OK, you talked me into having work done on my old truck by somebody
else. They couldnt figger out the problem with it "missing" so I told
em to replace the plugs. Aluminum head right, you are s'posed to put
penetrating oil down into the plug well for a while before trying,
they didnt, STRIPPED ONE OUT the fu*&^%ng morons. They told me they
were waiting for an "insert" to put in it (goes from smaller threads
to bigger ones). I thought there was something wrong with this so I
used their calipers to measure the stripped hole and the plug.
Stripped hole is .063, plug is .055, hmm. By the time I got home I
remembered "Helicoils" although I have never used em.
Today, I went to NAPA and a cute girl told me all about them so I went
back to the shop and asked em why they didnt use them and they told me
they had no experience with em. I told them that if they couldnt get
it done by this afternoon to tow it to my place and I would fix it.

On Oct 4, 8:54 am, Frogwatch wrote:
OK, you talked me into having work done on my old truck by somebody
else. They couldnt figger out the problem with it "missing" so I told
em to replace the plugs. Aluminum head right, you are s'posed to put
penetrating oil down into the plug well for a while before trying,
they didnt, STRIPPED ONE OUT the fu*&^%ng morons. They told me they
were waiting for an "insert" to put in it (goes from smaller threads
to bigger ones). I thought there was something wrong with this so I
used their calipers to measure the stripped hole and the plug.
Stripped hole is .063, plug is .055, hmm. By the time I got home I
remembered "Helicoils" although I have never used em.
Today, I went to NAPA and a cute girl told me all about them so I went
back to the shop and asked em why they didnt use them and they told me
they had no experience with em. I told them that if they couldnt get
it done by this afternoon to tow it to my place and I would fix it.

Helicoils are great, replaced many Detroit stripped out head bolts
with them many times. However I'd make them buy a new head.

Problem is they will need to tap the stripped plug hole, and ya know
they are going to get metal shaving into the cylinder, so they need to
pull the head anyway and that's all the labor cost anyway.

Just my 2 cents...

Joe

"Frogwatch" wrote in message
ups.com...
OK, you talked me into having work done on my old truck by somebody
else. They couldnt figger out the problem with it "missing" so I told
em to replace the plugs. Aluminum head right, you are s'posed to put
penetrating oil down into the plug well for a while before trying,
they didnt, STRIPPED ONE OUT the fu*&^%ng morons. They told me they
were waiting for an "insert" to put in it (goes from smaller threads
to bigger ones). I thought there was something wrong with this so I
used their calipers to measure the stripped hole and the plug.
Stripped hole is .063, plug is .055, hmm. By the time I got home I
remembered "Helicoils" although I have never used em.
Today, I went to NAPA and a cute girl told me all about them so I went
back to the shop and asked em why they didnt use them and they told me
they had no experience with em. I told them that if they couldnt get
it done by this afternoon to tow it to my place and I would fix it.


Actually you are the idiot. You are supposed to put anti siezing grease on
the plugs when you put them in. The idiots at the shop probably tried to
remove the plugs with the engine hot. Penetrating oil will not get down
completely into the spark plug threads.

http://www.2carpros.com/topics/sparkpl.htm

" Install a small amount of anti seize lubricant on the spark plug mounting
threads and reinstall."

"Question: 1996 Pontiac Sunbird mileage: 132,000. I changed the spark plugs
at 55.000 miles and had difficulty removing the old plugs. I think carbon
built up on the internal threads that exposed to the cylinder made removal
difficult. On one plug the threads in the aluminum head were somewhat
damaged but I was able to install the new plug. The car is running rough and
I expect the plugs are the problem but I am afraid of making things worse so
I am looking for advice before attempting to change the plugs. Should I
change the plugs? Are there some tricks to prevent thread damage?

Answer: Always remove the spark plugs from an aluminum head when the
engine is cold. Try backing the spark plug with the damaged threads out a
quarter a turn and then spray a light penetrating oil on the threads. There
are repair kits available for damaged spark plug threads. "



Usually threads are damaged by putting the plug in incorrectly. If the plug
was put in correctly, how could the threads be damaged upon taking the plug
out?



http://www.popularmechanics.com/how_...e/1272191.html

"If you're reinstalling the old plugs, put a very small dab of antiseize on
the threads near the tip. New plugs have a coating that will lubricate the
threads on the way in and prevent the plug from seizing on their next
removal, but it's only good for one stab. "

"Start with a warm engine. Clean the plug hole recesses with compressed air,
crack all the plugs loose one-quarter turn, and let the engine cool.
Removing plugs from a hot cylinder head can damage the threads."



