96 V8 Explorer, broken spark plug *pics inside of what I used*

[Happster]

Electrohacker, how did things work out for you? Did that 303-1203 removal tool work? It is designed for 5.4 liters that have the two-piece plugs, but I'm wondering if it'll work on the 5.0 snapped threads. My problem looks similar to those pictured above-the plug snapped at the hex head (x2...oye). Thankfully, the porceline came out clean. Going to try the PB blaster/heat/easy out method, but would love to know if the removal tool works if I need to audible to that as a last resort.

 

[Happster]

Got the broken plugs out!

Like magic...this string was VERY helpful, particularly the part about letting it cool before trying. A little counterintuitive for me...I always erroneously assume that a hot bolt is easier to remove. But here, you are right: swelling the head only closes the hole that much more and swelling the broken plug obviously isn't going to help you. So I let it cool in the frigid new england weather and it came out pretty easy.

I used the Easy Out and Blaster penetrating foam. I was told to avoid the abruptly-tapered easy outs, and I found one that has a gradual taper. I guess it lessens the effect of "wedging" the broken piece outward, which would pin it against the threads that much more and make it harder to break free. I heated, cooled and lubed each broken plug about ten times during the week. Then I heated the broken plug and hammered in the Easy Out using an impact driver ratchet set on "loosen" (of course, because the threads are reversed on the easy out). That created an awesome connection between the easy out and the broken plug sleeve, turning the easy out into it as I hammered it.

I couldn't find a tool to get good torque on the easy out. Maybe I missed something? So listen to what I did...I took a 7/16 (must be 12 point) socket and put it on my 1/2 inch-drive breaker bar. Then I took a long, 3/8 inch-drive extension, and the male end fits snugly into the 7/16 socket. Then the female end fits tightly enough over the head of the easy out (square on square, so although it is a little loose, it won't slip) and gave me all the torque I needed to snap that thing out...and boy did it snap when separating! Took all my might on the breaker bar, so the solid connection and the torque I got on it was likely clutch. In the end, after the proper, patient preparations, it took me more time to get the 2 broken pieces out than it did to get the first piece of plug off of the easy out so I could do the second! Thanks for the helpful thread.

 

[Cobraguy]

another trick that works well is to heat it up, then hit it with candle wax as it cools. It will suck the wax into the threads. Try it sometime.

 

[96eb96]

another trick that works well is to heat it up, then hit it with candle wax as it cools. It will suck the wax into the threads. Try it sometime.

My Tuneup advice:

Before any tuneup, I now put aerokroil or pb in the spark plugs wells in the morning, and then drive the car normally. At the end of the day, kroil goes in again as it cools down. Repeat one more time (with the other chemical).

Also, if you move the plug a tiny bit and the resistance seems high, put some kroil (not to hydrolock the cylinder but a nice amount). Move on to the next plug, wait one hour and come back. I learned this trick from the problems they have with the 3 Valve spark plugs. They also suggest now ford carb/tune up cleaner for the new tsb instead of aerokroil. I guess that has to do with availability of a ford chemical, Kroil is fine.

I know its not 100% but the extra effort is worth it to save the aggravation of a broken plug!

New plugs get a nice thin coating of antisieze up to the hex. I also coat the area above the threads on the head.

 

[Cobraguy]

From what I am hearing about the issues with 3 valve plug removal, anything they are using to help would help here too. That is turning into a nightmare. Thanks for the tip 96eb96

I also recommend the use of antiseize...especially in aluminum heads.

 

[Electrohacker]

we eventually got the extractor stuck (never bought the expensive tool) and used a dremel to grind it all out, then used a hacksaw blade to cut the shell

problem was, it fell in the cylinder. We're waiting for spring to take the head off clean it out and re assemble.

on a side note we did get a new spark plug in and it seals like it always did, but we dare not try to start it!

 

[Happster]

Absolutely

do NOT start that beast. Assuming there are no chunks large enough to smash between the piston and head, you will, at a minimum, score the hell out of your cylinder wall and destroy your valves. Bummer. I've tried the cheesy easy outs before...they always have just snapped on something like this for me. Craftsman easy out with a gradual taper...the only way to go. I must have put 110 pounds of leveraged torque on that m'er f'er before the threads freed, and it's still as good as new.

 

[marragtop]

Rather than pull the head, have you considered doing the following?:
- pull all the plugs
- SLOWLY rotate the engine by the crank pulley until the piston comes up to the spark plug hole.
- using a small magnet and tweezers remove the remnants of the old plug

Just a thought...

 

[Electrohacker]

Rather than pull the head, have you considered doing the following?:
- pull all the plugs
- SLOWLY rotate the engine by the crank pulley until the piston comes up to the spark plug hole.
- using a small magnet and tweezers remove the remnants of the old plug

Just a thought...

tried that, problem is it wants to come out sideways, we tried to remove it in one piece so now theres a long piece of metal in there

 

[patrick112390]

From what I am hearing about the issues with 3 valve plug removal, anything they are using to help would help here too. That is turning into a nightmare. Thanks for the tip 96eb96

I also recommend the use of antiseize...especially in aluminum heads.

yea at the dealership we got one in the other day- where merchants tried to remove the new plugs from a 3v head and it broke off into the cylinder, all because they didnt follow protocal

hit with pb blaster, soak for 15, turn loose, then turn tight, and so on until they come out....its a lot of take a step foward then take half a step back kinda thing.. lol

 

[dogbis]

Another option I have used before is a shop vac,rubber hose that fits in the spark plug hole and gray tape. Tape the rubber hose to the shop vac hose put rubber hose in cylinder and turn on vac.Worked well.

