How to remove a broken spark plug lead ?

[admin]

As per some previous woes with my missuses car in which her car split a radiator hose and badly overheated it. After it came good and ran for a few days it developed a bad miss. Hmm says me. Checked a few things. Went to check the plugs , the section of the lead that is solid and goes down through the rocker cover to the plugs is " welded on " on numbers 2 and 3 .

I only recently replaced the cap and leads so I wasnt impressed but anyway , I managed to break number 2 up and get it out along with the plug. Number 3 however is a different story.

It has broken the solid part of at the top of the plug due to heat almost melting it in half. This has left a coloured rubber type piece sitting on top of the plug along with a few mm of the solid part where it melted.

Any suggested gratefully accepted

[Godzilla]

Needle nosed pliers, some swearing and possibly violence.

Before you do anything, try getting a thinish screw driver down the hole and try moving the rubber to break the seal against the plug and walls of the hole, once you see it moving or turning your half way there.

If the rubber is too deep for pliers to get to, and is soft, try some coat hanger wire with a 90 degree bend and a small pointed tip on the end.

Just force it in down the side between the wall and lead, twist it 90 degrees for the point to dig into the rubber and pull.

Another option is to get a long thin self tapping screw and try screwing it into the rubber, then grab pliers to that and pull.

Unfortunately something like this needs some ingenuity, there is no given rule how to do it and you may end up just picking at it till it comes loose.

When removing plug leads its best to get a firm grip and twist in a circular motion while pulling.

The twist helps break the welded seal also when removing the bit left inside.

Dont panic, the worst you could do is crack the spark plug outer insulation while trying.

If this happens then the rubber boot and end of the sparkplug will come together, just change the one sparkplug then.

Point is you need to bend the rubber boot with a screw driver to break the weld/seal before trying to remove the bit left inside.

That should teach you to use after market leads on a Toyota.

If they were genuine leads you pulled a bad card out of the deck mate.

Edit, just thinking about it, if its just the tip level with the plug terminal, just sharpen a screw driver tip and chisel at it till its just bits of rubber. Try not to damage the wall of the tube that the lead sits in if its a thin separate tube, if the wall is part of the head and solid its not a problem.

Maybe some wd 40 may help lube things up too while your in there.

Sorry Sanity, can only throw ideas at this one.

[Godzilla]

One last word, something i overlooked.

Once you get the rest of the lead out, take a good look inside before you remove the spark plug (if its necessary).

Any crap in the hole will fall into the cylinder once the plugs removed.

2 options, 1 blow some compressed air inside to blast all the crap out, or 2, if you dont have a compressor, use the garden hose with a jet on the end.

Better some water into the cylinder, which you could always kick out by cranking the engine over before fitting a new spark plug.

[Godzilla]

Well its been a few hours and we have not heard back from Sanity.

One could only conclude that he has taken a handful of pain killers and gone for a long nap while the car burns to the ground.

[Asininity]

I don't think the spark plug will be the biggest problem here.

I go for head gasket.

[Godzilla]

I don't think the spark plug will be the biggest problem here.

I go for head gasket.

You never know but i feel all will be well knowing its a Toyota.

If he thinks he has it tough now, wait till he gets an Aussie car.

At least with the Ford straight 6 its relatively easy to get to most things.

[tagg]

well you could fill the spark plug well with thinners or acetone and melt the sucker out ?? and i don't mean set fire to it

Tagg

[gordon_s1942]

Isnt this car designed by the same crew who buillt the Morris 850 Mini's with the petrol pump under the firewall and the Morris 1500 with the front crossmember strategicaly placed across the oil filter so you coundnt remove it without lifting the engine?
I had one and its TRUE !!

I heard that the defining achievement of a team of Designing Enginers was when told to design a better Horse came up with the Camel.

[kcsoft]

You never know but i feel all will be well knowing its a Toyota.

If he thinks he has it tough now, wait till he gets an Aussie car.