It was probably missing because who ever installed the "stripped" plug
messed it up in the first place.

"Joe" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Oct 4, 8:54 am, Frogwatch wrote:
OK, you talked me into having work done on my old truck by somebody
else. They couldnt figger out the problem with it "missing" so I told
em to replace the plugs. Aluminum head right, you are s'posed to put
penetrating oil down into the plug well for a while before trying,
they didnt, STRIPPED ONE OUT the fu*&^%ng morons. They told me they
were waiting for an "insert" to put in it (goes from smaller threads
to bigger ones). I thought there was something wrong with this so I
used their calipers to measure the stripped hole and the plug.
Stripped hole is .063, plug is .055, hmm. By the time I got home I
remembered "Helicoils" although I have never used em.
Today, I went to NAPA and a cute girl told me all about them so I went
back to the shop and asked em why they didnt use them and they told me
they had no experience with em. I told them that if they couldnt get
it done by this afternoon to tow it to my place and I would fix it.

Helicoils are great, replaced many Detroit stripped out head bolts
with them many times. However I'd make them buy a new head.

Problem is they will need to tap the stripped plug hole, and ya know
they are going to get metal shaving into the cylinder, so they need to
pull the head anyway and that's all the labor cost anyway.

Just my 2 cents...

Joe



There's a way to do this without pulling the head. Taps have slots in them,
so you can put grease in the slots. Tap, then pull the tap out periodically
to clean the old grease and replace with new grease. That'll get _most_ of
the shavings. Then, before you insert the new plug, start the engine *very
briefly* without the new plug in the hole. This will blow out the remaining
bits. You don't need to have the engine turn over for more than a few
seconds. I did this on a 62 Buick at 60K miles when I did my first tune-up
and stripped a plug on the way out. The car ran perfectly to over 150K
miles. It finally "died" for other unrelated reasons.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

On Oct 4, 12:07 pm, "Capt. JG" wrote:
"Joe" wrote in message

oups.com...





On Oct 4, 8:54 am, Frogwatch wrote:
OK, you talked me into having work done on my old truck by somebody
else. They couldnt figger out the problem with it "missing" so I told
em to replace the plugs. Aluminum head right, you are s'posed to put
penetrating oil down into the plug well for a while before trying,
they didnt, STRIPPED ONE OUT the fu*&^%ng morons. They told me they
were waiting for an "insert" to put in it (goes from smaller threads
to bigger ones). I thought there was something wrong with this so I
used their calipers to measure the stripped hole and the plug.
Stripped hole is .063, plug is .055, hmm. By the time I got home I
remembered "Helicoils" although I have never used em.
Today, I went to NAPA and a cute girl told me all about them so I went
back to the shop and asked em why they didnt use them and they told me
they had no experience with em. I told them that if they couldnt get
it done by this afternoon to tow it to my place and I would fix it.

Helicoils are great, replaced many Detroit stripped out head bolts
with them many times. However I'd make them buy a new head.

Problem is they will need to tap the stripped plug hole, and ya know
they are going to get metal shaving into the cylinder, so they need to
pull the head anyway and that's all the labor cost anyway.

Just my 2 cents...

Joe

There's a way to do this without pulling the head. Taps have slots in them,
so you can put grease in the slots. Tap, then pull the tap out periodically
to clean the old grease and replace with new grease. That'll get _most_ of
the shavings. Then, before you insert the new plug, start the engine *very
briefly* without the new plug in the hole. This will blow out the remaining
bits.


Or more than likely it will trap them in the rings and score the
cylinders.




You don't need to have the engine turn over for more than a few
seconds. I did this on a 62 Buick at 60K miles when I did my first tune-up
and stripped a plug on the way out.

How do you strip a plug on the way out? Did the dis-similar metals
fuse and rip out the treads or did you turn it the wrong way? ;0)


The car ran perfectly to over 150K

Low compression in one cylinder is hard to notice.

