2 Questions Related To Spark Plug Blowouts

[vipergts281]

Car has had a slight misfire for months now. Changed driver side plugs and the front two plug on the passenger side. I'm paranoid of touching any plugs on the passenger side because I've blown 3 spark plugs over the years. Anyway, misfire was still there after changing 6 of the 8 plugs.

I finally got the courage to change one of the remaining two spark plugs on the passenger side (closest one to the firewall.). It has a Heli-coil insert.

As I was tightening the new plug, it just kept spinning.

Went out for a quick drive to see what would happen. Everything seemed fine, but it was only a quick 2 minute drive.

And the misfire was gone! Not sure of the exact gap on the old plug, but it was wider than .035 I've used over the years.

But, I was out today and after about 15 minutes of driving I heard the ticking sound you hear when a plug is loose. Pulled over and tightened the plug in a parking lot (it was very loose).

So, it will need a new, bigger, insert.

QUESTIONS

1. Is it worth taking the passenger side valve cover off when installing the new insert? I know they can be installed with them in place, just wondering if it's worth my time to remove it so it's easier to do.

This one is probably the hardest plug to access on the car.

Seems pretty straight forward to take the pass. valve cover off, unlike the driver side. Just not sure if it's worth the effort??


2. How do I remove the old insert so I can replace it with the bigger one? I'd rather not wait until it blows and have that be the way I get it out.

What about sacrificing a spark plug by putting green loctite on it, screwing it in, and then letting it dry. Then removing the spark plug which [hopefully] has the insert attached.

Or, not sure if it would work, since it's loose, I should be able to stick a magnet down there and twist it out I would think. Although, not sure why it didn't come up with the plug already if it's loose.

As of now I pulled the plug again today and then used the tool that comes with the kit to smack the top of the insert...which flares out the teeth at the top of the insert. Doubt it will do anything at this point though. But worth a try.

Thank you for your time.


F**king Ford and their 4 threads. :fm: These blow outs have cost me a lot of time, money, and aggravation over the years.

 

[P49Y-CY]

did you do the repairs yourself for the other 3 spark plugs over the years?

1. I would try to repair it without going through the hassle of removing the valve cover. I don't see how it will help too much for what you are doing, even if it is for a plug way in the back.

2. I would not try to remove the old insert, I would try to drill and tap right into it. however my experience is with lock-n-stitch, not with heli-coil, so I could be wrong. (the inserts are permanently in there with lock-n-stitch)

best of luck with it

 

[vipergts281]

No, I paid someone to do them. The first one, over 10 years ago now, was done with a Time-Sert.

The other two are Heli-coil inserts (not the spring like wire).

This one blew a little over 3 years ago. So it held up until I went and messed with it when I changed the plug.

Time-Sert has a kit called the Big-Sert that's for these situations...when a hole has been repaired before and then blows again. With this, you cannot leave the old Heli-coil in there. It must be removed.

I haven't driven the car since my last post. But as I mentioned, I did smack the old insert again to see if it would help. It didn't. It just keeps turning.

I also used a magnet to try and back the old insert out. But no luck.

Can't get it out with a magnet and it won't screw out with the plug, which makes me wonder if it will even back out while driving. Maybe it's just spinning around clockwise and counter clockwise and it can't come out?

But yet I heard the ticking noise when the plug was loose. It's almost like the plug starts backing itself out but the insert doesn't.


How much was the lock-n-stich kit? Their website doesn't have prices. Although I probably can't use it since I will need a bigger hole. Going to try and rent a Big-Sert kit.

Thank you for your post.

 

[cj428mach]

Are you torquing the plugs? Hard to believe you ve lost that many plugs as its not that common.

 

[keith89]

Are you torquing the plugs? Hard to believe you ve lost that many plugs as its not that common.

sounds like the plugs may have been over torqued multiple times. I had no problems with my 4 thread heads and only upgraded them last year to 9 threads because i had the heads off to have the valve seats replaced. I always use antiseize and an inch*lb torque wrench on spark plugs.

 

[P49Y-CY]

How much was the lock-n-stich kit? Their website doesn't have prices. Although I probably can't use it since I will need a bigger hole. Going to try and rent a Big-Sert kit.

Thank you for your post.

you bet. yeah the lock-n-stitch was expensive. I think the whole thing cost me $700 or so which is pretty steep for something only rarely used. but I look at it like it was cheaper than pulling the heads or bringing it somewhere, and now I have to tool in case I ever need it for the future.

 

[vipergts281]

Are you torquing the plugs? Hard to believe you ve lost that many plugs as its not that common.

It's actually very common. So common Ford was sued over it.

I think it's a heating issue (along with the 4 threads). I've NEVER had any problems on my driver side or the front one on the passenger side.

sounds like the plugs may have been over torqued multiple times. I had no problems with my 4 thread heads and only upgraded them last year to 9 threads because i had the heads off to have the valve seats replaced. I always use antiseize and an inch*lb torque wrench on spark plugs.

