I searched but didn't find anything particularly helpful.

Here is the situation, while dialing in the current engine in my SA one of the local guys who was hanging out went to remove the spark plugs and stripped it .... not the threads but the actually 13/16 body of the front leading plug ... I cannot for the life of me get it out ... am forced to beleive the only way is going to be to remove the engine ... if anyone has a better idea please let me know .... the plug is about even with the eyebrow and I have not be able to remove it ...

any input would be greatly appreciated

 

Ouch.

So he rounded off the hex, but it's still there? Or did he shear the hex loose from the plug? Pix?

 

Hex is now round

 

Easy, use a dremel to cut thehousing's eyebrow

 

vice grips? monkey wrench? channel locks?

go at it from the bottom maybe

 

xx x

 

I ground a spark plug socket to fit in but whole things is round .... shaped more like a beer keg now

my grip is not good enough for channel locks ... can get vise grips on but am stuck between the irons so have no throw

 

Wihtout the eyebrows, you can use a vice grip or similar. In the future use a dab of antiseize, stay off cheap *** tools and there is no need for a body builder to install/remove spark plugs lolu

 

yeah the SA (no eyebrow engines are tucked away)

I suspect when I put them in I did put them in too tight as I installed the plugs while engine was out ... that and the guy that went to remove it lost focuse and wasn't square on the plug .... so that leads us to where we are ... pictures coming

for angle referance


tried to mig weld a socket to the plug ..... failed

 

Oh, that's gonna suck.

Only thing I can think of is a last resort, and might lead to having to remove the motor & teardown anyway: bust out the insulator and use a large-caliber easy-out in the resulting hole.

But the odds are high you'll get ceramic debris in the chamber that way, which would be serious no bueno. You could practice it with a spare plug in a vise, see if it's worth trying.

If I can think of anything else, I'll post it, but for now I'm stumped. Condolences.

 

thanks DD engine has roughly 500 miles on it so concept of having to tear it down really sucks wind

 

Easy out or an extractor aint gonna work. The mig welder created so much heat that it locked the spark plug to the housing. So to pull the motor and drill it out with plugs facing down

 

Grind the eyebrow off and get a vetern welder to help with your weld a socket idea

 

First of all, break the porcelain (ceramic? Glass? The white part lol) so it's out of your way. Then remove the steel part that's left behind (cut with a dremel disc or loppers or bolt cutters if they fit). Now you have a hunk of soft weldable steel so you can now find a grade 5 or so bolt in your "pile" and weld away.

The mistake you made was to weld cold, to a socket which is hard (tool steel) and you didn't get it there very well due to the insulator which was in your way. The spark plug is done for so break it off (insulator) and get in there with a piece of similar grade steel, preheat a little (not a lot because you've got aluminum all around it there) and it should work. Then you'll have a large piece of steel that can easily be gripped with a strong vice grip or monkey wrench.

Test it yourself on another spark plug that you don't care about. How hard is the steel? Grind it a little, use a file, see if a screw driver can scratch it. Find a bolt that's similar in size and hardness. Weld. ??? Profit.

 

thanks, have you tried this method?

 

That's exactly what I'd do in your situation. Seems like your best and safest bet.

Just don't start worrying about stuff, that's when everything starts going wrong

 

Yeah, I feel ya; I feel the same way about having to yank my trans out, having just put it back in. I HATE doing stuff over.

 

that sux bro! GL

 

what about jb weld? cold weld. wont heat things up and get stuck

 

Don't think JB is going to provide the strength needed at this point. It is good stuff in the right situation though.

I like the "breaking off the ceramic and welding something to the metal lower half" solution myself.

Best of luck getting it out. Keep us posted.

 

If you could break the ceramic off without also breaking the inside part of the insulator then why couldnt you cut a slot in the remaining metal and use a flat blade screw driver?? This would avoid the problems associated with welding. I guess it would take an experiment to see what the inside part of the insulator does when you bread the outside.....

 

if a spark plug socket rounded the head then a screwdriver isn't going to do ****.




if it were me i would yank the engine out, break the porcelain off and weld a large bolt onto the head the remaining spark plug. the heat from welding will help the plug release from the aluminum so try to unbolt it before it cools.

if you try to do it while in the car you could wind up doing more harm than good with the limited space you have to work with. it's really not that difficult to get an engine out of the early cars, that alone will give you much more access to the plug.

it is less than a 1 day job, it's easy to spend even more than that sitting there scratching your head trying to figure out workarounds that usually won't work or have good visibility to prevent crap from going into the engine while doing the still semi delicate job. ie try to fish out the electrode after breaking the center apart and if something does wind up in the motor you can check and get it out easily enough vie the exhaust port.

 

Yeah, GOOD ADVICE!

If it is out and you think something is inside you have a chance of seeing and fishing through the exhaust port...

 

Thanks I did try that. I JD'd the socket to the spark plug but the next day the socket just walked off

Am leaning with that myself, tonight will take another spark plug and break it and see what we are looking at ... I'll probably post a pic or 2 of that

lol see above ...


Figured this was something most had dealt with ... maybe I am kinda special lol

My biggest concern is how can I make this situation worse

Idea I do have is pressurizing the chamber maybe 20 or so psi via the trailer plug hole





PS: yes I could have the engine out well short of an hour and take the chance of screwing up my new paint .... I've managed to rethread two different RX8's leading plug hole on rotor 2 without removing the engine ...

 

it's semi exclusive because those don't appear to be rotary specific spark plugs by the look of it and sit recessed below the housing surface. if you use the non specific plugs then you have to use care installing and removing them and trim down a spark plug socket to fit into the plug hole a little bit easier.

alternately you could dremel out the housing a little bit once all the plugs are removed and can put caps on the holes to keep debris out of the engine.

i can still see the hex on the plug head so technically you might be able to salvage the situation by modifying a plug socket and thinning the walls to the point of getting the socket onto the plug body 100% before trying to put pressure on it. but the plug socket is usually paper thin at that point and may not be able to give enough force without cracking it.