another 20 min tuneup...takes 5 hours

[Johnny Mac]

why does this always happen to us??? we can all pull a smallblock out of our darts/dusters and such in a hour flat....but the second we go to change a light bulb in a wifes minivan, or help a buddy run a single brakeline....all hell breaks loose...I'm asking some advice on my current debacle, and although mopar related, its only 3/4 of a smallblock...and not an A body...thats right...the powerhouse that is the 3.9 liter dakota lol...
long story short i purchased this truck with 80K miles on it, its a 99, for a future project, very very cheaply. Well my sister being only 20 needed something to drive, and i told her if she pays insurance on it, she can drive it until a year or so i may wanna mess with it and do an LA swap...but anyway, it runs great, she puts 3000 miles on it, and it stalls once or twice last week, nothing major. so today i get the usual cap, rotor, plugs, wires, and a bottle of injector cleaner... i figure 20 mins maybe 30 tops....oh god was i wrong.
upon loosening the first plug...it pulls out the porcelin and the "nut" only....thats right...no threads...it sheared Right at the nut, leaving the ground strap and threaded portion in the head....so i pretend that i'm not fuming and ready to put a wrench through the window and take all the others out...until i get back to number 2 cyl...this is where i realize the plugs have never been changed, bc the head is machined so poorly that there is no way in hell that a socket is going on it, plus it has the stupid heat shield tube that was basically a crushed pop can by the time i finally grinded and grinded away enough to get on a socket and get it out...so i made a trip to awful zone looking for a "easy out" and praying the whole way, tomorrow i plan on attempting the easy out to get the final plug out, and hoping for the best.
i know fords were notorious for a plug issue similar to this but the way the plug simply sheared at the threads was new to me....so thats my rant/request for advice...hindsight i should have shot all the plugs with WD long b4 i attempted them...but again how was i to know they were in there since new in 99......when it rains it pours fellas!

 

[dodge freak]

cause these newer cars are made so cheap, aluminum heads stink, sounds neat, looks cool but where would we be if the 340's came stock with aluminum heads?

For low mielage hotrods, ok, for 100,000 rides no thanks,

And don't believe plugs last 100,000 miles, every 3--4 years the plugs should be changed

 

[Johnny Mac]

oh yeah....i agree on the plugs but how would i know they were never changed once....and yeah the aftermarket oe replacement stuff is horrible...the kota was graced with bottom line champion plugs...that i would not punish my lawn mower with.

 

[340plot]

peaking of plugs, i just put a j. a=yard 4.7 into my 99 jeep, and when i went to change them, now one of them had the right gap. they had like 1/4 inch gap!. there was no tip left to them.lol

 

[LH23H2R]

Those mediocre Ford "Modular" motors are 'plug strippers . We sell a lot of the repair kits for those motors ; absolute garbage .

It amazes me just how many "professional" mechanics will just grind new plugs into a motor without putting any anti-seize on them !!
Hell , that's tough to do on an iron head motor , and downright stupid on an aluminum head motor !!

Have you considered buying a "previously enjoyed" replacement head instead of wrestling with that Alligator plug ?
Oh , and stay away from Chumpion plugs [-X

 

[67Dart273]

I feel the pain but know not the solution. Until we the sheeple raise enough hell, changes won't happen.

Remember, the automakers already went broke, and all that happened is that the US govt bailed 'em out. So we the sheeple obviously cannot complain by "goin somewhere else."

Hourly mechanics must just love this stuff. They get to tell the customere "we need to do some very expensive work because the plugs broke off."

 

[Johnny Mac]

well an Easy out was the answer fellas....pulled the remaining piece out just fine... until on fireup it started producing its first ever lifter tick.....F me right?...it was very very loud...but subsided after a little but of driving and a bottle of engine oil treatment...what a pain this project turned into

 

[kates64dart]

what a nightmare. every time a plug has snapped on me i've been lucky enough to have just enough meat left to coax it out. still not fun

 

[Johnny Mac]

oh yeah....i agree on the plugs but how would i know they were never changed once....and yeah the aftermarket oe replacement stuff is horrible...the kota was graced with bottom line champion plugs...that i would not punish my lawn mower with.

i mean it had champion plugs in it from the factory....i would never use them in a lawn mower is what i was getting at... i threw some NGK's in it...i hate jap stuff but those are a good plug

 

[Johnny Mac]

what a nightmare. every time a plug has snapped on me i've been lucky enough to have just enough meat left to coax it out. still not fun

seriously....the pains of working on your own cars

 

[66plyValiant]

the best thing to do with those heat shields is get rid of them, all of them, I am doing a magnum engine swap on a 88 dakota and the shields are going, they hold moisture in, never seen a magnum engine with plugs easy to remove