its freed from the threads, you can pull it out with a telescoping magnet.


in closing. your engine is fine.
buy new plugwires,
and if the reason the boot seperated, was that there was oil in the spark plug tube.....
then you need to install a new valve cover gasket set. :D

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+ 1 seen that happen alot