Clairvoyant

Anyone have this problem with a civic before? I decided to change my spark plugs tonight. I've had the car for a few months, and didn't know how old the current spark plugs were. When I got one out I saw they were well used. I got 3 of them out and changed fine. However, the spark plug for #3 cylinder, when I partially started turning it out, I would say about 1/4 of the way, it jammed. Can't tighten, can't loosen. I don't want to go real hard on it with fear of breaking it. I when up to Canadian Tire with it, they wouldn't do anything, they suggested another shop on the other side of the city. So anyways, I picked up some lubricant (similar to WD30) and sprayed that in around in it. It's too dark now to do any more with it tonight, so I'll see in the morning if the lubricant helped any. The engine block will be cool then too. What are your suggestions for solving this problem? With the spark plug just out a bit, will it harm the engine any driving it that way if I can't get it fixed right tomorrow? Any suggestions are helpful. I'm panicing now! I don't want to ruin the threads and be out hundreds of dollars.


Modified by Clairvoyant at 5:01 PM 9/8/2006

Clairvoyant

Help please!

Pooby88

If it doesn't come out tommorow, you could try some PB (Penetrating Blaster). You can find it at almost any auto parts store or Wal-Mart. It is in a yellow and white can. I've had good luck with it.

If it still won't budge, before you force it, be prepared for the worst. If it is cross threaded, it may strip the threads on the way out. Be prepared to fix it BEFORE you force it out.

B18bEG6ick

i know what you mean about the whole stripping thing. i had to do my friends 88 crx and had the original plugs from it (180k miles on it) and i was scared to take out a couple of them cause they were really hard to take out.
the thing i did was spray PB Blaster and let it set for a couple of minutes (the car was warmed up so everything expanded). key things are if its hard to loosen, tighten it a little to break it loose from build up/rust, and vise versa. just take it slow when you do this (work it back and forth if you have too) cause it can save you from stripping the threads. hope this works for you, good luck.

Clairvoyant

I got that damned spark plug out. I got some high performance penetrating spray that I used on it, and also warmed the engine up. I kept going back and forth on it, and eventually it came free. The bad side of it though, is that the threads in the head were damaged. When I put the new spark plug in, it started going in hard after a bit. So anyways, it's jammed in there. This one probably won't come out too easily next time either. I should probably get those threads re-done at some point. The engine runs fine though, and that's all I care about right at the moment. One last question though, that spark plug that I put in, didn't go in quite all the way, it's in there most of the way though, it might be up just an 1/8" or two. Does this affect the engine any? Will it still run fine in the long term?

Clairvoyant

Anyone???? Does spark plug depth matter a lot?

thehatchninja

man, you should have rethreaded it before you jammed another spark plug in there, that was stupid.

alotawatts

Sounds like you have enough problems without insults. Depth matters as far as the combustion chamber. If it's not tight you are loosing compression. Too long (wrong size/length) of plug is really bad. Any decent shop should be able to tap-chase the threads for you.

Clairvoyant

How nice of you "thehatchninja". That's very helpful. I'll just ignore what you said. "alotawatts" thanks for your reply. I think it's tight in there, with good compression, and the plugs definintely aren't too long, they're the correct size. Everything seems fine with how the engine is running now, so I'll leave it like it is, and when I get some time, I'll get that plug out again and get a shop to re-thread that hole. As things are right now, I can't be without a car for any length of time, so that's why I did things like this. I don't see there being any problem. Some of the threads near the bottom of the whole are messed up, that's all. It's not like it's going to somehow get better. Post helpful information "thehatchninja" stop being an ***.

Also, another quick question. I have seen re-thread kits you can get for spark plug holes. How good are these? And is it easy to do? Will it get any debris in the cylinder chamber?

thehatchninja

sorry for being an ***.

The rethread kits are fine. Use some lubricant as you re-cut the threads. (there shouldn't need to be too much cutting involved, just cleaning up the threads really). If it gets any debris in the cylinder it will blow out without causing any damage. Use anti-sieze compound when you reinstall the spark plug also

Clairvoyant

I'll have to try that when I get some time. Is it also ok to try and vacuum any debris out once I re-thread it? I think I could stick the hose over the hole that the spark plug goes down into. Might help suck out some debris. Will there be any harm in doing that?

thehatchninja

if you have an air gun you can spray it out as you're cutting. You can try to vacuum it out, but there won't be any suction, unless you have a really small vacuum contraption.

There shouldn't be too much debris.