whitecrystal1

So I was a little board and decided to see how easy it would be to break on of these plugs that I just had removed from my truck. To my surprise it was very hard. I clamped the tip of the plug in a vise and put a 9/16" socket on it to see... it wasn't easy at all. I think I'll try another one later with a torque wrench to see if I can get an idea on how much it can take before it breaks.

Before I attempt to do this I cleaned the carbon off the plug that was coating the joint where the two pieces are pressed together. After using a wire brush I sprayed it down with some WD-40 and wiped it off. The joint looked clean to me... but when the nut (top section) broke away more carbon started coming out of it That stuff really packs it's self in there.

NGM

I am curious at the breaking point.

Ty

I thought that your plugs were changed around 36k, not the reccomended 100k? That is a whole bunch more wear and tear on them, that could change that breaking point quite a bit.

spdkilz02

how did u get the dealership to change them for u under warranty? were you having problems?

whitecrystal1

I will try another next week when I get back to work

Mostly the wear and tear is on the electrode and maybe some fatigue to the porcelain. I doubt it has any effect on the two pieces that separate other than more carbon making it easier for them to break.

The dealer didn't replace them under warranty, they said since I was still under the 3/36 bumper to bumper warranty they would warranty the extra repair cost to remove any if they broke while they were doing the tune up I was paying for. Only two out of the four I called for pricing said this. The other two said they would not warranty it.

whitecrystal1

I did another today... What I found was it actually doesn't take much at all, it just felt like it's a lot more than what it really took to break.

The jamb nut broke from the ground shield at 36ft.lbs then the torque wrench clicked. It broke but it had not completely separated. It took 38 ft.lbs for it to completely separate and come apart.

One thing I noticed is that the porcelain piece that broke off and stayed in the ground shield came right out when I turned it over. Obviously you can't turn it over when it's stuck in the head but I wonder if it could be sucked out with a shop vac instead of having to break it up to get it out. Then you could easily tap the ground shield so it can be removed.

I may do another later and record it for the heck of it.

Buck

keep up the research...it may help us all out in the future!

gnardo73

Another idea would be to go into the service dept and get some plugs that have been serviced at 80-100k+ miles and see how they break. The more info we have the better, it will help us and it may help the service dept if they new the results too. Great info!!

MY MONSTER

I had done lots of these it is actually the carbon that builds up in the head at the tip of the spark plug all most glues it into the cavity after about 100,000km and when you loosen the the plug the threaded portion comes out but the tip stays in along with some ceramic and sometimes even the electrode "not fun" jet tools makes a kits to remove both pieces two seperate kits. my record so far is breaking 3 of 8. champion makes a one piece plug. recomend removing plugs at aprox 40,000km

BJV269SS

The broken part of the plug can not be sucked into the engine. It's in there much better than you'd think... That's why the plug broke in the first place. The tool Lisle makes works great to remove the rest of the plug. It actually pushes the porcelain part into the cylinder father so the removal tool can be threaded into the remaining sleeve of the plug to be pulled out. By the way these plugs have 90K on them. They all came out but this one.