PaulW

Man, does that suck! Running the engine to warm things up for a bit sounds like a good idea, but not too long to mess up the cat.

The JB weld sounds like a possibility plus all those extractors don't seem bad. But pulling the valve cover gasket sounds like the first thing you need to do if it will give you more access to it.

I'm confident you'll find a solution, but I wouldn't do anything but think about it until tomorrow morning. You'll be fresh then and will have time to figure out the best way.

Maybe even go out for a beer tonight away from the car.

Good luck!

Paul

barryl

Hello,

When I changed my plugs, one of the spark plug connectors,
the piece that connects the coil to the plug, was rotten, and
broke in half. The car ran on 7 cylinders. I ran it for about
10 minutes. When I replaced the part it ran fine, and the
CEL went out.

Barry

skiracer

If so, warm the engine up for a minute or two as discussed earlier, and then dribble some LN2 onto the broken plug to cool it way down (LN2 is at -320 F, so it shouldn't take much to get the plug really cold- make sure that only the broken plug is getting cooled, however). Immediately use the EZ-out to try to remove it. The temperature differential between the head and the plug should be sufficient to easily remove the plug. The good thing about the LN2 is that if you get any into the cylinder it will evaporate and leave no residue or contamination. I would also remove the valve cover before doing this- the access to the broken plug will be MUCH better. Good luck and keep us updated.

JörgenK

First of all soak the plug with some Gunk liquid wrench or something similar. Soak the exhaust manifold nuts while you are at it...

Buying a headgasket for Murphy before you start will help

Cut one of the other plugs in the same place. Then try to find a 12 point socket that you can force over the round part of the plug. A press fit somewhere between the BFH and the hammer should be right.

Then wash the plug and the socket with petrol or some other cleaner. Fill the socket with JB Weld and hammer away. Wait until the JB weld is _fully_ cured (around 24 hours) and try to loosen the plug.

When this fails, lift the head. Be very careful with the intake gaskets, these are extremely expensive.

PCH_4.2

how are you going to take that out?? damn...

PaulW

Why not remove the valve cover and attach the broken part back onto the part in the head with JB Weld, and cure it with a hair dryer for an hour or so and let it cure over night or better yet, 24 hours.

Then start the engine, warm everything up and try to remove it 24 hours later. It might just work.

pw

KMU

would secure it first and be sure its cured. Next, I would soak the base of the plug with some WD or equivalent. Maybe even repeat the WD step. Be patient. Go easy. Slight pressure. Repeat. You can get it done.

JimR

I whacked the good plug (upper one in the picture) in two, using a cutoff wheel on my Dremel, at the same point where the broken one sheared off.

In looking at it, a 14mm 1/2" drive 12 point socket looks like the ticket. Once it's driven on, I'll fill the void with JB Weld. I'm hoping to get enough adhesion against the inside sidewall of the lower metal plug barrel, so that in combination with the "press fit" from hammering the socket onto the plug, I'll get enough torque for removal.

Fortunately, I don't really need the car for the next few days, as I can take Ray to school and then drive the A6, and Friday he gets his wisdom teeth taken out, so he won't be wanting to go anywhere this weekend.

Right now, the other 6 good plugs, plus the broken stub, are marianating in penetrating oil.

I've also bought a jar of anti-seize compound.
:-\

Wish me luck!

BTW, fusilier, I'm doing the same to the A6 in the next few weeks. I changed them without incident about 2 months ago.

broken spark plug repair (for future keyword searches)

JörgenK

Try to grind the teeth in the 12 point socket at bit sharper, this will make them cut into the plug easier. But the real benefit is that the socket will not crack that easy. You need a very firm fit to make this work. The JB-Weld is only there to increase the friction a bit more.

JimR

I'm probably going to buy a pair of sockets, and hammer one onto the "test" plug I cut off, just to see how it works / that I get a good "press fit", etc.

I'm more worried about the spark plug "barrel" stub cracking, than I am about the socket.