I have a 95 civic ex coupe 1.6 and last night a sparkplug came lose and shot into the hood. After looking sparkplug the last 2 threads were stripped, even had another plug lose...damn. Anyways....i guess, i needed another hit off the bong last month when i changed the plugs! [sm=chairshot.gif]
Whats the best way to fix this? i think my head might have the top thread stripped...the last thread on the plug was stripped so....

mad stoner!

cj

 

there is a thread reamer that is to be used whenever someone rebuilds an engine.
it is mentioned in the haynes.
i did not use it - and doubt that many do.
is to be used on the head threads so that there is an accurate reading of the torque.
i would find one for the spark plug and carefully see if you can ream that out.
use the same size as the threads.

 

The same thing happened to me. I did a tune-up after I bought my 97 EX Sedan last year. A couple of weeks after the tune-up I was driving home at night and suddenly I hear a LOUD knocking. The knocking got faster as I drove faster and slower as I slowed down. I turned the car off and started it again. LOUD knocking.

I opened the hodd and a spark plug had come out. It was banging against the hood. Put a noticeable dent in the hood.

And I don't even hit the Bong!

 

torque the spark plugs next time

 

tighten down by hand and then turn another 1/4 turn...........thats all i do and never have a problem

 

some nice advice...torque the spark plugs next time....tighten down by hand and then turn another 1/4 turn...funny guys!

i got another sparkplug to thread it! Works great...really thought i was taking off the head to fix it.

thx for your time

cj


[sm=happybounce.gif]

 

YO CJ,,,, that/s the way you tighten spark plugs man,,final impact gave you the correct information
you DO NOT need to torque them down, big waste of time,,
I have tighten them down with a rachet by hand or air rachet and gone another 1/4 to 1/2 turn for the past 25 years and never had an problem, and trust me i have tightned thousands of spark plugs in all those years ,,

 

I've used a Heli-coil kit in the past for such cases. They make a kit specifically designed for spark plugs & consists of a reamer/tap that will enlargen the hole & cut threads in one procedure. Metal chips are trapped by packing the flutes with grease, making head removal unnessecary. After installing the Heli-coil use a long pair of needle nose pliers to remove the install tab on the coil. Be sure & remember to clean the tap every couple of turns. Another way to avoid chips collecting into the combustion chamber is to rotate the engine until the intake valve is open & the exhaust is closed. Then pressurize the cylinder with your air hose just until you feel a strong stream of air coming out the spark plug hole. You wont need the whole 100 psi. Then as you tap the chips will actually fly out of the hole, it's pretty cool.
xmctech