Dirt fell into spark plug hole.

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Today I was cleaning some things up on my truck, after I was done I changed the spark plugs. Well on the VG30I, dirt seems to accumulate in the spark plug tubes. Alot fell into one of the cylinders, along with a piece of plastic that was wedged in there. I tried to blow it out, but nothing came out.

Apon startup, I could hear the knocking for about 5 seconds, and then it went away.

Did the dirt and plastic washer blow out the exhaust? Im thinking the cylinder walls are toast.
 
Maybe do a "cheap" dino oil change as a flush,then change it again to the oil of your choice. Man I bet that was scary! But I`m sure your engine`s fine.
 
To late to worry about it now, If it seems to be running ok just drive it and see what happens.
 
When I remove the spark plug wires I use shopvac to vacuum any debris around the spark plug before remove the spark plug itself.
 
Yeah, for future reference- it's a good idea to use an air nozzle and blow away any crud around a spark plug before removing it.

But at this point, if it's running ok... chalk it up to experience.
 
if it was plastic it should not have hurt the cylinder. i would worry about it getting caught in the valve. I suspect it melted pretty quick and flew right out in the exhaust manifold and burned. probably no damage.
 
The crud is in the catalytic converter. It may burn off, but I think the plastic will melt, the dirt will not all go through, and there will be some minor blockage.
Some may be on the valve seat - it can impede seating and bend them as they try to seat under spring pressure with debris on there.
If it melted on and then cooled, it would be worse.
Nothing you can easily do, except maybe get her good and hot with high rev WOT .
 
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My crown vic has very deep plug holes, and when I changed the plugs a couple of days ago I used canned air duster to blow the holes out before removing the plugs. It worked very well.
 
First, don't worry about it. When a tech replaces thousands of plugs a year, the law of averages eventually catch up. In the shop, all the techs who do tuneups have had similar things happen, and no casualties. Your cylinder walls are fine.

Lesson learned, always blow out the plug wells with compressed air before you pull out the plug.
 
Originally Posted By: punisher
First, don't worry about it. When a tech replaces thousands of plugs a year, the law of averages eventually catch up. In the shop, all the techs who do tuneups have had similar things happen, and no casualties. Your cylinder walls are fine.

Lesson learned, always blow out the plug wells with compressed air before you pull out the plug.


+1 I blow them out with the compressor. If I'm helping a friend who doesn't have a compressor I use the canned stuff they blow dust off computer keyboards with.
 
Happens all the time on COP Ford V8's. No worries
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Had a friend install some el cheapo spark plugs in his Caravan, which started running very rough (dead miss) only a few months later. I pulled the plugs to see what he fouled up and found one with the electrode and ceramic totally missing! The engine ate it! Ran a compression check to find it only had about 30 psi, hence the miss. Put a fresh set of plugs and wires on it and let him roll.
 
In a flat rate shop this will happen. Those cars run for a long time albeit possibly a little extra wear.
It's done now! drive it
 
The sand was caked together by antisieze, which means the piles of dirt in the deep spark plug holes can not be blown out. Its a 1987, so you can imagine there is about 2 teaspoons full of dirt (like wet sand held by antisieze)
 
I have used brake cleaner to hose out a spark plug recess. Just hold a large rag to try to catch the mess and wear glasses.
 
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