dpb wrote:
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
...

Update: She had a nearby mechanic (not the usual one) take a look at
the car. He pulled the plugs and in fact, one WAS broken. That's as
far as it went. He said "No way to determine damage without major
teardown - $1500 or so." Our usual mechanic says "More like $2500 -
not worth it for a car with book value of $3000-ish". The latter guy
is probably being cautious and preparing her for worst case scenario.

What a mess.


A plug "broken"??? How? What broke? In 50 years w/ all personal
automobiles and light trucks plus tractors and other farm equipment BD
(before diesel) I've never seen a broken plug other than breaking the
insulation or somesuch external damage.

Well I have....

A few years ago my wife's 100K plus miles Oldsmobile had a tune up
including new plugs and plug leads. A few weeks later a noticable miss
developed and my mechanic found that one of the plugs he'd just replaced
had lost it's ground electrode. He replaced the plug "under warranty"
and her car seemed to be running OK after that.

About 8 months later her car failed the emissions portion of our annual
state inspection because the engine computer was reporting uneven
firing. A compression test showed weak compression in the same cylinder
which had its spark plug lose its electrode.

The upshot was that a valve job was needed to make things right again.
The exhaust valve in the weak cylinder and its seat had a "groove" in
them which looked like it might have been caused by slamming down on
that spark plug electrode which had fallen off.

There was no way of "proving" the valve problem was the direct result of
that failed spark plug, and because I trust and want to keep the great
relationship I have with my mechanic, I just paid the bill without
trying to create a ruckus over it.

I'm still fondly remembering the olde days when I could fix anything on
our cars with my own tools and knowledge. Nowadays it seems like I'm
doing repairs with my checkbook more often than my tools. G

Jeff
--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10e12 furlongs per fortnight.

Unless something like the other doofus-caused damage this seems more
than peculiar it was the plug. I, like another poster, don't know the
engine but if caused mechanical damage to a plug the timing or a rod or
somesuch sound more proximate causes than a plug. The plug may be a
symptom...

I swapped a rebuilt engine into an old Honda CRX years ago for not a lot
of money...back then there was an abundant supply from Japan owing to a
change in their emission requirements iiuc. Don't know what options
would be at the moment for that one. Generally, if a vehicle is still
otherwise in good shape one can still repair pretty major for less than
what would spend on the replacement (unless one is extremely fortunate
or disciplined in the process anyway).

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