Stuck spark plug, any tips?

Grannygrinder

Grannygrinder

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I've bought a Lexus IS200 for swooshing about in this 'summer'.
Just picked it up from the local garage after its service and unfortunately they were unable to remove 5 of the 6 spark plugs :shock:
I wasn't able to leave it with them long enough for them to try soaking them with Plus Gas or some such, i will do this periodicly myself over the next couple of weeks and then take it back for them to try again.

In the meantime, anybody got any tried and tested safe ways to remove them? According to the mechanic they are 'beyond b*stard tight' :D
 
If they've corroded in the head (a sign they've not been change in living memory ) then soaking then might help, but if they've been over torqued it won't.

If all else fails and you muller them then a broken plug extractor will probably save the day, but there's still a fair chance you may need to split the engine and get the head off.
 
Run the engine up for a few minutes then give the a go - I assume the IS has an alloy block. I had the reverse on my volvo where 2 out of 5 plugs were slightly loose meaning it ran rough and sounded like i had a badly blowing exhaust till it was up to running temperature.

The 2 offending plugs needed maybe an 1/8th of a turn (if that)

Oh and a big breaker bar (my personal fave ar old Raleigh 501 Reynolds bars!)
 
if t he garage cannot do it, then it does not bode well.

as ^^^ said, try with a warm head. what may happen is that the plug snaps off - not the end of the world as you will need to take off the head and remove the remnants, worse is if the threads in the head get pulled out - that will need head off and helicoil inserts.

oh, and there is a chance bits of the plug will drop down into the cylinder :eek:
 
Theresa reasonable chance broken plugs can be remove with an extractor without removing the head, though it's not guaranteed. Had to do a Dorf Kak recently and managed to remove both broken plugs successfully, though getting that POS running only added about 30p to its value...
 
To be fair i didn't really give the garage any extra time to do it as i needed the car.
The single plug that they did manage to remove didn't look too bad at all and was a non standard iridium one so thankfully they haven't been in there from new :shock: :LOL:

On a side note, the air filter looked like it had been used as a growbag :LOL: , she went well before, drives like a different car now :D Although the state of the air filter fills me with fear re the plugs :shock:
 
The only time i've had a similar problem was on a Suzuki GS125 :D
I managed to get that out buy tightening it slightly, which must have broken the corrosion, and then it came straight out.
 
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