crossthreaded and striped out spark plug

[lilredhondacivic]

hello i have a 91 honda civic and i replaced all my spark plugs but one one of the is cross threaded and i kept truning it and i think it is striped out at the bottom so i need help on what to do and how to get it out of their

[Slick13]

try using a pair of pliers on the top of it and SLOWLY twisting and pulling at the same time. If possible get a helper to pull gently on the spark plug and then you twist it. Good luck.

[towdad28]

hey the best way to sovle your problem aqnd not to spend alot is to replace the head

[Doug Rodrigues]

Another thing to consider is do you want to spend all that money to replace the head? If the engine is very high-time and about to be rebuilt anyway, but you just want to get it running for a while longer, you can do this:

Turn the engine over by hand (wrench on the crankshaft pully) until the piston is at it upper most limit with the exhaust valve open. How do you know if it's open, stick a vacuum cleaner nozzle over the hole. You'll have airflow and either hear air flowing from the intake system or the exhaust manifold. *Have someone listening at the tail pipe. Now you can either tap the hole out for a Heli-Coil insert, OR a spark plug hole repair insert. Me...I'd go with the Heli-Coils. Depending on the length of your spark plug threads, you may have to install two Heli-Coils. Just remember that with the Heli-Coils, they can only go in, not back out. If you go too far in, the only thing to do is to use needle nose pliers and try to pull it back out in one long bent spring. If you have to use 1 1/2 Heli-Coils, trim the second Heli-Coil prior to installing it. Know exactly what you are to do before doing it. If you use the spark plug hole repair insert, always use Permanent Lock-tite so that it doesn't come loose again. Before the Heli-Coil or spark plug repair insert is installed and while the hole is large, again stick the vacuum cleaner nozzle over the hole and suck out any shavings. If you want, you can stick a smaller clear plastic tube into the hole to better suck-up any shavings with the vacuum. With the clear tube (purchased cheap at any hardware store) you can see if any shavings are being sucked-up.

If this sounds like a strange repair...well, it's just something I picked-up during years of working on engines without any repair facilities available. It does work. The Heli-Coil technique is also used on airplane engine spark plug holes too, and that's an FAA approved repair!

**Oh...and ALWAYS use anti-sieze compound on the spark plug threads. Also, there is less of a chance of thread damage if the plugs are changed with the engine COLD. Probability is that you didn't cross thread putting the spark plug in. You probably over torqued the spark plug and the threads in the head gaulled (stuck) to the threads on the spark plug. When you went to remove the spark plug, the threads in the head broke-loose. Did you have any metal stuck tightly to the threads in the spark plug? That would confirm it. Don't overtighten your spark plugs, better to use a torque wrench next time. The average torque for spark plugs is no more than 25 foot pounds. Check the manual.