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Ka Broken plug

Hi all

Fortunately not my problem but what to do if I find myself in the same situation

Friend tried to change plugs on a Ford Ka and managed to break the second one leaving the threaded part in the head.

I know that this is major and guess that it will need head off and engineering work to put right, or maybe even a new head.

My questions are:

How to remove rusted/corroded plugs without getting into this mess?

How much leverage to apply before guessing that they may be stuck in the first place?

If he had taken it to a garage for a service and they had broken it would they have been liable for the cost of the repair. (My feeling is not as they had contracted change the plugs not to remove corroded /rusted in ones) Or would they have looked first and advised him of the problem and likely cost?

Regards

Tony

Reply to
TMC
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In message , TMC writes

The best method is prevention rather than cure. This is a common problem on the Ka/Fiesta engine. On ours, I tend to smear a little copper grease on the threads and I remove and refit them every 10k miles to stop them getting seized.

I appreciate that this advice is not great if you have just bought the car and someone else has neglected it. If you thought they may be tight you could put a little Plus Gas (penetrating oil) in the plug wells and allow to soak for a couple of hours.

Till it shears and then back a quarter turn is the usual engineering method.

;)

Reply to
Paul Giverin

Usually they are long life plugs if I remember correctly, and they go thin & rusty just above the taper/thread bit so they shear clean off. When it happens at work we either use a spiral or snap on twisted tapered square bar remover and maybe oxy/acetylene. Haven't had to remove a head yet. Had a few that were towed in that had broken on the road.

-- Jon

Reply to
Jon

A mechanic warned my mum about this and said it's best to replace them after 2 years (not 3). They have a tendancy go rusty in the KA's because the wholes are deep.

Reply to
Peter

What the f*ck are you on about? They tend to get stuck in the head because numpties overtighten them and don't put any copper grease on the threads. It's a pretty well known problem with the Ka, and any mechanic worth his salt will do the job properly instead of give you some bullshit to try and sell you plugs more often.

Reply to
Doki

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