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Re: Should I have to pay for this?

I took my 99 Sunfire in to get my oil changed, my tire pressure

> adjusted and my coolant flushed & refilled. After the coolant was > refilled, one of my spark plugs shot out of the car and exploded.

Spark plugs can not explode.

I think it did this becuase the mechanic didn?t have my car running when > he drained the coolant

If he had drained to coolant with the engine running, you'd have much bigger problems than you have now.

and after he refilled it and started the engine > to circulate it, an air bubble caused the explosion.

Nope. Nothing there that could generate enough pressure to cause this supposed explosion.

I am now being charged extra for new spark plugs > (because they claim they can?t replace only one) > and new wires.

It's your car, you put the miles on it. If I'm wrong, why then did you request the oil change, coolant flush and tire pressure check? Odds are that your spark plugs are worn out and the wires need attention also.

The explosion actually stripped the > inside of where you screw the spark plug in so I am also being charged > for a Healy Spring Kit to try and get the spark plug to stay secure.

You have it backwards. The stripped threads allowed the plug to be ejected. Since there is no reason for them to go anywhere near the spark plugs for the other services, it is your responsibility to pay for the additional needed services and parts.

If that doesn?t work, the whole engine head has to be replaces. Either > way, I don?t think I should have to pay for anything besides the cost > of what I originally brought the car in for.

And by the same token, the repair shop shouldn't have to pay to repair a condition that obviously existed before you brought the vehicle to them. IOWs, they'd be totally justified in pushing it out the door and leaving you to your own devices WRT what to do next.

The exploding spark plug > wouldn?t have happened had I not brought the car there in the first > place.

Hogwash. You have no way of knowing that. By your logic, it wouldn't have happened if the sun hadn't come up that morning in the first place.

Is it justified if I tell them that I will not pay for anything > besides the oil change, coolant flush and tire check?

No, not in the least. depending on state law, they would then be completely justified in holding the vehicle until the debt for repairs was satisfied, and you wouldn't have a leg to stand on in court. You should be thankful that it chose to happen where it did, there is no better place for a breakdown to happen than while it's at the repair shop. Luck saved you having to pay for a tow truck.

Reply to
aarcuda69062
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Bottom line....for me anyway......

Driven a few dozen cars a few hundred thousand miles.........Never have I seen a spark plug blow out of the head.......I would suspect something fishy.....nothing he was supposed to do had anything to do with the plugs...but plugs don't come out of the head without help.....did it happen in the shop or after you went to get it and drove away? Suspect "in the shop" because you're asking about payment. You been playing with the plugs?Lletting your kids play with the plugs? No? Then I suspect something fishy.

Go get the thing, get a insert kit, put it back together and stay away from that particular shop

And everybody else, altogether now "oh, please, you gotta be kiddin......."

Reply to
beblount

Oh, by the way, fixing it yourself means getting your hands dirty......head may have to come off, etc etc

Good training for ya

Reply to
beblount

So what!? Just because "you" haven't seen it, means it must be fishy. So you've driven a few dozen cars...I and others on here have probably "worked" on "thousands and thousands" of cars....and this is not nearly as uncommon as you might think. The problem usually starts long before the plug blows out of the head.....someone crossthreads the plug at some point. It all goes downhill from there.

Ian

Reply to
shiden_kai

Ford has been having problems with blowing spark plugs out of heads for a few years now. It takes the threads and everything. Its a lot more common than you think with these 100,000 mile spark plugs.

Reply to
Dennis Smith

Someone cross threads the plug? Thus the question about whether or not the guy or his children have been pulling plugs. A properly inserted and tightened plug don't just "blow out of a head". Somebody had to have screwed up at some point before it happens. Don't know who somebody is, but I've worked on a few too and if this is the first thing that's been done under the hood of this car in a few thousand miles, I'd be taking my business to somebody else next time.... something don't sound right

. It all goes downhill from there.

Obviously

Reply to
beblount

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