Spark plug popped out

[swaq]

:aigo: So I was accelerating under boost and went over a bumpy section of road and suddenly my engine started making a loud knocking sound. I babied it the rest of the way to work (probably less than 100 yards away) and then checked under the hood. My short visual inspection revealed that the #6 spark plug had come unseated and there was a bit of smoke/steam coming from that cylinder.

I'm at work now, but I need to decide what to do later today. I assume towing will be required... Any thoughts on what sort of damage might have been done?

 

[radiod]

Best case scenario is the plug wasn't tightened in there. If that's the case, you should be able to stick a new one in there and be on your way. On the flip side, the plug could have been over torqued, stripped the threads in the head, and now it won't grab at all. I'd start by checking to see if the plug's threads are damaged are not and if it threads back in to it's place nicely or not.

 

[OfnaRcR4]

I don't see why any damage would be done by not having a spark plug in there except for debris getting sucked in the hole and you blowing fuel everywhere in your engine bay.

 

[swaq]

I wish I had a mirror here. I went out to look at it again, but all I could see was the connector. Is it possible that only the ignition wire was disconnected?

 

[OfnaRcR4]

Possibly. It is possible that the smoke you saw was just from the wire gronding out on your head and causing the oil that seems to always be down there to burn.

 

[swaq]

Had the car towed to a shop. They have confirmed that the spark plug came out, but haven't checked yet whether the threads are stripped. Hopefully they aren't...

 

[JDMMA70]

This happened to me threads were stripped if you look in my build thread youll see the.fun time I had with it

 

[te72]

My old n/a 7m somehow smashed the piece of metal that the spark arcs toward... smashed it flat against the electrode. Not sure how though, aside from debris possibly getting in the engine. I have heard of diesel injectors getting pushed out due to cylinder pressures, but never a spark plug?

 

[swaq]

Just heard back from the shop. Threads were not stripped! :icon_bigg

 

[Suprapowaz!(2)]

That's good, but... you couldn't have check for that yourself? You could have saved yourself the cost of the tow and the shop's diagnosis charge. Oh well, better safe than sorry.

 

[destrux]

I had a chevy blazer towed in a few years ago with a plug popped out. The other five were backed out and ready to pop too. Turns out the owner did his own tune up and used... wait for it... a rubber hose and needle nose pliers to tighten his spark plugs.

Six new plugs tightened properly and he hasn't had a problem since.

Not saying you used hose and pliers to put your plugs in, lol. This just reminded me of that.

 

[Nocheez]

This happened to my 99 Camry. The plug backed out over 60+k miles and shot out, putting a nice dent in my hood. I was able to fix it at the gas station I coasted in to and was on my way.

 

[swaq]

That's good, but... you couldn't have check for that yourself? You could have saved yourself the cost of the tow and the shop's diagnosis charge. Oh well, better safe than sorry.

I could have if the car was at home, but it was at work where I had no tools, mirror, clothes I can afford to get dirty, etc. Tow was free, since I have AAA. Shop charged $50 for the spark plug and labor. I'd been meaning to take the Supra into the shop to get an estimate on fixing the leaking power steering anyway, so I was able to kill two birds with one stone.

Not saying you used hose and pliers to put your plugs in, lol. This just reminded me of that.

I've never touched the spark plugs on this car. I'm thinking it might be a good time to go in and replace all of them. The shop said my valve covers are leaking (again?!) so I could take care of that at the same time...

 

[hvyman]

Seems like a lot to just put a plug back in. Atleast its fixed tho.