Socket Stuck in Spark Plug Tube

Oh, you though THAT would rustle his jimmies?

 

What is with all the rubbing on the outside of the socket? Was that there before you used it to remove that plug? I have a different theory. There where debris in the spark plug tube that was causing the socket to be to tight in the tube and sieze up. As the plug got further out of the head the pressue caused the plug to tilt and the last few threads show the damage.

 

I have. Ford "fixed" the problem with plugs blowing out of early modular motors (only 3 threads holding them in) by changing the head design. Unfortunately, the new design created a new problem. Carbon from the exhaust built up in the the bores for the plugs in the heads and literally welded the plugs in. (Well, they didn't blow out.) There were all sorts of "fixes" for the problem, but Ford Service Technicians eventually discovered that using a 3/8 battery powered impact (nothing bigger) to rattle the plugs out was by far the easiest fix. If that didn't work, Lisle makes a tool to extract the broken plug. But that's the only time I've seen a real need for an impact on spark plugs.

 

And there you have it. 4L/V6 Tacoma motor calls for 30K plug changes - copper. Do that and you will be fine. Some say that the anti-seize throws off the torque. I'd rather have to deal with that than a seized plug. I think the problem with anti-seize comes into play when people think they need to smear it on thick. You see pictures of that in old Haynes Auto Repair manuals.
A little dab spread very thin will do ya.

 

If the dealer did all the maintenance for the first 80k and the plugs are supposed to be changed every 30k, but they never did... they should have been on the hook for everything. IMO

 

Sorry man- that sucks!

I had trouble w/ my spark plug swap recently, but not that bad- my plugs were pretty darn tight as well. I had to retighten the plugs a couple of times when they got "sticky" and then loosen them again. A couple of times removing the socket resulted in the socket stuck on the plug (not crazy stuck, but stuck enough the extension came off w/o the socket)- I went to a extension that locked and didn't experience that anymore.

I was expecting maybe a half hour job, took almost two hours!

It will definitely go quicker next go round- partly because I know how to get at them better, but the news were well anti-seized