Yellow gunk in spark plug well

2nd pass, went all the way through smooth. Will make a few more passes to see if it cleans up.

 

Good job on taking things slowly and methodically. Most people would have fubar'd that by now.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/stripped-sparkplug-help-3-4l.402430/
http://www.timesert.com/html/sparkplug.html

 

Thanks man. I don’t know what I’m doing. I just tend to have good luck with things, even when things go wrong. It usually works out. I used the search function to find what a Heli-coil was. Went to get one and saw the thread cleaner tool next to it. Decided to get both and try the cleaner tool first. Here’s the 3rd, 4th, and 5th passes, then I put the new plug in. It went in easy all the way and torqued down to 15 ft-lbs. Then it came back out like normal with threads intact. Now I can carry on. I was getting worried for a minute.

 

Good work! And thanks for posting- It's a great example for others who find themselves in your current boat.

I would still take some caution to try to clean the cylinder as best you can before starting it.

 

will do, blew out with air compressor and am about to stick a little vacuum down it.

 

Looks like varnish (old gummed up ethanol fuel). I usually see it in carburetors after the engines have sat unused for extended periods.

 

It blew out light and flaky so you might be right. The history of the vehicle is unknown so there’s a chance it could have sat a while.

 

Had to fix stripped threads on my outboard motor's lower unit drain hole a few years ago.. Ended up going the time-sert kit... worked out great. With the heli coil there's a tab you break off once inserted. Didn't like the chance of it dropping into the lower unit.

 

I might keep one of those on hand in my truck box in case of an emergency from now on. I’m returning the one I got since I didn’t use it. It was Autozones generic brand and I didn’t like the look of it but it was the only one available.

 

It’s all back together now with new plugs. Took the time to clean the MAF sensor and give the TB and intake a quick clean. Now it’s purring like a grumpy old tomcat.

 

time-sert install process...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anjDQJtWFc8