PathFound Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 I decided to change the spark plugs on my '91 Pathfinder. I read about the difficulties with plug #6, but with the Nissan provided tools it looked okay. Seemed like it needed to be done and plugs should be easy to change, right? I started on the right side cylinder head, and got the front plug out okay. The middle plug (on the right side) was pretty tight, but with some penetrating oil it came out okay. The rear plug (on the right side) was the same. After vacuming out the dirt and spraying it with some oil, I slowly worked it back and forth a few times, then it snapped! That was bad. Very bad. I pulled up the upper portion of the plug and inspected. Turns out the metal casing that houses the porcelain part of the plug was rusted right through - just past where the socket fits over. There was maybe a few millimetres of metal that was still connected, which was the metal that snapped. So the threaded part of the plug, along with the electrode end was stuck in the head. I thought I was doomed. My dad, who has over 30 years mechanical experience was helping me though, so he promptly recommended a Bolt Extractor, also known as an Easy-Out. Being News Year's Day, everything was closed, save the Wal-mart, which did not have the Extractor. I drove to Whistler in a bad snow storm (with my other car) and borrowed an extractor from a garage where my sister works. Not knowing if the extractor was going to work, we jammed it in, turned while the extractor grabbed and the remaining spark plug came out. I breathed a sigh of relief. I got a new plug in and it was late so I closed it up and started the engine. Everything was fine, except for a couple mis-fires in its initial idle. I still need to change the 3 plugs on the left side cylinder head, which are the more difficult ones. The good news is that the 3 I removed looked fine. There was no carbon build up or cracks. They were just normally worn. The real culprit was the rusted plug casing. I blame this partly on the design because the plugs sit deep down in holes and if water sits in there it WILL rust the spark plugs. Word of warning: for those who hose down your engines, make sure you blow out the top of the engine with some compressed air or suck it up with a wet-vac. Or run the engine long enough to ENSURE the water is evaporated. I really hope I don't have worse issues with the other 3 plugs. For the record I installed NGK G-Power Platinum spark plugs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k9sar Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 glad to hear you got that bugger out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nige Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 put a thin layer of anti-seize compund (silver goo in a grey tub) on the threads of the plug before installing them. That way you can pretty much guarantee it won't happen again. That also happened to me once, only the entire ceramic core of the plug came out leaving only the threaded part in the head. I used an extractor too and it came right out. I use an short extension and an elbow fitting on my socket to get the #6 plug out. It's good to hear you send some compressed air down the holes where the plug sit prior to removing the old ones; dirt and grit loves to accumulate down those holes and as soon as you take the old plug out, all that crud falls into the combustion chamber which isn't good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PathFound Posted January 2, 2007 Author Share Posted January 2, 2007 I didn't have any anti-sieze for the 3 plugs I installed, but I will definately put some in the next 3. Who know, maybe I'll remove the 3 new plugs to get some ant-sieze on them. skrillaguerilla: Just like you, the entire ceramic core of the plug came out leaving only the metal casing that has the threads. Bolt Extractors work wonders! I find a vacuum with a small hose at the end is good for sucking up the dirt in the spark plug chambers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey.T Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 anti-seize them all.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twotirefryer Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 just my $.02, i would ditch the platinum plugs and stick some NGK v-power copper plugs in there. at least on turbo applications they are a high performing plug even though they don't last as long. Boohoo, they only cost $1.49 a piece. also, try taking the plugs out when the engine is warm. and yes, anti-seize will help you quite a bit your next go around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PathFound Posted January 2, 2007 Author Share Posted January 2, 2007 I've read that the plugs should be removed from a cold engine. My Chilton's manual says the same thing. Something to do with damaging threads.... So is cold better? Or warm? They are aluminum heads. I thought platinum plugs would be better? I'm sure they will work fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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