I bought my 98 LS a little over a year ago, never broke down, currently has 163k miles. I started having overheating issues so I changed the thermostat, water pump and timing belt. After that it was still overheating so I changed the radiator cap, it helped but still had to put antifreeze in once a week. Finally realized a few days ago I need a new radiator because this one is leaking pretty bad.

During the water pump/timing belt install I changed all the gaskets with cheap ones that I got from Ebay, biggest mistake ever, ended up with oil in my spark plugs that I just put on. Cleaned them out, let them dry, everything was fine. Then once in awhile when I would start my car it struggled for a few seconds than began idling normal.

During this time the CEL would go on and off did the paper clip jump and got a code for o2 sensor.

This is over the course of the year, I have a 70 mile commute everyday and never had any problems getting to and from work. The CEL was off for about 3 months then finally it came on again the other day, so yesterday I decided to stop at a garage quick to get the results. It threw a bunch of codes, the o2 sensor, A/T shift solenoid "B", Misfire on cylinder 1, 2, 4. I got the o2 sensor changed while I was there, as I am leaving I got a few miles and I here bang, bang, bang, quick turned off the car and popped the hood.

The spark plug wire was off, so I put it back on and start it back up and this time the spark plug shot out. It looked pretty beat so I went and got new ones, put the new one on and it wasn't getting real tight, I kept trying to start it and nothing, then finally the last time I started it BOOOM, the loudest thing I have ever heard, after about 15sec we hear the spark plug hit a car, looking around everywhere finally my Dad checked the roof of his car and there was a 1/4" hole on the roof from the spark plug hitting it.

The outcome is the spark plug is stripped and my car sits 2 blocks from my house.

So the big question is, given the problems with the car, should I fix it or let it go, I don't know how hard it is to re-thread with a kit and I don't know how the car will run after the spark plug popped out like that. It has 163k miles.

CLIFF NOTES: Spark plug thread is stripped and there are a few other problems with the car, so do I fix it? How hard is it to re-thread with a kit?

 

I have a little experience with re threading and can tell its not hard. Definately wouldnt rid of the car over that/plus other problems...

 

deff dont give up on your teg youll regret it

 

IDK about threading but the plug is in the head, and you could maybe get an LS head for cheap.

 

Man thats freakin crazy, i never heard of a spark plug shooting out like that I think this is a be issue here. Also you need to be careful not to get any metal shavings into the cylinder when you rethread. Never did this so don't have any advice for you.

 

I am worried about any damage from the spark plug popping out besides the threading, I dont want to spend money and waste time if it gets done and it still doesnt run right.

 

Would a Heli-Coil work? If so, what size?