Background:
Wanted to do a 75,000 miles service on my Ram V8 - so took it to a shop for a standard plugs/wires/cap/rotor/o2sensor. Long story short, the shop broke 2 plugs when they tried to remove them. They suggested that the only remedy was to remove the head and probably replace it. Cost - $3,000.......

Had the car towed home. I started working on it today - what a mess. Needless to say, 1 plug was broken off and 2 heat-shield were mangled. So, rolled upi my sleeves....

I read about similar posts here and decided to do the job myself. Used lots and lots of SeaFoam and let it soak for 24 hours. Used a set of channel locks to wiggle it free - no dice. Took a propane torch and heated the heat shields up and sprayed SeaFoam as it cooled (careful here and have a fire extinguisher handy - you're on your own here..). Did this about 4 times and eventually the heat shield popped out. Took about 90 minutes.

Carefully unscrewed the one plug - it popped out. Phew....

Now the own problem I have is removing the one broken plug. It broke below the "nut" and all the insulation if gone. I don't want to use an ease out (yet). My thought is to drill off the shoulder of the plug and then use an ease out (after letting some SeaFoam soak in all night). The other thought is to use a left handed drill and try to drill out the whole remainder of the plug (carefully).

The last idea is to put a threaded rod into the hole of the plug and weld the
rod to the shoulder of the plug (I think I have just enough room to get a mig
welder in there). Then double nut the threaded rod and it should come out. right?

Any other ideas?


Gerry

 

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I also have never heard of SeaFoam being used as a penetrating fluid.

There is one study floating around the net that says a mixture of acetone and ATF is the most effective penetrating oil. But I suspect proper application is difficult to accomplish as the 2 do not mix.



I'd do multiple soakings and heatings with a known good penetrating fluid like kano labs kroil or PB blaster over a few days.

Last resort is to pull the head and you can do it for less than the quote you received, and a significant amount less if you have a torque wrench and some basic skills.

 

The very best product on the market right now is Seafoam Deep Creep! A bit expensive, but for this job he is doing, I say he's right on!




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So, when I had started to change out the plugs over 5 years ago when I bought the van, one plug broke below the nut-hex. The others were rusted in well and good.

Took the van to a shop. They got all the plugs out. In the process, two other plugs broke just like the one I had done. Seafoam Deep Creep and three EZ outs were needed by the shop. Total parts and labor to change all 8 came to $300.



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Don't want to turn this into my penetrating oil is better than yours. I've used SeaFoam Deep Creep and PB Blaster - they are on the same shelf at PepBoys and cost about the same. I've heard of acetone/AFT as well - I'll soak the the area
today. Patience seems to be the order of the day.

Tomorrow - I'll place a large bolt down the plug and weld the bolt to the edge/lip
of the plug and try to break the plug free. I'll try it on a spare plug and my vise today to see how much leverage I can get.

It's a shame the shop absolved themselves of any resposibility. I managed to remove the remaining plugs without breaking any of them. The shop broke 2 plugs.

Pulling the head in NOT an option - I'll drive the van to a junk yard first - it's not worth my time or the money I would need to have another shop fix the problem.

thanks for all the suggestions so far.
Gerry

 

After seeing Seafoam Deep Creep in action against PB blaster, Liquid Wrench, and WD40, the end result was Seafoam-DC being the winner in more than one application. I have given up on WD40. The other two still have good uses.

As for the cost, Seafoam-DC isn't $30 a can. It's more like $9 in my area.

Also, you are right about one thing, you can make the Seafoam-DC yourself for as little as $3 per pint. http://hildstrom.com/projects/seafoam/index.html

Getting plugs out or O2 sensors can be a really big pain. Seafoam-DC was the only thing to loosen the O2 sensor to remove from the van. It will even work when applying a torch for heat too without causing a small fire.

 

Why not? This is what they're made for. I think it's much safer than trying to weld next to your fuel system or trying to drill the plug and getting metal chips down into the cylinder.

 

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They presented a solution, it was just an expensive one. Not too many shops are going to spend free hours playing around with penetrating oils and torches.