Joe

miles. It finally "died" for other unrelated reasons.

--
"j" ganz - Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

"Joe" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Oct 4, 12:07 pm, "Capt. JG" wrote:
"Joe" wrote in message

oups.com...





On Oct 4, 8:54 am, Frogwatch wrote:
OK, you talked me into having work done on my old truck by somebody
else. They couldnt figger out the problem with it "missing" so I told
em to replace the plugs. Aluminum head right, you are s'posed to put
penetrating oil down into the plug well for a while before trying,
they didnt, STRIPPED ONE OUT the fu*&^%ng morons. They told me they
were waiting for an "insert" to put in it (goes from smaller threads
to bigger ones). I thought there was something wrong with this so I
used their calipers to measure the stripped hole and the plug.
Stripped hole is .063, plug is .055, hmm. By the time I got home I
remembered "Helicoils" although I have never used em.
Today, I went to NAPA and a cute girl told me all about them so I went
back to the shop and asked em why they didnt use them and they told me
they had no experience with em. I told them that if they couldnt get
it done by this afternoon to tow it to my place and I would fix it.

Helicoils are great, replaced many Detroit stripped out head bolts
with them many times. However I'd make them buy a new head.

Problem is they will need to tap the stripped plug hole, and ya know
they are going to get metal shaving into the cylinder, so they need to
pull the head anyway and that's all the labor cost anyway.

Just my 2 cents...

Joe

There's a way to do this without pulling the head. Taps have slots in
them,
so you can put grease in the slots. Tap, then pull the tap out
periodically
to clean the old grease and replace with new grease. That'll get _most_
of
the shavings. Then, before you insert the new plug, start the engine
*very
briefly* without the new plug in the hole. This will blow out the
remaining
bits.


Or more than likely it will trap them in the rings and score the
cylinders.

Not more likely, but there's always a possibility.

You don't need to have the engine turn over for more than a few
seconds. I did this on a 62 Buick at 60K miles when I did my first
tune-up
and stripped a plug on the way out.


How do you strip a plug on the way out? Did the dis-similar metals
fuse and rip out the treads or did you turn it the wrong way? ;0)

It was probably stripped before I tried. I said, this was the first tune up.

The car ran perfectly to over 150K

Low compression in one cylinder is hard to notice.

Ever hear of a compression test?


--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

wrote in message
...
On Thu, 4 Oct 2007 11:06:09 -0700, "Capt. JG"
wrote:



Ever hear of a compression test?


Is that anything like the Electric Koolaid Acid test?





Yeah, you have to be able to read.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

On Thu, 04 Oct 2007 06:54:47 -0700, Frogwatch
wrote this crap:

OK, you talked me into having work done on my old truck by somebody
else. They couldnt figger out the problem with it "missing" so I told
em to replace the plugs. Aluminum head right, you are s'posed to put
penetrating oil down into the plug well for a while before trying,
they didnt, STRIPPED ONE OUT the fu*&^%ng morons. They told me they
were waiting for an "insert" to put in it (goes from smaller threads
to bigger ones). I thought there was something wrong with this so I
used their calipers to measure the stripped hole and the plug.
Stripped hole is .063, plug is .055, hmm. By the time I got home I
remembered "Helicoils" although I have never used em.
Today, I went to NAPA and a cute girl told me all about them so I went
back to the shop and asked em why they didnt use them and they told me
they had no experience with em. I told them that if they couldnt get
it done by this afternoon to tow it to my place and I would fix it.


I never change the plugs in my diesel.




I'm Horvath and I approve of this post.

Joe wrote:


Or more than likely it will trap them in the rings and score the
cylinders.

Hmm, steel cylinder, steel rings (maybe even Chrome), soft aluminum shaving,
uh-uh, don't think so.

Cheers
Marty

On Oct 4, 7:12 pm, Martin B
{remove{}and_everything_in_bet ween} wrote:
Joe wrote:

Or more than likely it will trap them in the rings and score the
cylinders.

Hmm, steel cylinder, steel rings (maybe even Chrome), soft aluminum shaving,
uh-uh, don't think so.

Cheers
Marty

Truck has 310,000 miles. This engine has 105,000. This afternoon,
they did tap it using the grease trick and then vacuumed the
cylinder. If I get 23,000 miles more, I'll be happy.