Has anyone ever seen a spark plug do this!!!

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Old May 21, 2010 | 01:50 PM
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Has anyone ever seen a spark plug do this!!!

Don't ask, my engine is screwed once again after just having a major overhaul 10k miles ago. This spark plug is from the number 4 cylinder (front left side). I've never seen this happen to a spark plug before.




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Old May 21, 2010 | 03:06 PM
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damn, i was expecting residue or something, that thing is destroyed!

wonder if any metal particles got into the cylinder, might need to take it apart to smooth out the cylinder wall. check the current to the coil pack. or maybe it was a faulty plug.
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Old May 21, 2010 | 03:11 PM
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WTF!?!? how would that happen??
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Old May 21, 2010 | 03:17 PM
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http://www.autohausaz.com/html/spark...lug-wires.html

Looks like #15

The melted ground electrode shown here was caused by pre-ignition. Pre-ignition can result from hot spots in the combustion chamber, over-advanced ignition timing, lean air/fuel mixtures, defective distributor advance mechanisms, deposits in the combustion chamber, defective cylinderhead or manifold gaskets. To avoid pre-ignition, a thorough tune-up is required before installing new spark plugs.
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Old May 21, 2010 | 03:18 PM
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Goddamn dude. Did you piss off the car gods or something?
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Old May 21, 2010 | 03:25 PM
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preignition caused piston to plug contact. probably due to an overheating situation in the combustion chamber.

your engine is done
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Old May 21, 2010 | 03:44 PM
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My car has never gone over half temp when it comes to the heat factor. Also, I did not know the piston could even reach the spark plug?? Why was it only one chamber, I checked the other 5 and they look pristine?

This is out of hand, I don't beat my car, I have no idea what is going on right now. Like Civic said, I must have done something to piss off the car gods.

I was just driving along today at about 3k rpms and boom, car shuts off. Pull over and give it a once over to try and crank, no luck, so I call the tow truck.

I really have no idea how the hell this happened. Not sure how many of you remember but I had the top end of my engine "rebuilt" about 10k miles ago and now this.

I'm so defeated right now, I'm past frustration or anger.
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Old May 21, 2010 | 03:52 PM
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When you had the heads rebuilt, its possible the valves werent adjusted properly.
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Old May 21, 2010 | 04:00 PM
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I had a loud tick from the engine from when I got it back from them and made them readjust the valves not once, not twice but three times till they said they got it right.

And how would my valves effect the spark plug? Do you think one of the valves broke off? My car had no codes, it actually still has no codes now when I connect my scan tool. Last time when the timing belt went and the car wouldn't start it was throwing all kinds of codes before the car was even fixed.

I wonder why my car isn't throwing any codes right now sitting in my driveway. Also, my battery is completely dead too. This is an enigma. I think its time to sell all the cars and go with public transportation.
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Old May 21, 2010 | 04:02 PM
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still under warranty?
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Old May 21, 2010 | 04:04 PM
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that shelf is trippy
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Old May 21, 2010 | 04:44 PM
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jesus dude. I'm sorry to hear about your bad luck, maybe public transportation is a good idea..
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Old May 21, 2010 | 06:29 PM
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that sucks. bring it back to the shop that worked on teh car. tell them they they either need to get someone that knows how to fix a car or pay the bill when u take it to a diff shop.
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Old May 21, 2010 | 06:56 PM
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again.... LMFAO



Originally Posted by phee
preignition caused piston to plug contact. probably due to an overheating situation in the combustion chamber.

your engine is done

but yeah valve probably contacted it or something, why.... don't know, but yeah engine needs to come apart again LOL

but could have also been a bolt or something that went through the motor idk


but i would probably say a valve making contact though, considering that the damage is kinda all to one side

Last edited by friesm2000; May 21, 2010 at 07:01 PM.
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Old May 21, 2010 | 07:02 PM
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Im glad you can laugh at his misfortune.

Ill keep that in mind.
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Old May 21, 2010 | 07:04 PM
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Originally Posted by pits200
I had a loud tick from the engine from when I got it back from them and made them readjust the valves not once, not twice but three times till they said they got it right.

And how would my valves effect the spark plug? Do you think one of the valves broke off? My car had no codes, it actually still has no codes now when I connect my scan tool. Last time when the timing belt went and the car wouldn't start it was throwing all kinds of codes before the car was even fixed.

I wonder why my car isn't throwing any codes right now sitting in my driveway. Also, my battery is completely dead too. This is an enigma. I think its time to sell all the cars and go with public transportation.
i wounder, a dead battery does not allow the computer to hold the codes anymore (same as your radio, loses it memory)
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Old May 21, 2010 | 07:06 PM
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Originally Posted by civicdrivr
Im glad you can laugh at his misfortune.

