[4th Gen : 01-07]: Spark plug broke off
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01-09-2023, 04:42 PM
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: York, PA
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Spark plug broke off
Hello. My 07 Grand Caravan was throwing P0300. Advance Auto said to try spark plugs first. So I first did the easy front three. I was hesitant to tackle the back; looked like a pain in the posterior. My mechanic said it'd be $150 to do those three, so I figured I'd try first. I got cylinder 5's plug out, and it was a lot easier than I thought it'd be. I moved to cylinder 3 but it felt like there wasn't much room with the manifold right there. So I checked cylinder 1. Still tight, but seemed better. Then the manifold bit my finger, lol. I should've taken my blood spewing on the garage floor as a sign to just pay the mechanic, lol, but I pressed on. I started to loosen it, putting pressure on but it took more and more until SNAP, suddenly no pressure. Sheared the darned thing right in half:
After a prolific amount of cursing, I figured I'd move the van out of the garage. I've heard people say their cars are running on less cylinders, so I figured with the bottom of the plug rust-welded into the block I can probably start it to back it out and it'd just run rough or something. No, it started making a terrible popping sound, very bad sounding. I shut it off in like less than a second, but now I'm afraid if bits of plug fell into the combustion chamber that I've just made things worse. (sob)
I imagine the engine probably has to come out, right? I'm trying to decide if it's worth it. It's an 07 with ~124k on the clock but it also has a totally leaky and nonfunctional front/rear AC, a busted ebrake, driver map light keeps melting every time I replace the socket and a lot of rust on both rear quarters - to the point I had to find new jacking points. I'm not much of a mechanic (as evidenced by this whole snafu lol) so I have to pay a professional. If you were in my shoes, do you think it's worth fixing? I asked my usual shop and he doesn't even want to deal with it. Facebook people recommended another shop, he couldn't give me a clear estimate but said it could be over a grand in a heartbeat.
I hate to send it to the scrappers, but I'm kinda feeling this may be the end of the line for it. Do you agree? Would you try to fix it?
Cylinder 1:
After a prolific amount of cursing, I figured I'd move the van out of the garage. I've heard people say their cars are running on less cylinders, so I figured with the bottom of the plug rust-welded into the block I can probably start it to back it out and it'd just run rough or something. No, it started making a terrible popping sound, very bad sounding. I shut it off in like less than a second, but now I'm afraid if bits of plug fell into the combustion chamber that I've just made things worse. (sob)
I imagine the engine probably has to come out, right? I'm trying to decide if it's worth it. It's an 07 with ~124k on the clock but it also has a totally leaky and nonfunctional front/rear AC, a busted ebrake, driver map light keeps melting every time I replace the socket and a lot of rust on both rear quarters - to the point I had to find new jacking points. I'm not much of a mechanic (as evidenced by this whole snafu lol) so I have to pay a professional. If you were in my shoes, do you think it's worth fixing? I asked my usual shop and he doesn't even want to deal with it. Facebook people recommended another shop, he couldn't give me a clear estimate but said it could be over a grand in a heartbeat.
I hate to send it to the scrappers, but I'm kinda feeling this may be the end of the line for it. Do you agree? Would you try to fix it?
Cylinder 1:
Last edited by Strahan; 01-09-2023 at 04:46 PM.