I've been working on hondas for about 6 years now and i've never seen anything like this. 96-98 Civic nonvtec, im guessing 100K+ milege. My friend said he was driving the car, heard a pop and shut it off. there is a dent on the hood, the spark plug wire is destroyed and there is no sign of a sparkplug anywhere! My question is...

Is it IN the motor? or did it fly out??

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what does the dent look like and is it directly over that plug hole? considered taking the head off to look? a stick magnent might be a good choice cause it can reach in and collect any debris from the cylinder if there is any.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by davefromPA &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">what does the dent look like and is it directly over that plug hole? considered taking the head off to look? a stick magnent might be a good choice cause it can reach in and collect any debris from the cylinder if there is any.</TD></TR></TABLE>

yea the dent looks to be as if a small object (spark plug) hit it.. right over the cylinder.... Im trying to avoid taking the head off, and ill try the magnet thing.

thanks

 

did you look down the hole with a flashlight to see if there is any sparkplug left?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by davefromPA &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">did you look down the hole with a flashlight to see if there is any sparkplug left?</TD></TR></TABLE>

X2 I sure hope that it blew out clean...getting the head removed and then boring out the hole to remove residual threaded pieces sucks!

 

If it blew the plug out, more than likely the aluminum threads of the head are gone. Time to pull the head

 

im going over there again today to do some more analysis

situation 1:

Plug backed out and threads are fine. new spark plugs and wires all around : 75$

situation 2:

Plug shot out, ruining all threads, NEW head + headgasket: 250-500$

situation 3:

Plug dropped down, scarring cylinder walls and ruining bottom end: 500-1000$

 

I highly doubt number three, but if it blew that plug out you have serious problems with that engine. Something was in that cylinder on compression to blow that thing out (coolant, sucked water, etc). I'd be checkin rods if that is the case

 

I think heikdiesel is on the right track. keep us updated, I want to see what the problem was.

 

Same thing happened to me last summer. I found out that the spark plug just wasnt tight! I never found the plug, but I just checked down in the cylinder, threw a new one in and it was good to go!

 

put a flashlight down there already lol, i'm curious how this will turn out.

 

I bet someone just forgot to tighten that spark plug.

 

the thing is, is that he told me he hasnt changed those in a while! I looked in the hole w/ a light earlier, and found no remenance of anything in there... there was carbon deposits on the under side of the hood, and a sharp dent there also...

ill keep everyone posted...

 

The suspense is killing me!
How are the threads in the head?

Are they still present...Man if they are ok, your friend is one lucky guy.

 

put new spark plugs and wires on, and now the car does not even start... WTF!?!!?!?

im gonna get my compression tester at home, because we are getting spark and fuel.. wtf!

 

keep us posted.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DarkBB4 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">put new spark plugs and wires on, and now the car does not even start... WTF!?!!?!?

im gonna get my compression tester at home, because we are getting spark and fuel.. wtf!</TD></TR></TABLE>

I see this going bad places

 

Plug dropped down, scarring cylinder walls and ruining bottom end: 500-1000$

um, who's gonna pay 500-1000 for a non vtec sohc block?
i paid 1200 for my entire car.

 

that sucks

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by instrument &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Plug dropped down, scarring cylinder walls and ruining bottom end: 500-1000$

um, who's gonna pay 500-1000 for a non vtec sohc block?
i paid 1200 for my entire car.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Hey, go get an estimate for a new rebuilt bottom end from a decent shop... at the very least, they will charge you 500$


anyways, they regapped the sparkplugs and gave it gas and it started right up!!!

horraahhh


thanks guys!

 

so the threads weren't damaged? ever find the problem? maybe the spark plug screwed itself out over time and then boom? so only half the threads are gone? iunno. weird