At least with the Ford straight 6 its relatively easy to get to most things.

lol....
look at where the dizzy is on a ford I6....

i'm not looking forward to replacing mine...
removing the intake manifold to get to the dizzy is a stupid idea.
sorry for hijacking

[Godzilla]

lol....
look at where the dizzy is on a ford I6....

i'm not looking forward to replacing mine...
removing the intake manifold to get to the dizzy is a stupid idea.
sorry for hijacking

Nah not on the Barra engine.

The old I6 MPI is done by only removing the intake tube, not the whole intake, then slip your hand and arm from the front opening created to the dizzy.

Best done with a cold engine.

[kcsoft]

Nah not on the Barra engine.

The old I6 MPI is done by only removing the intake tube, not the whole intake, then slip your hand and arm from the front opening created to the dizzy.

Best done with a cold engine.

any ideas how to do it easily on an EL engine
hijacked again!!! sry

[admin]

Thanks for the replies , very much appreciated. I didnt think there would be an easy answer but I was hoping I had a few other things to do today but intend to take it on tomorrow. The leads are Bosch and seem to be good quality , unfortunately I dont think any brand would survive that heat.

There isnt any water in the oil or any other obvious signs of problems so I am hoping that it was just a lead or plug. Fortunately I known the owner of the local wreckers and he has many of the same model down there so I can replace bits free of charge to find out if all is ok without blowing the budget.

I will start bashing with a screw driver and hammer in the morning and see how I go

[whiterx]

i usually just get a spark plug socket and extension, hit it down with a hammer, untill you can get on the plug enough to get it out.

[kcsoft]

now that its sorted i have some useless input other than thread hijacking.

i would have just snapped the ceramic top off the plug, scraped all the rubber off with a pen knife or something similar. then got a tube socket onto it.

nevertheless everyone has come up with some great ideas

[admin]

now that its sorted i have some useless input other than thread hijacking.

i would have just snapped the ceramic top off the plug, scraped all the rubber off with a pen knife or something similar. then got a tube socket onto it.

nevertheless everyone has come up with some great ideas

The top of the spark plug doesnt stick out.

Anyway , off to do battle

[Godzilla]

Anyway , off to do battle

Veni, vidi, vici.......I came, I saw, I conquered.

[BlackDuck]

How do you remove a broken spark plug lead?...

You just grab the end and pull it off the plug ceramic for Christ's sake.

Then I read the answering posts and didn't know what the hell everyone is talking about.

Rubber solvents, Thin screwdrivers, Needle nose pliers, Self tapping screw, Coat hanger wire.

What have they done to car engines since I retired?

This BS wouldn't have happened if Little Johny and Bush were still in office.

They would have found out which country was creating this engine and Liberated them back to the stone age!.

[admin]

About half way there. Spark plug has broken off halfway down due to my banging with a screwdriver and hammer. Fortunately I own a decent quality compressor and can blow the crap out as I go.

Man that sun is hot in Victoria today , I am already sun burnt

[Godzilla]

How do you remove a broken spark plug lead?...

You just grab the end and pull it off the plug ceramic for Christ's sake.

Then I read the answering posts and didn't know what the hell everyone is talking about.

Rubber solvents, Thin screwdrivers, Needle nose pliers, Self tapping screw, Coat hanger wire.

What have they done to car engines since I retired?

This BS wouldn't have happened if Little Johny and Bush were still in office.

They would have found out which country was creating this engine and Liberated them back to the stone age!.

Ummmm.....Toyota decided to put the plugs deep into the top through the rocker cover and cam gear with seriously really long plug ends.

Sanity is being a kind of motor gynecologist today.

Keep at it Sanity till enough is out to fit a spark plug socket onto the end.

Probably not doing your back any good too.

[Godzilla]

Dont panic, the worst you could do is crack the spark plug outer insulation while trying.

If this happens then the rubber boot and end of the sparkplug will come together, just change the one sparkplug then.

About half way there. Spark plug has broken off halfway down due to my banging with a screwdriver and hammer.

The worst is out of the way.

Hope you minimized the screw driver damage inside.

Sort of like this BlackDuck.