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2008 TL AT
I had my number 4 spark plug blow out of my engine, taking out the coil and plastic engine cover.
I had it towed to a shop that is telling me that the heads need to be removed because all the spark plugs are loose.
I have 166,000 miles on the engine and I did the timing belt at 150,000 and the old timing belt looked great.
The plugs were changed at 100,000 with new iridium plugs.
The plug that blew out looked in good shape.
The engine has always run great, this is the first real problem I have had.
Now are there any suggestions on what to do next.
My current plans are to have the car towed back to my place and purchase a time-sert set to redo the plug holes.
I may have to remove the heads to get to the back bank.
Is there anything else that I should check.
you can rethread #4 and you don't have to worry about the rest of the plugs. If too much anti-seize is used and not enough torque applied to the spark plugs, the can back out over time as it happened to you.
The J-series engine tends to blow out number 5 cylinder plug so I would certainly check ALL the plugs and verify that they are tight.
Worst case senario, you can buy a new head and get it swapped in and back running again.
This is a very common issue on J series engines - a quick google will show Pilots, MDXs, and TLs all experience this. It's usually #5 from what I've seen, but can be any of them.
You're LUCKY it was #4 and not 1-3. Doing a time sert on the back is a PITA.
I bought my car with a blown out #5 (it put a dent in the hood where it blew out!) and drove it 300 miles home (it runs surprisingly good above 1500 rpms) installed a time sert and bam - idled like new. Runs great.
I believe the consensus here is to check your plug torque every oil change.
Happened to me too a few months back - 2006 TL, 112K on it at the time, plug #5. Kicker was I had the set of brand new spark plugs sitting on my counter for 6 months waiting for a weekend that was warm and that I had time and was planning to change them out literally the weekend after it happened. I put in the insert and it's been fine ever since.
The dealer wanted some ungodly amount of money to take off the head and have it sent out to a machine shop for repair, and said there was a 50/50 chance they'd have to replace the head.
so when I change the plug at 86k miles all plugs are tight, I don't use torque wrench lol. I tight with my hand to where feel the crush washer got crush a bit then let go.
2008 TL AT
I had my number 4 spark plug blow out of my engine, taking out the coil and plastic engine cover.
I had it towed to a shop that is telling me that the heads need to be removed because all the spark plugs are loose.
I have 166,000 miles on the engine and I did the timing belt at 150,000 and the old timing belt looked great.
The plugs were changed at 100,000 with new iridium plugs.
The plug that blew out looked in good shape.
The engine has always run great, this is the first real problem I have had.
Now are there any suggestions on what to do next.
My current plans are to have the car towed back to my place and purchase a time-sert set to redo the plug holes.
I may have to remove the heads to get to the back bank.
Is there anything else that I should check.
The dealer (as usual) is an idiot and/or ripping you off. You only need to blow out / vacuum out / run a magnet in the #4 cylinder and then timesert the threads and replace the plug and coil. Should be an easy DIY or pay someone ~$300 to do it for you. The head does not need to come off.
Who put these plugs in? Did they use anti-seize or not? I'm going to guess that they didn't use A/S and then failed to properly torque them down.
The service manual calls for A/S and 13 ft-lbs of torque. If you don't use A/S, then the NGK spec calls for 18-21.6 ft-lbs of torque.
You definitely will need to check your other plugs. If you can't determine whether A/S was used, I'd replace them all and use A/S. I've never had an issue with a plug blowout following the service manual procedure...
FYI, from what I've read, the most common plug to blow is #5, followed by #2 and #4...
Originally Posted by csmeance
... If too much anti-seize is used and not enough torque applied to the spark plugs, the can back out over time as it happened to you.
I've not heard any proof of too much A/S being a cause. I certainly agree that not enough torque could be an issue when A/S is not used...
so when I change the plug at 86k miles all plugs are tight, I don't use torque wrench lol. I tight with my hand to where feel the crush washer got crush a bit then let go.
I do the same. Never use a torque wrench, never had a problem
OK, to clarify guys, yes I've heard of them working loose and I DO check them regularly. That seems to be the "common problem."
What I've never heard of is a spark plug shooting like a rocket out of the threads and denting/punching a hole in the hood. Would love to see pics of that spark plug...if he was able to find it.
you can rethread #4 and you don't have to worry about the rest of the plugs. If too much anti-seize is used and not enough torque applied to the spark plugs, the can back out over time as it happened to you.
