Broken spark plug

pastera

Registered User
Trying to change the plugs in my 89 SC for the first time.
Drivers side plugs came out fairly easy. Passenger side rear plug came out VERY hard and looked terrible. Who ever changed the plugs before me did not use antiseize or sis not change the front two passenger side plugs.

While trying to remove the passenger side front plug it sheared off in the head. The center plug is still in and is also seized.

Engine has 111K and did not use any oil (1/2 every 3K with a small leak at the dipstick tube). Should I just pull the heads or do the whole motor. The car is coming off the road (plates and insurance >$800/yr) to help save some money to work on it.

What are your opinions on heli-coiled plug threads?

I don't really like the idea of a heli-coiled plug so if I cant find a good way of removing the rest of the plug I will need to find a new set of heads.

Hey Wynn, need another head to cut in half? My wife would volunteer the whole car at this point - hell she'll pay you to cut it in half as long as I'm in it when you do.

Aaron
 
If you have to take head off then have a coil put in at a shop, they work well if done right. You can do it yourself too, not really to difficult.
 
You might wanna try some PB Blaster. May loosen that sheared piece enough to get it out with some visegrips after removing the head and soaking it for a bit.

Just a thought........
 
When you take your heads off send them to the shop and have them resurfaced and let them remove whats left of the plug.
 
This is just my opinion, but if you are going take off the head, I would just go a few steps forward and do at least a refresher on the engine. Or even better yet, rebuild it! What ever your wallet can handle. It would suck to take off that head and do all that work and then blow the other head gasket 1,000 miles later, or drop a rod.

You might also want to check those motor mounts. I just replaced my engine and fount that the oil pan was periodically riding on the cross member. Luckily it didn’t cause any severe damage, but I didn’t even realize that it was rubbing until we pulled the engine. I recommend the solid rubber mounts which are stronger and cheaper than the Ford fluid filled mounts.

Just my two cents worth.

Good luck,
Duane
 
I am probably going to freshen up the bottom. I have already done the mounts, radiator, BHJ damper, and underdrives. I doesn't make sense to do half a the job and just rebuild the heads.

Any body have an idea on the cost to rebuild a stock engine.
The only extra I might do is port the heads/intake myself and a good set of bolts/studs.

Aaron
 
If you have the time and can get good machine work done for a good price, It shouldn’t cost you too much. If you can do it, I feel it’s the best way to go. I just didn’t have the time.

I checked around and found that the local shops wanted 2000-2500 to just rebuild the long block. I know a guy who works at a Ford dealership and he got a rebuilt engine from Ford and changed everything out for 2800. Motor mounts, hoses, plugs… everything. Great guy, but I had a hard time convincing him not to use Ford motor mounts.
 
The car will go to the bone yard before I put $2800 into her. I hope I can do most of the work myself and just send out for the machining work.

The tranny will need to be done at the same time, so that's just more money to spend.

Aaron
 
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