Ill keep that in mind.
remember his first thread, with him all trying to sue that shop and all???
that's why i laugh
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Old May 21, 2010 | 07:06 PM
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Because they fucked up?
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Old May 21, 2010 | 07:08 PM
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and him being cheap also (with going to a cheaper shop), and being so far out of any kinda warrenty with them
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Old May 21, 2010 | 07:08 PM
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not funny. they fucked up and kept fucking up.
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Old May 21, 2010 | 07:09 PM
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Originally Posted by friesm2000
and him being cheap also (with going to a cheaper shop)
iirc he didnt have a choice.
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Old May 21, 2010 | 07:09 PM
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Originally Posted by Rajca
not funny. they fucked up and kept fucking up.
but it is also how the dealer f***ed up, and how he thought the dealer was the "shit"
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Old May 21, 2010 | 07:12 PM
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Originally Posted by Rajca
iirc he didnt have a choice.
no, the original shop that did the t/belt originally


but yeah kinda hard to find a shop when broken done on a road a far ways away from home
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Old May 21, 2010 | 07:33 PM
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Damn, does anyone really tune up before they replace the spark plugs? I'm gonna have my 7 year service done in the next couple months, and I wanted to do the spark plugs myself... doesn't seem like such a good idea now
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Old May 21, 2010 | 07:38 PM
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the tune up was not the issue though
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Old May 21, 2010 | 07:54 PM
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Dam pits, sorry to see the engine gremlins still giving you the haunt.

What's the approach going forward?

Good luck.
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Old May 21, 2010 | 08:06 PM
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Friesm, seriousy dude, if you would try to comprehend my posts from the original t-belt issue, you would understand my logic.

1.) I was not being cheap by taking the car to the shop where I had the original t-belt replaced. They were very reputable and specialize in honda work.

2.) How are you going to be such a dick when its obvious I have a logical argument when it was a bolt that broke and not a part that has a likelihood of breaking.

3.) I thought the dealer was the shit, its like a stock broker who promises you an 8% return like Madoff did, and sometimes you don't find out he was pulling the wool over your eyes until it's too late.

4.) Screw you, I share my experiences on here not just as a way to vent but also to let other members learn from my terrible experiences.

5.) This just goes to show you that going expensive always isn't the best route either. How much money did I spend at the dealership and now this happens after 10k miles and 6 months, it definitely looks like the dealership did a great job.

6.) One thing you should learn in life is not to be one of those "I told you so guys". Its not a good trait to have, it shows a sign of insecurity that you need acknowledgment that you were right and the other person was wrong. Have a little modesty, it will go a long way.

Im going to pay $1,800 and put a "new" engine in this car and sell it. I unfortunately hope I am not making a mistake looking at a CPO 335xi with my car luck recently but atleast it has a warranty. Im done with the Acura family when the lease on my 08 TL is up in September.

Thanks to all for your input and screw other people who do automobile work for a living and don't take pride in the final produce.
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Old May 21, 2010 | 08:09 PM
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Originally Posted by Malayalee King
that shelf is trippy
I whittled them by hand with a swiss army knife out of a single piece of cedar.
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Old May 21, 2010 | 08:09 PM
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Originally Posted by aznboi2424
still under warranty?
Nope 6 months 6k miles.
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Old May 21, 2010 | 08:13 PM
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Originally Posted by Rapture
Damn, does anyone really tune up before they replace the spark plugs? I'm gonna have my 7 year service done in the next couple months, and I wanted to do the spark plugs myself... doesn't seem like such a good idea now
Ya, no worries, my situation is extremely rare, you can have the utmost confidence in this car. This didnt happen from an improper spark plug install so no worries Rapture.
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Old May 21, 2010 | 08:17 PM
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Originally Posted by zeta
Dam pits, sorry to see the engine gremlins still giving you the haunt.

What's the approach going forward?

Good luck.
Im defeated, that's the best word I can think of right now. I have so many other things going on in life that I can't fight the good fight like I usually enjoy doing.
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Old May 21, 2010 | 08:27 PM
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Originally Posted by pits200
Ya, no worries, my situation is extremely rare, you can have the utmost confidence in this car. This didnt happen from an improper spark plug install so no worries Rapture.
Oh, well good to hear! And yeah, sucks to hear about your rotten luck, but good luck with whatever you end up grabbing next.



(...I wish I could get a 335 )


btw friesm nobody is laughing alongside you.
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Old May 21, 2010 | 09:38 PM
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Man, talk about bad luck.

