On Tue, 08 Dec 2009 10:28:30 -0600, 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.

I've seen them break due to overheating, but I don't think I've ever seen
one that's "just broken" either.

If it's outright smashed and there are no issues with the cooling system
then *something* had to have hit it...

cheers

Jules