If it were a torque problem then you would think the drivers side would go as well.

you bet. yeah the lock-n-stitch was expensive. I think the whole thing cost me $700 or so which is pretty steep for something only rarely used. but I look at it like it was cheaper than pulling the heads or bringing it somewhere, and now I have to tool in case I ever need it for the future.

Geez! And I thought the Time-Sert was a lot at $350.

 

[vipergts281]

.

 

[cj428mach]

It's actually very common. So common Ford was sued over it.

I think it's a heating issue (along with the 4 threads). I've NEVER had any problems on my driver side or the front one on the passenger side.

The Pass side head cools better than the drivers side thats why there is a need for the head cooling mod. I think you'll find 99% don't have this issue and I've read way more about head tick than I have lost spark plugs. I don't believe hotcobra03 has lost any and he's 375k+ miles on his car although I know does have an 05 head on the drivers side but thats because of lost valve seats.

I've owned 2, 03's with no spark plug thread issues. I really feel this is an issue of overtightening or lack of antiseize. I will say that for insurance that when replacing my drivers side ticking head, I swapped the pass side with an 04, 9 thread head just to be safe.

 

[vipergts281]

Just a quick update, I ended up installing 2 Time-Serts on the passenger side.

Both had Heli-Coils save a threads. That one spark finally blew while I was driving. I didn't care since I was a minute from home and was getting ready to pull it the next day to do the time-sert.

Installing time-serts was really easy. I could probably do one in 30 minutes now. Hardest part is getting over the fact that you're drilling into your engine.

Misfire is gone. Car is running normal...finally.

 

[P49Y-CY]

that's great, congrats!

 

[vipergts281]

Thank you!

 

[bigwave]

New to the 03 cobra world, I just changed plugs on an 03 cobra we just bought, it has the 3rd gen heads on it, from what I've read it has the heat and valve guide issue addressed but still has the 4 thread plug holes. I did put high heat anti-seize on them and torqued to 11-ft-lb as specified, read somewhere. Being a jeep guy and working on them all the time, it's not easy to leave a plug at 11-ft-lb and feel it's tight enough, but, I did. And now hoping I didn't over do it at 11. The car has 38k miles on it and still had the factory 13 year old plugs in it. They came out pretty easy and all tightened up just fine. I'm now wondering if I should pop the covers and check them all now that it's been a few hundred miles ago.

 

[Rich'sTRsvt]

There is no 4 thread head that addressed the heat and valve guide issue. The only head that addressed it was the 05' head that had 9 threads and didn't come from the factory on any of our cars, so the only way to have those is if someone put them on or the head tick was fixed under warranty after 05'. There are threads on here with the casting numbers to verify what heads your car does have. If you plan on modding your car much make sure to do the head cooling mod, it isn't a guarantee, but it is better then nothing.

 

[bigwave]

Funny how this is working out, been looking at one of these cars for a long time and read nothing but how "tough" they are and you can do anything to them, now, that I have one sitting in the garage I realize I did not do my due diligence, beginning to think they are more show than go. The more I read and deeper I dig, I'm thinking they are no tougher or better built than anything else out there. Again, my fault and not complaining, just not as impressed as I thought I would be. As for "thinking" we may not have the issue, I'm just going by the production number on the heads according to this guys page. According to his info by gen 3 they had addressed the "tick" and cooling issue. But, what do I know, just going by what I read somewhere else. Probably 100% wrong. http://www.terminator-cobra.com/introduction.htm
Again, not wanting to argue about this, just repeating what I read somewhere else. Probably get this dude all tuned up, running and looking nice and put it up for sale.

 

[vipergts281]

They are tough in the fact that you can add a bunch of power on the stock engine.

Besides the spark plug issues, I have had ZERO problems with the engine and I am coming up on 195,000 miles.

It's been pullied for 135,000 of those miles.

 

[cj428mach]

Funny how this is working out, been looking at one of these cars for a long time and read nothing but how "tough" they are and you can do anything to them, now, that I have one sitting in the garage I realize I did not do my due diligence, beginning to think they are more show than go. The more I read and deeper I dig, I'm thinking they are no tougher or better built than anything else out there. Again, my fault and not complaining, just not as impressed as I thought I would be. As for "thinking" we may not have the issue, I'm just going by the production number on the heads according to this guys page. According to his info by gen 3 they had addressed the "tick" and cooling issue. But, what do I know, just going by what I read somewhere else. Probably 100% wrong. http://www.terminator-cobra.com/introduction.htm
Again, not wanting to argue about this, just repeating what I read somewhere else. Probably get this dude all tuned up, running and looking nice and put it up for sale.

Don't let the door hit you on the rear.