Spark plug electrodes !!!!!!!!!!

[philthehill]

Whilst not relating to my Minor it relates to a well known make of spark plug which I have used for many years in my cars and Minors and I am sure a great many Minor owners use them as well.
Just after leaving home this afternoon my Suzuki Wagon 'R' 1300cc 16V engine started to misfire and then developed a tapping noise from the cylinder head area. I stopped the engine and got the wife to tow me back home with her car. Upon investigation I discovered that the earth electrode on the No 3 cylinder spark plug had come adrift and now appears to be embedded in the top of the piston, hence the tapping noise. Looking at the weld holding the electrode in place it is a wonder it did not detach earlier as there is very little sticking the electrode to the plug body. I am hopeful that I am going to get away just with removing the cylinder head and detaching the electrode from the head of the piston as there appears to be no leak past from either the inlet or exhaust valve.
Has anyone experienced the loss of the earth electrode on their spark plugs? I have never come across the problem before.
If it was a minor the electrode would have most likely been spit out of the exhaust and the car put back on the road in about an hour but now I am going to spend Saturday stripping the head off the Suzuki. Thankfully the problem did not occur when completing a 600 mile round trip just over a week ago. So poor quality control/parts are causing me great expense even if I do the job myself. Now where have I heard that story before. So the moral of this tale is to check your plug electrodes for possible detachment from the plug body and be careful not to strain the weld when adjusting the gaps not that I have had the need to adjust the plug gaps on this particular car.

[lambrettalad]

Sorry about your troubles ,hopefully you were just unlucky

Touch wood never happened to me

[philthehill]

Lambrettalad
Thank you for your comment.
Phil

[M25VAN]

Well the new plugs I have just put in will be coming out for a check! Not something | have ever looked for. Just console yourself with how bad it could have been.

[philthehill]

Yes it could have been worse but I have not yet removed the head so what delights I will find have yet to come.
No wonder garage labour costs for repairs are so high today; I started the process of removing the head at 08:30 this morning and called it a day at 16:00 having worked through without a stop. To get at the head I have had to remove most of the front bodywork, front section of exhaust, radiator, inlet manifold/fuel rail, loads of pipework and electrical leads/connections to numerous sensors. The garage quoted over £600 to take the head off and refit notwithstanding what they may have found when the head was removed. So that is why I decided to do the job myself. I console myself with the thought I cannot make it any worse (I hope).
Makes me think of ditching the modern car and going back to an everyday Minor.

[philthehill]

Finally managed to get the head off. Not a job for the faint hearted. No manuals available and could not find any helpful information on the web so had to dismantle carefully. Eventually found the hydraulic cam chain tensioner inside the timing chain chest after removing the chest cover. Carefully set the timing marks and marked everything up with indelible pen. I photographed the various stages during dismantling to remind me how it would go back together during the rebuild. Thankfully no real damage to the head, piston, valves or bore just a few ding marks to the head and piston which I have now cleaned up. Turned the head upside down and filled the combustion chamber with petrol. There was no leaking past the valves so all well there. The earth electrode was still in one piece but squashed. It was lying on top of the piston so I was able to remove it easily. I am just thankful that I stopped the engine when I did. I will be changing the make of my spark plugs after this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![frame][/frame]

[bmcecosse]

I would have tried fishing for the electrode with a magnet.... Please PM me the make Phil....... I am a confirmd Champion fan myself - hope I'm not going to be disillusioned......

[MarkyB]

I'd have a word with the plug manufacturer, that is a very unusual failure and may mean there is a bad batch of plugs out there.
Well done for getting it sorted without any more damage being done.

[samuria]

looks like a *gk bkr6e,,,,,,,

[philthehill]

MarkyB
The spark plugs were fitted before I bought the car and the remaining three were in excellent condition with no wear or excessive gaps with the car running superbly on the 600 mile round trip over the weekend of 29th Sept without missing a beat and with excellent fuel economy. So whilst it may serve a purpose mentioning it to the manufacturer I have no details regarding date they were fitted or batch number.

Samuria
I could not possibly comment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

bmc
I tried with a magnet down the plug hole but it did not work. The trouble with modern 16 Valve engines is that the skinny 14mm plugs are so deep down in the cylinder head it is very hard to do anything other than look directly at the top centre of the piston. I think that Champion plugs will be fitted this time.

[katy]

Looks like a "wtf" plug to me.

[bmcecosse]

Skinny 14mm plugs?? 10mm have been common for a while on many engines - but my daughter's 16V Clio has 8mm plugs.......yes - like a pencil - and I don't have a plug spanner to fit them (and before any smart a$$ chips in - I can't get a chisel to them...I've tried...) but they have now done 50k miles, and still working well....

[katy]

FWIW, according to the Denso website the 8mm plugs have a 13mm hex on them.

[bmcecosse]

Yes...but I don't have a thin wall plug key that size.

[philthehill]

The plugs fitted to this particular Suzuki Wagon 'R' have a 14mm thread with a 16mm hexagon to fit the plug spanner over so my use of the term "skinny 14mm spark plug" is appropriate. So far the only tool I have had to purchase to do this job has been a 1/2" drive 10mm extra deep socket to fit the splined head cylinder head bolts which hopefully I will never have to use the again (socket that is)!

[philthehill]

Thankfully the Suzuki is back together and seems to be going better than ever. I decided that as it is a alloy head it would be prudent to get a light skim on the head gasket face so it has had 4 thou removed by my local motor engineering firm. I could not get Champion spark plugs so had to settle with fitting Bosch Platinum Iridium ones and they seem to be doing the business. I am in no hurry to do another Suzuki 16V but being methodical has paid off and has saved me a considerable amount of money. Cant wait to get back to the simple Morris though!!!!!!

[MarkyB]

Applies to NGK racing plugs.


http://ngkntk.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/ ... Hi-Res.pdf

[philthehill]

Markyb
Many thanks for the info above.
I have checked the details of the faulty plug against the NGK info and unfortunately the plug I had fail is not listed.
But the help line number is most useful, I may give them a ring and see what they say about my plug.
Thanks
Phil