jsrusse11

my spark plug on my 93 pickup with the 3.0 V6 had a spark plug just shoot out while i was driving. now the hole is all messed up and i can't get a plug to thread. anyone have any ideas for me? anything please

95_4X4Runner

I found some info here:
http://www.iboats.com/ubb/Forum17/HTML/001309.html

Helicoil makes a specific insert for repairing stripped plug holes...is called a KEENSERT....a one piece steel insert...you retap the hole larger an install this piece,i use em all the time for guys that get too excited changing their plugs....can be done with the head in place...just gotta be careful.

I tried a fix that you guys may not approve of, but I figured it was worth a shot, although I kind of dread the "cussing out" that i am probably gonna get here. I spread a thin layer of JB Weld ( a product that I have had great success with in many applications) on the threads of the plug and tightened it right to the point where it was giving before. Ater setting for 24 hours, the plug was stable. I fired up and she ran well, spraying soapy water around the base of the plug and it showed no compression leak. I took her to 4000 rpms and still the plug is stable.
I know this is not a permanent fix, but if it holds, then I will pull the head off in the fall and fix it right. I am not a mechanic, I am a boater, and although it is not always the best thing to do, I look for the fix that will get me home. Or back on the water in this case. Let me know if I am being too foolish, it is a case of risk vs return management.

rah1420

Get a mechanic to put a Helicoil insert in. Happens a lot to vehicles with aluminum heads, according to my mechanic. Does the 3.slow have Al heads? Anyway, my local wrench charged me $100 for the helicoil inserts on my wife's RAV4.

jsrusse11

don't u have to tap the hole the use the insert then tap again. and won't that leave flakes inside my cylinder. is there a way to do it safely without taking it out. and can they even fit in there. theres not much room on my 3.0

rah1420

Just take it to the mechanic and let them do it. IDK how he did it, but he did. The RAV is DOHC, so it has super deep wells where the spark plug goes. He wasn't sure he could even fit the helicoil tool in there, but he did. IDK about the chips.

Helicoil is the way to do it safely without taking it out. Not sure what you mean. If you mean "another way," well I don't know. If you need a timing belt, you might as well drop the cash and go through the pain of taking the heads off. Then you can replace the timing belts as long as you're in there.