Being one of those DIY'ers, I decided to tackle the spark plugs on for 05 F150 - 5.4L. Ive completed 4 of the plugs and of course they all broke. The question I have, is while pushing the ceramic piece into the broken metal portion of the plug (so I could tap it and pull it out), the ceramic pushed through the terminal cover (the part that covers the electrode). The ceramic didn't break but the metal portion did and I think (don't know for sure) that a small piece went into the engine. I would guess at biggest it would be about 1mm thick and 1-2mm in length and width. I couldn't tell for sure because the ceramic pushing through stretched the metal and broke it. Will this ruin my engine and is there anything I can do to get it out. I plan to get a magnetic arm to stick in there and see if I can find it that way. Would a simple oil change remove it? I don't know much about the inner workings of an engine, where the oil comes in and goes out, etc to know if this would get washed through and then stuck in the filter or if I'd be able to flush it by running the truck for 5 minutes and doing an oil change. Any thoughts would be great. I don't want my attempt to save 500 bucks turn into costing me 3000 for a new engine.
05 F150 spark plugs, piece of spark p broke
- Thread starter Mario17
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Try the magnet, or a small hose and a vacuum. The bottom line is you need to remove that debris from the cylinder.
sounds like a strong vaccum will be your best bet.
In the event a small vacuum cannot pull everything which can be verified by a borescope, the head comes off.
They actually make a tool just to remove plugs for this engine so the plugs don't break and cost you thousands in repairs.
http://www.amazon.com/Lisle-LIS65600-Broken-Remover-Engines/dp/B00267PZUK
http://www.amazon.com/Lisle-LIS65600-Broken-Remover-Engines/dp/B00267PZUK
Nothing went into the engine the ground strap breaks. If you want you can start the engine before replacing the plug to pump air out of the cylinder.
That's the tool I have and used. It said there was no guessing as to how far to crank the tool down because the terminal cover would stop the ceramic and the tool was designed not to push it too far. Unfortunately, the tool pushed it about .5cm too far and bust the terminal cover right off.
I'd do as 229 suggested. Fire it up w/o that plug in the hole.
Originally Posted By: Chris142
I'd do as 229 suggested. Fire it up w/o that plug in the hole.
I'd turn the crank manually and force the piston to TDC, rather than running the motor.
I'd do as 229 suggested. Fire it up w/o that plug in the hole.
I'd turn the crank manually and force the piston to TDC, rather than running the motor.
Running it will blow anything in the cyl out of the spark plug hole. Turning it over by hand wont do anything.
Running it will risk severe damage if anything interferes with valves or piston motion. When the valves open the debris is more likely to go out that way than the plug hole.
Extreme caution is way better
Extreme caution is way better
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Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Running it will risk severe damage if anything interferes with valves or piston motion. When the valves open the debris is more likely to go out that way than the plug hole.
Extreme caution is way better
Agreed. Shop vac and a tube that goes inside the cylinder time.
Running it will risk severe damage if anything interferes with valves or piston motion. When the valves open the debris is more likely to go out that way than the plug hole.
Extreme caution is way better
Agreed. Shop vac and a tube that goes inside the cylinder time.
What is a 'terminal cover' that covers the electrode??
The u-shaped ground strap is what I was calling the terminal cover. The ceramic portion was pushed and it appeared that both sides of the "u" was broken and possibly a piece was broken off. The electrode came out with most of the ceramic and the upper portion of the plug. I tried the magnet, but found that portion of the plug is not magnetic. Then I hooked up a hose to my shop vac and sucked out what I could. Finally, I fired up the engine with the plug out hoping it would kick out anything that was in there. Thanks to everyone for your thoughts, and I won't hold you accountable when my engine blows up! I never actually saw the piece that may have broken off and I was never able to located it in my shop vac. At this point I am driving on a prayer that nothing came off or if it did it passed through the system and is gone. When I started the first time, everything sounded great, and the truck is running better than ever. Only time will tell. I've put about 200 miles on it since I completed the job with no issues. Wish me luck and thanks for the suggestions. I learned a lot and after 8 broken plugs and 14 hours of work, I have a confidence in doing some of the more involved mechanical jobs.
You'll be fine.
First off, I hope you used the Champion plugs for this application. Right now they are the only one out there with a one piece plug. No breaking when you remove them. If you have to do this job again, and have the two piece Motorcraft plug either on your truck or someone else's, run the truck to operating temp and do one bank of plugs. Start it back up, let it warm up again and repeat. They seem to come out easier.
First off, I hope you used the Champion plugs for this application. Right now they are the only one out there with a one piece plug. No breaking when you remove them. If you have to do this job again, and have the two piece Motorcraft plug either on your truck or someone else's, run the truck to operating temp and do one bank of plugs. Start it back up, let it warm up again and repeat. They seem to come out easier.
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