Spark plug broke or melted into cylinder?!

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WhiteVibe09
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed May 05, 2021 7:37 pm

Spark plug broke or melted into cylinder?!

Post by WhiteVibe09 »

Driving home one night in Vibe (‘09 1.8L Base 176,xxx) lost a ton of power driving on interstate. Thank god I was pretty close to mechanics shop so made it there, dropped keys and called next day. Week later mechanic said one of the spark plugs either melted or broke off in the cylinder!!! Not mechanically inclined, btw, but I’ve NEVER heard of this. I replaced the plugs myself at around 120-30,xxx miles (and of course I could be at fault but if I did something wrong installing the plugs would I have made it another 50,xxx wo any problems?)
Anyway, mechanic said he would put a scope down there to see what kind of damage there was. STILL has not and it’s been about a month now, but whatever. In the meantime I went in to ask for that plug bc I thought maybe they’re still under warranty so maybe it’s help me out. He produced one (wasn’t sure his guy kept it at first) and it did have the end missing but was not the same brand (Bosch) I installed. (So maybe bs-ing me or just honest mistake? Doesn’t matter, I guess, that mystery can be solved my just pulling out one of the other plugs.)
So sorry for the long story. Just wanted to see if anyone here had any suggestions, info, shoulder to cry on lol. I’m kinda really disappointed. I’ve taken pretty good care of the car and I thought the Toyota engine would last forever! And installing those spark plugs was the most “invasive” thing I’ve done to the car mechanically. So again, could just be my fault but I just can’t see the car driving that far if I messed something up. And I did not change the gap in the plugs, I remember reading specifically not to.

Thanks again for any input.
Caretaker

Re: Spark plug broke or melted into cylinder?!

Post by Caretaker »

You did the right thing not gapping the spark plugs. Nonetheless, if you did not use a torque wrench when installing the plugs, you do run the risk of them not only breaking, but actually torpedoing out of the engine. I do my own as well and (foolishly) do it the old school way by feel and giving it a good solid turn against the crush washer. I don't like the part of your story about the "mechanic" not producing the same manufacturer that you installed nor the fact that it took a week for him to diagnose. How many broken plugs does this guy see in a day? If you can't drive it even a few miles to another mechanic nearby, you're kinda stuck. Even so, as long as the threads were not compromised, I'm thinking it might be a simple repair for any reputable mechanic. Good luck.
jolt
Posts: 945
Joined: Sun Mar 02, 2014 2:07 am
Location: Twin Cities, Minnesota

Re: Spark plug broke or melted into cylinder?!

Post by jolt »

Caretaker, if that mechanic works on Ford 5.4L pickup, he sees a lot of broken spark plugs. :)

I have never seen a spark plug fall into a cylinder. I have seen spark plugs blow out of a cylinder head. Either the threads let go and blow the spark plug out; this is caused by the spark plug not being torqued properly when installed and can happen over time from the engine heat cycling. I have seen the center porcelain blow out of spark plugs and this is a manufacturing defect. There are rumors of a lot of counterfeit or gray market spark plugs being sold at Amazon.

If the plug did go into the cylinder, that would be a very bad thing but not very likely to happen. The spark plug can get beat up if something else got into the cylinder, beat around in there, and took the spark plug out with it.
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joatmon
Posts: 10018
Joined: Fri Mar 21, 2003 5:19 am
Location: SMC MD

Re: Spark plug broke or melted into cylinder?!

Post by joatmon »

WhiteVibe09 wrote: Wed May 19, 2021 1:17 pm ...
Anyway, mechanic said he would put a scope down there to see what kind of damage there was. STILL has not and it’s been about a month now,
...
I'd find another shop if the first one blew me off for a month. That's a long time to be without the car.
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