Is this real bad or what?

That's good. The drill bit is usually the hail-mary option. When you know all other options are off the table :)

If you had a plastic cap or cork you could shove into the spark plug hole it would make cleaning it out easier. Just clean it good enough to pull the plug, cover the hole good, and clean the rest out.

what... no dynamite... wow
 
i would def. take the valve cover off once you have this all cleaned out....just to make sure
 
Go to walmart and buy one of those cans of compressed air for 4 bucks. You can blow out anything in the well.
 
I'd be a little afraid if water is getting up into the coil cover and into the coil well. That shouldn't happen.

You can dry the water or let it evaporate. It won't do any harm that way. Just don't fill a cylinder with water once the spark plug is out.
 
Go to walmart and buy one of those cans of compressed air for 4 bucks. You can blow out anything in the well.


I did that, not nearly the same power as a compressor hah. It blows out most the liquid but not any of the saturated sandy stuff. Once the can gets real cold it gets super weak.

I tried to at least budge the spark plug, and it is super tight so I didn't strong arm it just in case the socket isnt on it good enough, didnt want to round the spark plug or anything. Im thinking it's corroded on there pretty tight. Going to soak it for several hours to hopefully loosen up the stuff I can't reach around the plug that is still there.
 
Glad to hear the cleanup is going well.

Quick question: Did you by any chance run a carfax on the vehicle? If you havent it may be illuminating what you will learn about the car.
 
Yes it was done immediately after I was told it had 88k miles. 2 owners (1 corporate, 1 my friend) no accidents on the report, no odometer fraud on the report, no major services on the report.
 
You can dry the water or let it evaporate. It won't do any harm that way. Just don't fill a cylinder with water once the spark plug is out.

If he does what you mentioned, yes. I'm talking about if water is finding its way into your plug wells from regular driving.
 
If he does what you mentioned, yes. I'm talking about if water is finding its way into your plug wells from regular driving.

I am thinking it is coming in from the coil cover where the bolt was missing. Since theres only signs of it on that one coil, where the bolt is missing.
 
your assuming its water.... i have my doubts... the plug could be spinning in the "cast"...
 
Dynamite will also help in the removal process. You might need to rebuild the engine if you don't use it right though. Just saying... :shifty:
 
Where would the rust be coming from then? Like I said, the other wells on this bank have a little bit of oil as well... and do not have rusty looking boots with that oxidized looking nonsense at the bottom around the plug. The valve cover bolt in-between the 8 cylinder and the one to the left of it is rusty as well, the ones further down to the other side are not.



Unrelated: I'm ordering a rear bearing and axle retainer nut for my right rear wheel. Is that all the parts needed for that job? The axle threads are pretty rusty... I'm hoping they clean up instead of needing a new shaft. Also do I NEED the puller tool to separate the knuckle from the hub or whatever?
 
Where would the rust be coming from then? ...

Exhaust gases (such as those that might blow by a loose spark plug) are corrosive and moist. I'm not absolutely saying that is what is going on, just answering your question.
 
I am thinking it is coming in from the coil cover where the bolt was missing. Since theres only signs of it on that one coil, where the bolt is missing.

Shouldn't be. And definitely not in a large enough quantity to do what you're dealing with right now. Most people don't put all the bolts back on after pulling the coil covers off. I didn't. I left one off the passenger and two off the driver since they were a pain in the ass. Some people don't even run coil covers at all without any issues with water.

You shouldn't have that much water entering your plug wells. Ever.
 
Yeah that makes sense. I'm going to freak out if that's the case. How much would it cost to have that re-threaded if the plug is just sitting in there? What do you suggest I do for the time being? Keeping in mind I cannot afford to have anything more than like $50 pop up right now. I am willing to just leave it be and see if it works with the new coil for now until I can afford to address that
 
it might be to late... if you cant fix it then stop messing with it.... although if you choose to run it (not recommended), you run the risk of blowing it out on the road...
 
I hear (but have not used them) that Time Certs are the best way to repair damaged spark plug hole threads. They arent super cheap but cheaper than a new head usually.
http://www.timesert.com/html/sparkplug.html

You can also use a helicoil thread repair kit. It is cheaper than the Time Cert but I hear not always as successful. I dont know what size you would need but here is a link so you get the idea.
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_SPM187899535P?sid=IDx20070921x00003a&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=SPM187899535


Time Cert says you dont need to pull the head but I'm not sure about the helicoil. Maybe someone with some experience with these will chime in. Good luck!
 
I wouldn't be comfortable tapping the hole myself, I fear the mighty head haha. Any idea what that would run at a shop? I'm sure I could get the car to a local shop with it the way it is and the new coil. All assuming this plug hole is NOT fine. I think it's 50/50.. I do see how water is farfetched but I also question what was at the bottom being an epoxy or resin considering how easily it seemed to dissolve with PB blaster. I also think we're all speculating considering nobody has seen this on the LS thats in this thread so far. I really want to just wing it and pull it out but that has the risk of immobilizing me for a long time, and I also want to just skip it and give er hell but that has its own risks as well.

I hate this. I wish it was one of the easy cylinders to get to -____-
 
The bolt I speak of us for the plate that goes over all the coils. Not the one for the actual coil itself.

What's a katrina car? This car is from Illinois only.


Katrina cars can be anywhere.

Cars that were submerged in the hurricane and put back on the market. Theyre not even good as parts cars.
 
I firmly believe I'd mess it up. Probably get some shavings in the cylinder. Or the whole tool somehow. It's kind of hard to get over there too, real cramped.
 
I firmly believe I'd mess it up. Probably get some shavings in the cylinder. Or the whole tool somehow. It's kind of hard to get over there too, real cramped.

Good point. Well, whatever you decide to do...good luck to you. You still got a good deal on your car even if you have to replace the head.
 
Pulling the valve cover is only going to get you a small amount down the hole for the spark plug, and not much more to see. Why run the risk of any of that junk getting around the cams and lifters.
 

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