HELP! might have a broken off spark plug

[bronc72]

I have a little problem with my 94 ranger 4.0. Its got just under 140k on her. I was changin the plugs and started on the last plug on the drivers side head and it had about 1/8'' layer of rust and other goodstuff. After chiseling it away i sprayed it with pb blaster and started to try to break it loose but it wont budge. I gotta gut feeling its gonna snap off inside and i need some input on what i should do if it were to break off or if anybody has any tips on how to get it loose. Thanks

 

[30coupe]

Soak it with PB again, go in the house, have a beer, go to bed, get up, go to work, come home, and try it again tomorrow night. The longer you let the PB work, the better. We usually get impatient and try to wrench too soon (well, I do anyway). If you can leave it for several hours, it might just break loose. Do the 94's have aluminum heads? If so, you are more likely to strip out the threads than break the plug. If you do that, you'll have to go to the parts store and get a thread kit...not much fun, but it's about your only choice.

Good luck!

 

[skareb]

am going through the same thing right now, mine are rusted in there pretty good but I have not attempted to do them yet. I think am going to wait till the weekend and let the pb soak over night before I attempt them. I guess the previous owner didn't like to do the basics on my truck.

 

[bigbadford91]

if you have torches, heat the sparkplug until red then dump cold water on it. the thermal shock will break the rust hold on the sparkplug. thats how an old timer showed me how to do them on plow trucks. heat the plug not the head. and it should come out like butter.

 

[Donnie strickland]

if you have torches, heat the sparkplug until red then dump cold water on it. the thermal shock will break the rust hold on the sparkplug. thats how an old timer showed me how to do them on plow trucks. heat the plug not the head. and it should come out like butter.

That's too risky: I've seen a head crack that way. It's impossible to heat the plug and not the head. No matter how careful you are, you will heat the head to some degree.

PB Blaster and time are your friends here.

 

[Muddycowboy]

get the block nice and hot by just driving it and that will help loosen the plugs work for me once on a 71 chevy that had the same plugs for about 10yrs or so. came right out.

 

[Bird]

In addition to the PB Blaster, when faced with the same thing, I always try to tighten them a little - usually will break the rust/corrosion loose and allow me to get them right out. Once I get them just started on the way out, I'll stop and spray a little more PB to help things along.

I see this a lot on other's vehicles that haven't had maintenance for a long time.

Bird

 

[brendank]

get the block nice and hot by just driving it and that will help loosen the plugs work for me once on a 71 chevy that had the same plugs for about 10yrs or so. came right out.

That's the way it's done.

Drive the truck around for 15 mins and the plug will get as hot as it needs to be to aid in removal. No need to get stupid ideas like trying to use a torch.

Engine heat also works quite well for stubborn exhaust bolts.

 

[bigbadford91]

That's the way it's done.

Drive the truck around for 15 mins and the plug will get as hot as it needs to be to aid in removal. No need to get stupid ideas like trying to use a torch.

Engine heat also works quite well for stubborn exhaust bolts.

i guess you never changed plugs in a truck that lived its life as a plow truck in salt everyday. heating the spark plug where you put the socket on will put some heat in the head but not enough to crack it. pb blaster does not work. the sparkplug forms a compression tight seal so how is pb blaster going to work if it can't get down to the threads? driving the truck around till it gets hot isn't going to work either. when hot the sparkplug expands in the head so its going to be just as hard to get out if its cold, the only difference is you won't burn your hands when its cold. i work for a city service department and when plow trucks come in for service we heat the sparkplug, then dump cold water on it and it comes out without breaking. try without heating and see what happens because i know, they will break off.

 

[fireguy12117]

this is exactly how i ended up with a motor bolted to an engine stand. i broke two plugs off in the drivers side head. on the first, the actual spark plug body itself had rusted so bad that i broke the hexoganal portion where the socket goes from the rest of the body threaded into the head. the other one just broke in half. i soaked them for about a week with PB, and kroil. ultimatly i had to pull the head (then wound up pulling the motor) and bust the porceline part through and use a square style easyout to break the threaded portion free.

all i can say is patience and elbow grease. ive usually found the tightening method to be the best at breaking rusty things free, and then soaking the bejeezuz out of things once the nut or whatever is moving. i supposed you could break out the plug center while its still in the head (if it does break), if anyone had a good way to clean out the cylinder once you push broken bits into there, but those square style easyouts made the rusty plug a joke to get out.

oh yeah, a 3/8's breaker bar has become my new best friend for rusty bolts under the hood. i manage to get such a better, solid, controlled level of torque on something with a breaker bar than a ratchet.

 

[bigbadford91]

square easy outs are the way go they don't expand what your trying to remove

 

[brendank]

i guess you never changed plugs in a truck that lived its life as a plow truck in salt everyday. heating the spark plug where you put the socket on will put some heat in the head but not enough to crack it. pb blaster does not work. the sparkplug forms a compression tight seal so how is pb blaster going to work if it can't get down to the threads? driving the truck around till it gets hot isn't going to work either. when hot the sparkplug expands in the head so its going to be just as hard to get out if its cold, the only difference is you won't burn your hands when its cold. i work for a city service department and when plow trucks come in for service we heat the sparkplug, then dump cold water on it and it comes out without breaking. try without heating and see what happens because i know, they will break off.

The heat from running the motor helps to break the plug free, even though both the plug and the head are the same temperature. Despite what many people believe, it doesn't need to be red hot to be effective. You also don't always need more heat around the bolt than on the bolt itself.

Pouring water on an engine component that you just heated with a torch is a bad idea whether you get it hot enough to crack it or not. Period. Do you know anything about metallurgy and the affects of heat and cold water quenching?

 

[86ford]

someone has to throw the stupid redneck anwser out there! just leave the plug in there. your motor will puke before that plug gets so bad it wont fire. its not worth the headache.

86

 

[bronc72]

yea i got the plug out in one peice, almost busted my knuckles up when it broke free but thanks for all the advice

 

[almostclueless]

i guess you never changed plugs in a truck that lived its life as a plow truck in salt everyday. heating the spark plug where you put the socket on will put some heat in the head but not enough to crack it. pb blaster does not work. the sparkplug forms a compression tight seal so how is pb blaster going to work if it can't get down to the threads? driving the truck around till it gets hot isn't going to work either. when hot the sparkplug expands in the head so its going to be just as hard to get out if its cold, the only difference is you won't burn your hands when its cold. i work for a city service department and when plow trucks come in for service we heat the sparkplug, then dump cold water on it and it comes out without breaking. try without heating and see what happens because i know, they will break off.

It's called capillary action. PB Blaster will wick it's way down any threads you're gonna find on a vehicle....and yes, PB Blaster kicks ass.


The real solution here is to change the plugs more often than once per presidential administration.