Smart car is running like a dream and leak free ( just needs plugs now)

[Vince70]

I thought as I had a bit of spare time I would change the plugs on my smart car (6 in total and the bumper has to be removed to get to the bottom 3)

 

So I decided to do the bottom set first and I just can't get them to shift and I'm expecting the things to snap if I put any more pressure on them..

 

I've tried getting them out while the engine is cold also when it's hot and have filled the plug recess on all 3 with wd40 but still no luck, I think the only thing I've not tried is dropping the engine out lol..

 

So I just wondered if anyone could give me any suggestions..

[Lacquer Peel]

WD40 isn't a good penetrating spray, I'd use Plus Gas or anything else and keep spraying them for a few days if necessary.

[purplebargeken]

Good call on the PlusGas, WD40 is shite for this kind of thing.

[Timewaster]

I would also go with a penetrating oil instead of WD.

 

Maybe try tightening them a gnats to break the seal?

 

Everyone feel free to flame me if that is a silly idea.

[bub2006]

Try tightening a tad then loosening back and forth. Gentle gentle. +1 on plusgas or similar too. Begs question if bumper needs to be removed have they ever been changed? I had this issue on my uncles omega v6. Passenger side under wiringloom at back near bulkhead. Never been touched in 140k

[Station]

If the car is running fine, leave them in there.

Get a garage to do it.

[Sigmund Fraud]

You can apply plenty of torque to a plug body without it snapping - I once had to literally hang off a breaker bar to remove a cross-threaded plug.

 

The plugs will eventually come off, the question is what state will the threads in the cylinder head be when that happens... 

[Barry Cade]

You can apply plenty of torque to a plug body without it snapping - I once had to literally hang off a breaker bar to remove a cross-threaded plug.

 

The plugs will eventually come off, the question is what state will the threads in the cylinder head be when that happens... 

Have you ever worked on a Ford Ka? snapped quite a few on those- I found the answer to be the freeze spray, get the engine hot, give the plugs a blast with this and they should come out. Don't go mental, and don't use anything bigger than a 3/8ths ratchet.

[Sigmund Fraud]

Have you ever worked on a Ford Ka? snapped quite a few on those- I found the answer to be the freeze spray, get the engine hot, give the plugs a blast with this and they should come out. Don't go mental, and don't use anything bigger than a 3/8ths ratchet.

 

I've admittedly never worked on a Ka ! Good point about the freeze spray, it's one of those things that I've wanted to try for years but still haven't !

[Vince70]

Cheers for the help it was bad enough dealing with the broken clips and seized bolts with knackered torx heads before even getting to the plugs..

 

Its all gone back together for now and PlusGas has been ordered for the next go at trying to get them undone..

 

I ordered a new sump for it which the garage is fitting on Tuesday for me so I thought I better take a complete car into them lol..

 

I'm glad I don't work on cars for a living as most would get the Basil Fawlty treatment if I did lol.

[AlabamaShrimp]

No one's said hammer a bigger spark plug over it yet??

 

This place ect......

[twosmoke300]

Can't see plus gas doing much when it has a crush seal on it that resists 200 psi !

As said before try tightening slightly and find a piece of tube that fits over the insulator and give the end of it a good smack with a hammer

[DVee8]

No one's said hammer a bigger spark plug over it yet??

 

This place ect......

No one said burn it with fire.

[Asimo]

Job for an impact driver?

I wouldn't try breaker bar, extra leverage etc. on a plug because of the large distance between the lever and the hex on the plug. The big side force applied to the socket tends to jam the thread even if it doesn't break the spark plug socket. Use a big tommy bar with both hands so the spark plug sees only torque, and no bending force.

[pshome]

Heat engine, then spray something like this on the plugs.

[fatharris]

Maybe this would be a good test for that acetone and automatic transmission fluid hint that was posted recently?

[omegod]

I wouldn't go near it with an impact wrench !! lots of plusgas over a week or so. Or just pay the garage doing the sump to get the fookers out  

[Guest Hooli]

Sell the car & buy a proper one.

[Aston Martin]

As an apprentice mechanic many years ago 2003. A guy I knew at the Ford main dealer would use wd40 and an impact wrench on Ka's that have notorious spark plug seizures.

 

He said it always worked, it probably helped that it was never his car.

[sierraman]

You'd likely break the insulation off the plug with an impact wrench. Then try getting it out...

[forddeliveryboy]

I once used a breaker bar on an Uno to remove one stubborn plug - it was outside in the snow, so I packed some around said plug once the engine was hot. Did worry the whole car would rotate, though. All was well, I was slightly surprised. 

[sierraman]

If anything freeze spray might unlock it better than most, WD40 etc won't work as the plug is designed to be gas tight. Id find out why it won't come out, pull have previously stripped threads and been araldited in the offending hole.

[billyboy406v6]

If its running ok , leave well alone.

[omegod]

All else fails just drill the fucker out and fit a timesert, helicoils are generally shit 

[sierraman]

As people have said you could well be making work and expense for yourself there. Plugs last for years now anyway, even on something as humdrum as a Focus they are a 60k job.

[dollywobbler]

I'd be wary too. It's not the plugs I'd be worried about damaging but the cylinder head. Some oaf (I know who) did the spark plugs up hideously tight on my 2CV once. I had to use a breaker bar to loosen them and unsurprisingly, one plug brought a bit of cylinder head out with it. Wasn't very impressed given I was about to drive to Switzerland! Needless to say, that garage is on the avoid list (and is fortunately now hundreds of miles away).

[twosmoke300]

Just do what an (ex) customer did to me - fuck the threads up but bodge them back in enough to drive to me and ask for a full service .

I removed said plugs with half the threads and told him the news . He said I must have done it and need to repair it foc . Car was pushed out onto the road and customer told to fuck off !

Benefits of being your own boss .

[sierraman]

Araldited?

[twosmoke300]

No . cross threaded

[twosmoke300]

Plenty of press about bad garages - lots of cunty customers too !