I agree . . . looks like direct impact with a valve. Doesn't sound like you dropped a valve as it would be hearing a lot of clattering going on and or worse. Besides a valve adjustment, did you have them do any other work?
I suggest you get a compression test done. If the compression is good then it may have been caused by a bad valve adjustment. If the compression is bad, then you should have them pull the head and see what damage there is . . . assuming you still trust this shop.

Ruf
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Old May 21, 2010 | 10:33 PM
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Originally Posted by RUF87
Man, talk about bad luck.

I agree . . . looks like direct impact with a valve. Doesn't sound like you dropped a valve as it would be hearing a lot of clattering going on and or worse. Besides a valve adjustment, did you have them do any other work?
I suggest you get a compression test done. If the compression is good then it may have been caused by a bad valve adjustment. If the compression is bad, then you should have them pull the head and see what damage there is . . . assuming you still trust this shop.

Ruf
Thanks for the input. About 10k miles ago my timing belt went out while driving, it was from a previous shop overtorquing the tbelt tensioner bolt, that's a whole other story. So 6 months ago I had the shop replace 6 of the bent valves, deck the heads and so on, the typical work that needs to be done to fix a broken t-belt.

The place that did this work was called Precision Acura in Princeton and is 300+ miles away from where I live.

I can't take the car back to them obviously and am already dealing with the first shop who did the timing belt repair and overtorqued that bolt.

Not sure what options I have because I argued with Precision Acura that they didn't do the job right and they gave me back $1,200 of the $2,300 I paid for the broken timing belt and bent valves.

Its just so complicated that there is no simple answer and for $1,800 I might just have to deal with it, life should not be so stressful. Gonna just chalk this up as an expensive lesson learned. (Don't trust mechanics with big jobs unless they do them on a somewhat consistent basis, no matter how many certifications they say they have.)
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Old May 21, 2010 | 11:00 PM
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Originally Posted by phee
preignition caused piston to plug contact. probably due to an overheating situation in the combustion chamber.

your engine is done
Not eve possible dude. The only way the piston can contact the plug is if the connecting rod let go on the up stroke. Preignition does not automatically cause the spark plug to piston contact. The only other way I can think of would have been if the plug was way to long wich is not the case here or it would have happened on the first rotation of the engine.
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Old May 21, 2010 | 11:05 PM
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Gees Pits, sorry about your car again. Man I'm thinking you should ditch it asap! The car that is. Run man run!


Wonder if you snapped a valve head off and now its floating around in the chamber after hitting the plug.

If thats the case I'd say the shop that did the valve job should be responsible.
Or preignition its self could be the cause, but ir sure looks like some metal to metal contact????


Pitts don't listen to the shade tree mechanic friesm2000, he is an ........

Last edited by CH46ESeaKnight; May 21, 2010 at 11:10 PM.
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Old May 22, 2010 | 01:04 AM
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get an Hyundai Genesis Coupe 6MT 5 years or 60k miles bumper to bumper. 7 years or 100k for engine tranny etc and 10 years for a body its a nice car really but hyundai. i know but for 31k you got it fully
loaded. drive one like i did and after that i fell into it.

GL
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Old May 22, 2010 | 01:13 AM
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Its a nice car, for what you get. Im a bit let down by the interior though. Its a bit plasticy. The sedan has a nicer interior, but it doesnt have the same powertrain.

And Im sorry for those who bought one, but I dont consider them luxurious nor sporty. Its a Hyundai. Honda, Nissan, and Toyota brought different marquees to the US market for a reason. People arent going to buy a $40k Hyundai (or $30k Honda, Nissan, or Toyota back then). At least not the people Hyundai was aiming for (Lexus, BMW drivers). I dont even see many of them on the road near me. I saw three coupes and two sedans. I haven't paid attention to US sales figures though.

Then again the car market is a bit bleek right now, at least for the money. The 370Z is nice, but pricey. The new GT is an awesome car, until you add the same features the CL has and it becomes a $40k car less taxes. And the interior isnt even up to par with a $22k Civic Si IMO; way too much plastic, and the seat, while comfortable, are not sporty at all.

But this post is utterly pointless in this thread.
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Old May 22, 2010 | 01:22 AM
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i would rather compare it to g37 than 370z. 31k full loaded hyundai track edition vs 46k for g37. it is plasticy but for that price its a great and fun car to drive with great warranty that 46k g37 wont give you. and car really looks nice. and im talking about genesis coupe only.
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Old May 22, 2010 | 02:13 AM
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Honestly, Im not a fan of either of them. As I said, theres not much on the market (that Id consider). At least in the sports-coupe segment. And Im not buying new ever, unless I reign in my mileage to the point where a lease makes sense.

But, if the fun-factor is a big decider, the base GT with 6MT starts out at $30k, less then the Genesis. Its faster, and responds really well to mods. And the mileage isnt too bad either (26mpg highway).
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