Spark plug ejected on my 3.5L, stripped head

Another aspect, maybe the tech mentioned an insert to the writer but the writer wants to hit a homer on this one & would rather sell a cylinder head replacement...
Not the most honest / best approach, but ive seen it all...

 

Listen to me....
Heres something that also needs to be discussed.
Theres good techs & bad techs.
I wasnt there & my hands wasnt on the job but thinking more I see some red flags.

When a Ford ejects a plug the coil hold down bracket snaps, that didnt happen here...

So maybe the plug was just lose to the point it started misfiring, losing some compression & didnt totally eject & the threads are in fact not damaged?
Did the tech get a new sparkplug, put light film of anti seize & try threading it into the head??

You need to go down there & look for yourself, ask questions, etc....
Need to talk to foreman & not tech...

I know this is easier said coming from me as ive got a done of experience with this stuff, ive seen lots of corners cut & new guys making bad calls & not even trying to make it right....

was the motor just ticking or was it literally popping?
pop pop pop...
pop pop pop....

like you can clearly hear the compression pops blowing out the hole?

 

Need to look down the hole with a flashlight & see if the threads are there.....
If it truly blew out, they wont be & you will clearly see the damage...

If the threads are there & even if you have to chase a few threads to get the plug to start, as long as the sparkplug tightens fully, youre golden...

More questions need to be answered...

 

So you did have plugs changed out at 60k?

 

My guess is its never had a service other than an oil change and a few overpriced air filters its entire life.

 

I put in a time sert on a 88 22re close to 25 years ago. That thing is still running.

I just remember reading to put a lot of grease on the tool when cutting new threads to prevent the cuttings from going in the engine. The grease worked well...

 

Yup..
Be sure all valves are closed & piston is somewhat down...
Grease up the tap / reamer, etc to capture all the metal shavings...
Then I put me long air nozzle in the cylinder & spray a bunch of brake cleaner in the cylinder & give it a bunch of blasts of air & I always get sprayed with additional metal shavings while wearing my "protective squint goggles".....
Put oil on the insert installer while using red loctite on the outer threads of the insert...
light film of anti seize on the sparkplug threads
done...

 

He said he never did the plugs because the dealer "never recommended them" before 100k. So I'm assuming they brought it up to him at 100k and he turned it down, so he suspects original plugs. Regardless it's a good lesson to teach yourself about what your vehicle needs and it's service intervals, it's a heck of a lot more than just oil changes...and we all know you can't trust the dealer to be in your best interest to keep your vehicle running as long as possible.

 

Those spark plug repair kits work well enough. I have a Ford with multiple

 

I did my 2017 plugs at 18k and all were extremely loose on the passenger side. Not even finger tight. A couple on the drivers side were loose too. I did them again at 60k and no issues.

Not sure if a time sert/helicoil would work or hold. I suppose it's worth a try. If that fixes it I'd probably trade the truck after the repair.

 

I remember a time when people with 22re's proactively time sert'd all their spark plug holes to prevent ejecting a spark plug. At the time people bitched at Toyota with the question..."What were they thinking, putting a steel plug in an aluminum head".

Damn I'm aging myself.

 

Who makes aluminum body sparkplugs?

 

We were putting helicoils in stripped spark plug holes decades ago. Not a rarity with aluminum heads. I'd try that first.
It looks like this plug was loose for some period of time.

 

I would try a Time-Sert 1st as well. I have used them on other bolts and they are very strong. If you want some videos out there, its likely the strongest thread repair option out there.

Its worth the try over a new head and all the labor for it. Catching the shavings would be ideal.

 

Don't know. 22re's used steel.

 

I’d buy a <$50 boroscope off Amazon and look at the threads in the head. That will get you a very detailed look at all of the threads in the head.

id have to guess the plug has been loose for years and finally worked its way out of the threads. If there is no aluminum on the plug threads it more than likely unscrewed itself and the threads are ok. Would also be good to look into the combustion chamber with the scope to ensure there is no metal debris from the threads in the head.

You may need to chase the threads, you may need to use an insert like others said. Don’t let Toyota sell you a $10k solution. There are much better ways.

 

This!

I have thread chased a cross threaded plug hole before and it worked well. You might have blown out the last few threads and there might still be enough threads left to hold on to a new plug.

 

What cylinder is it?

 

To answer some questions:

• It's cylinder 4
• The symptoms as best I can remember - a light popping noise with rpms started one day which I at first mistook for serp belt which always squeaks in the rain, the popping then went away on the same day. It came back a day or 2 later and within a few miles of driving it became much more severe, then a rattle with the pop, very rough/shaky idle, then power loss, dash lights, etc. This all happened in a matter of minutes and I was stuck on a highway exit, pulled over at first loss of power. Towed to dealer.
• I don't know why the tech didn't scope it so we could just see the actual damage. I'll probably do this before taking the next step unless they want to do it for free..
• Dealer recommended plugs first time around 100k, had a lot of life shit going on and said 'next time', did that once more, and here we are. I also remember reading the maintenance thread here before i bought the truck and seeing the strong recommendations about plugs but forgot all that once I got into the dealer service rhythm with truck always running fine
• Truck has had oil changes at 5k, trans and coolant flush, one cabin filter change, I think that's it but still waiting for full service history to remind me
• What I don't get is why it didn't throw misfire or some other codes before this happened?

Found a shop that seems like they know what they're doing but when I suggested time-sert they said they use helicoil all the time and recommend that. Going to try again and talk to them again about using Time-sert instead.

@SR-71A Thanks for these links I'm going to check them out! I'm just outside Boston near 95.

@Chew Agreed. I did a lot of lurking on here before I bought the truck and read the recommended maintenance thread, and then got complacent bringing it to the dealer.. RIP.

@BLtheP This would be my guess. I went past the recommended replacement interval and the loose plug finally popped. My question is, why was there no misfires, rough idle, etc? The only possible signs I can remember are the very occasional blip on the RPMs at idle on non-cold starts that settled down right after. Very rare though.

@slater I think this is exactly right. Only abnormal engine noise I ever noticed was a squeaky serpentine for a bit after it rained. I do remember what I thought was a bit of a dry, raspy sound at idle but afaik these trucks sound like that anyway. I listened to some others and they sounded similar. Also, the tech said he tried a new plug and it didn't thread / just rattled around (I can't remember exactly but will ask).

 

I didnt mean scope the cylinder internally.
Just look down the tube where the sparkplug hole is & confirm the threads are in fact fucked up....
If theyre not sometimes you can just chase the threads with a tap.
Get sparkplug to start & tighten-up.

Im not a heli coil fan, especially for something like a sparkplug.

Heli coil does make their own version of a sparkplug hole insert but ive seen them come back out as someone went back in to address an issue & remove the sparkplug.
But if thats your only option & they truly know what theyre doing, not the end of the world as long as youre not going back in...

One of the timesert kit links I sent are specifically made to accommodate accessing holes down the narrow long tubes,
vs the tools on the a heli coil kit may need to be modified to fit in the hole, some of the reviews I read.

time sert may have some sort of data base of shops that use their product in your area, call them...