The J-series engine tends to blow out number 5 cylinder plug so I would certainly check ALL the plugs and verify that they are tight.
Worst case senario, you can buy a new head and get it swapped in and back running again.
This is what a friend did. Replaced the head with a used one, new head gaskets, new spark plugs and new coil pack...done.
OK, to clarify guys, yes I've heard of them working loose and I DO check them regularly. That seems to be the "common problem."
What I've never heard of is a spark plug shooting like a rocket out of the threads and denting/punching a hole in the hood. Would love to see pics of that spark plug...if he was able to find it.
Mine are fine...
Good thing yours are ok, but you not being aware of it does not mean that a. it happens, b. it happens quite a bit.
I wasn't aware of the J35 having issues with cracking piston skirts, but apparently to Honda technicians, it is pretty common. Not as common as the spark plugs blowing out and denting the hood, but still common.
There's a couple different ways this can happen. The plug will loosen and melt the electrode, and sometimes melt the coil.
The plug will loosen to the point that it blows out completely.
You can simply google Acura MDX spark plug blow out, or Acura TL spark plug blow out, or Honda Accord spark plug blow out, or Honda Oddyssey spark plug blow out, or Honda Pilot spark plug blow out and you'll find TONS of results.
It's also very common in the Ford Triton engines. Did you know spun bearings are common in 2.0L WRX engines? The theory is using Mobil 1, but no direct proof. Did you know that piston slap is common in LS1s? Did you know that optispark issues are common in LT1s?
Not being aware of something doesn't make it uncommon.
OK, to clarify guys, yes I've heard of them working loose and I DO check them regularly. That seems to be the "common problem."
What I've never heard of is a spark plug shooting like a rocket out of the threads and denting/punching a hole in the hood. Would love to see pics of that spark plug...if he was able to find it.
Mine are fine...
its happened not too common but it occur more than "rare" usual, I saw plenty of threads happen to J30A1 (6th gen Accord or 1st gen CL) where #4 is the one love to blow out. 19 ft-lbs is nothing IMO, the way I tighten it at least gotta be 60 ft-lbs. Since I change spark plugs on 5 cars from the past, I never had any problem.
You guys got me nervous, so I just finished checking torque on my plugs (13 ft-lbs with AS originally used when I installed the plugs about 15K miles ago)- torque is the same, so no worries now.
I did the time-sert and my TL is running fine now.
I bought my time-sert used from ebay and I also bought a cheap endoscope camera from ebay.
I don't see how I could have done it without the endoscope to look into the cylinder and pull out chips and position the piston out of the way and to see if the seat was cut correctly.
I used grease on the tap to catch most of the chips, but some still got in.
Some long picks and a long toothbrush to clean the grease out.
I also use some tubing connected to a shop vac to suck out some chips.
Just as another data point, I am adding my experience with my 2006 TL. At 100K, had timing belt service done by my trusted mechanic, which includes spark plug replacement. No problems until I hit 205K and transmission went out. Had same mechanic install Jasper re-mfg trans... knew it needed bank 1 cat, so did that and, at same time, did the timing belt service again. All is well with trans and cat but at about 235K, 14 months after service, started getting misfires. Did the Seafoam thing to see if that would help. I drive 120 miles per day and after about third day, I could tell at least one cylinder was no longer firing at all. It turned out to be #3. Coil was burnt up and plug was loose. Replaced coil and tightened plug without torque wrench to where I felt comfortable with aluminum head. Two days later, coil burnt up again. I tried torqueing plug to 13 ft-lb but kept spinning. Took plug out to find one side of the threaded portion had eroded away by the blow-by. Luckily, trying to tighten only took out a thread or two, so I just put new plug and torqued to 13 ft-lb, but with no anti-seize compound. All other plugs except #5 were loose, so torqued them as well. Another 14 months, ~25K miles, go by and misfire on #3 again. Plugs loose on 1, 2, and 3. Found recommendation to torgue to 16 ft-lbs, but when attempting, it seemed not tight enough, so I went to 20 ft-lbs...thinking I would retire the car before I needed to change plugs again, so no big deal if they got stuck. So now I see through this thread that if you don't use anti-seize, you torque them to 18 - 21...who would of thought you torque higher without anti-seize???? Also, had oil in #2 plug well, but not interested in replacing valve cover seals when it is so close to end of life and oil level has not changed (we all love Hondas because they don't leak or burn oil).
Running again