 

[ZO6_Vette]

I found this

http://www.denlorstools.com/home/dt...3-1203_broken_separated_spark_plug_remov.html

a little less expensive then pulling the head and far less than a rebuild, but im gunna see if a auto parts store has it for loan

Nice tool but $400 guess I would rather pay $400 than pull the head.

 

[DanBrandon]

Dremel drill

I had the same thing happen, '91 Bauer with only 56k but still had the original plugs and wires .... here's what I did ...

Heat the remains and as best you can ONLY the remains of the spark plug until you get a faint red glow ... then WALK AWAY for half an hour or so and let it COMPLETELY cool off ... then use your easy out on it, mine practically fell out

The key is you have two dissimilar metals, iron and aluminum ... you heat the iron and it expands against the aluminum (which you try not to heat) and when it cools it tends to 'shrink' more than the aluminum ... After I did this I turned mine a quarter trun with the easy out using little force (At least compared to before) and unthreaded it the rest of the way by hand ... and buddy that works all day on lift/fork trucks told me to do this and I was amazed how well it worked, much better than if it were iron on iron .... I found mine wasn't really froze/corroded on the threads but on the collar between threads and the hex nut, why Ford doesn't allow a bit more clearance there I'll never know ....

The problem with American Engineering today is the engineers never have to work on their own designs after they have been in the field a few years ... things would be a LOT different if they did, guaranteed ...

 

[DanBrandon]

I followed this forum to get a plug unfrozen. Another thing I did was since it was the collar that was rusted to the head and not the threads, I took my Dremel drill and a small drill bit and carved around the collar. I even penetrated into the corrosion in several places to allow the PB Blaster to seep into the corosion better. This allowed it to break away easier.

 

[midwestmk2]

Well this is awsome.. My truck has 188000 miles on the OD and as far as i could tell they had never been changed. I was gonna change the plugs and guess what happened... Well ill be trying this method out real soon.. Ill let ya know how it turns out..

 

[midwestmk2]

Thanks guys the extraction went very well.. I heated it up twice and sprayed it with pb blaster in between heating it because of the iron heads.. Used and extractor and voila its out.. I only picked up one plug for now before i try the others and when i started it i had a slight knock at first.. It has Never knocked before this.. It went away for a minute or two and then came back.. I dont know what is wrong and i am stummped.. Is it because i only replaced one plug or what else could it be? Please any answers would be greatly appreciated..

 

[BigDakota]

do NOT start that beast. Assuming there are no chunks large enough to smash between the piston and head, you will, at a minimum, score the hell out of your cylinder wall and destroy your valves. Bummer. I've tried the cheesy easy outs before...they always have just snapped on something like this for me. Craftsman easy out with a gradual taper...the only way to go. I must have put 110 pounds of leveraged torque on that m'er f'er before the threads freed, and it's still as good as new.

midwestmk..did you read this..this might be your knocking noises
Figured I would bump this to you just in case your plug removal was similar.

 

[midwestmk2]

Well i did everything that the thread said and still got the knock.. Well my stepdad said i prolly just knocked some carbon loose down in the cylinder from tapping the easyout in.. So he made up some rubbing alcohol and water solution and we spayed it into the throttle body while it was running and the knock just went away after a little bit.. I had never heard of this method before but he is an ASE mechanic and said it was a trick he learned over the years... Gotta love the experience of the older mechanics and there tricks..

 

[tclark77]

I found this

http://www.denlorstools.com/home/dt...3-1203_broken_separated_spark_plug_remov.html

a little less expensive then pulling the head and far less than a rebuild, but im gunna see if a auto parts store has it for loan

this tool is for the 3valve v8's. It is a must have. I bought after using the snap on version on three broken plugs in a truck we got in from another shop. This tool threads an extractor into the sleeve (unthreaded portion at the very end) of the triton plugs and pulls it straight out of the plug bore.

Now my 2 cents, pb blaster remaining threads let sit, bash in spiral extractor, install tap socket on extractor, rip the whole shibang out with an impact. the combination of the hammering and speed of an impact pulls them right out.

It might seem a little brutal, but it has saved my ass countless times. Here in western NY anything older than a few years old is a rusty mess, and calling a customer back to say their tuneup just turned in to cylinder head r&r doesn't make anyone happy.

hth

 

[2k five-oh]

Great thread. Need some advice here, however. I started on the passenger side of the truck, and got two plugs out, and two broke off. I went to the store and I got an easy-out for which the package states you should use a 17/32" drill bit. This worked for one of the broken plugs (using the heat n cool and PB Blaster method) but with the other broken plug it just doesn't seem to grip the inside of the threaded part of the plug well enough to turn it. Am I using too big an easy-out? What is the correct size for doing this job? I have the easy-out on the end of a long 1/2" drive extension and I have been tapping it into the hole before trying to turn it. How hard can I hit the end of the extension without causing more damage? But most of all, what is the size easy-out that most people on here have had the most success with? Thanks!