Ford KA Snapped Spark Plug :(

They do that :-( Worst case is head off & helicoil, but if you're carefull you can weld a bit of tube onto the old plug & the heat from that will let it come out easily.

Thanks for the quick reply.

How much is that likely to cost roughly?

According to the handbook, spark plug's only need replacing every

37.5k miles. The car has full service history and has only done 55k miles, the plugs that came out were NGK ones so I'm assuming they are not the original ones so it may actually not have needed any yet. Surely they need replacing much more often if they corrode up so badly,

Rob

It depends how long it takes to get it out, Mr Cheerfull's probably got the most experience, but eat & wriggling with the stud extractor may save you a trip to the garage.

Well they need undoing & redoing up again far more often than that.

it is usual to remove them every year to keep them happy, and always put them back in with coppaslip. Removing broken ends is often done just with a torx bit hammered in. The need for head removal is not very often (maybe 1 in 10) Tapered extractors are best avoided since they spread the bit in the head.

& the hammering tends to help :-)

When heating the plug be careful you dont warp the head or cook any gaskets

First read this.

Particularly this bit which you will by now realise the logic of plus the bits on the use of force and heat.

"If the bolt snapped while being removed because it was rusted into its thread then an Easy-Out is unlikely to work. Let's face it, if the full strength of the top half of the bolt wasn't enough to remove the threaded bit then a smaller tool fitted into a little pilot hole isn't going to help either. Chances are you'll break the Easy-Out inside the bolt and end up in an even worse mess. The way out here is to mill the bolt out carefully and retap the threads in the component or to helicoil the component back to its original size if the threads are too damaged to be used."

If you have access to a lathe or anyone who has one then make up a little steel drift with a shouldered end with a pilot which just fits inside the remains of the plug to keep it centred and a shoulder which bears on the top part of the threaded bit but doesn't foul the head. Now give the remains of the plug a few good whacks. Give it some heat with a camping gaz burner and a bit more whacking. Now try the Easy-Out again gently.

If no luck then the splined type removal tools which you smack into place work much better than the tapered threaded type which as has already been mentioned tend to expand the thing they are trying to remove and just end up locking them in tighter.

The last resort is drilling, tapping and possibly helicoiling.

thanks for all the reply's. I'm going to ring the local garage first thing in the morning and see what they can do.

I will let you know what happens.

Rob

If it's any consolation, a Ford garage did that to our Focus. Thankfully it was being done under warranty (leaky washer jets filling engine channel between cam shafts causing plug tops to sit in water). Took a good few days - I think they got the Plug Doctor out to do it, after removing the head.

Been meaning to remove my plugs every so often to stop it happening again but haven't got round to it - not looking forward to next service ;)

D

After towing the car to a local garage they managed to get the remains of the plug out using an Easyout. They must have applied more force than I did but at the time I felt that the tool was close to snapping as I had a 2 foot bar on the socket applying a lot of force.

Anyway it only cost me =A350 for an hours labour and the car is back and running fine. I was worried I was going to have to pay to have the head removed.

The mechanic said he had recovered parts of the broken plug from inside the cylinder which was another worry. If some were left in there how soon would it become apparent?

Thanks

Rob

pretty quickly

[...]

Did you ask him how?

Chances are, he was just covering himself in case there were.

If you drove it home with no mishap, it should be fine.

Chris

Easiest way is a tin of spray grease & extension tube, spray round the outside, raise piston, all the crap comes out.

Without removing the head?

Chris

Yup, you wind thw piston down slightly, spray a good gloop round the cylinder wall & as you bring the piston up again all the crap comes out with the grease. Obviously it works better if you put the grease in 1st, but the broken sparkplug normally stops you doing that.

So now you've got a ring of grease at the top of the bore, with bits of broken plug stuck to it, and access is only through the 10mm spark plug hole. How do you remove the mess?

I can't see how you are in any better a position than if you just cranked it over with the plug out, and the coil unplugged.

Chris

As you wind the piston up the grease is forced out through the sparkplug hole, & brings all the crap with it.

No, still can't see how this works.

Surely the answer is 'decent vacuum cleaner'.

But then at TDC the combustion chamber would still be full of grease and crap!

Chris