spark plug broke off in Ford Taurus


  #1  
Old 08-15-04, 12:47 PM
Sauln2Paul
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spark plug broke off in Ford Taurus

I was replacing plugs and wires in my mothers '95 Ford Taurus 3.8L V6, and one of the back spark plugs (motor is sideways) broke off in the motor. I wanted to know has anyone been able to get one out without taking the heads off and if so how? I have tried to get a punch to move the bolt around but not enough room. I have to go back and see if I can get an E-Z Out(bolt extractor) into the plug and then turn it. If anyone has had any luck doing this please share with me how u did it or if anyone has any ideas, feel free to share. Thanks!
 
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Old 08-15-04, 01:53 PM
D
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How much is broken off?Is the hex head still there?
 
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Old 08-16-04, 04:12 PM
Sauln2Paul
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nope, the hex broke, that is the part that broke off. It was the original plug and it was corroded bad. That I didn't know until it broke off while turning it.
 
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Old 08-16-04, 06:09 PM
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It would take an AWFUL lot of force to break that plug below the hex but if it is truly boken that low, you have some big problems. If those threads were seized enough to break off that plug, there isn't an easy out in the world that will unthread it. At this point your looking at drills and heli-coils and I doubt you'll be able to do that in the car. All those chips will go into the cylinder. Sounds like that head is going to have to come off. Are you absolutely sure it didn't just break off the porcelon part?
 
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Old 08-17-04, 06:28 PM
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You have to take the head off the engine. Noone will weld next to the combustion chamber.

Check at an automotive machine shop to see what they think, once the head comes off. You may have to just replace it.

Then purchase one of the big bottles of anti-seize.
 
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Old 08-18-04, 08:42 AM
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a machine shop...

...should be able to handle it without any problems. no welding should be required. the machinist will drill the plug out(they aren't very hard)then drill oversize and install a thread insert which will be of higher quality than original. anti seize is always a good idea...esp in aluminum heads because of electrolysis between the steel spark plug and the aluminum head...proper torque is also critical as is proper service intervals
 
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Old 08-26-04, 04:20 AM
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And that's a known head-gasket-blower engine, so do yourself a favor and pull BOTH heads so you can replace the head gaskets while you're halfway through the job anyway.
 
 

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