99roushstage2

Hi all,

my first post and its a not an easy one. i had a plug blow out on me. passenger bank, first plug up front. the hole looked like it had already been repaired once, which was confirmed by the guy who put my timesert in. when he got done we went to turn the engine over to blow out and debris and when i turned it over it almost came to TDC and hit a hard stop. after putting a ratchet on the crankshaft and turning it, there was no doubt something is stuck in there. i was able to get a magnet into the hole and fish up the old insert in its semi crushed glory.

the old insert is too big to come out of the spark plug hole. i know all signs point to pulling the head off to get the stupid thing out, but i had a small idea. the last thing i want to do is dive into pulling the head so i was wondering if anyone thought i was 100% absolutely out of my mind insane if i tried to drop the intake valve as much as i could and tried to stick a magnet down the intake port and get the old insert out that way. does anyone think i would have enough clearance to possibly get the insert out? i believe the insert is roughly around 11/16 of an inch at its widest point and idk if its a viable option to try and fish it out.

thanks in advance for any help, i really appreciate the input!

kugzgt

hmmm...at least its on the passenger side. its harder to get the driver side head off. its a pretty common thing with these motors. im a couple more people will chime in soon.

uberstang1

If it wont come out the plug port i doubt u can sneak it pas a valve, your best bet would be to try and break it in two small peices somehow. But honestly yu would be dumb not to remove the head just because of the simple fact if that fell into the cylinder u may hae some larger issues at this point.

uberstang1

Also a timesert requires removal of the head to install, unless ur planning a helicoil this time.

kugzgt

^this is true, hopefully it didnt gouge the crap out of your cylinder wall

99roushstage2

ok well timeserts are an over the fender job, and i already had it installed by a guy who specializes in timesert installation. when he was running the tap through the spark plug hole to cut the new threads for the timesert, i believe he screwed out what was left of the original insert and it fell into the head. i never ever experienced any type of banging from the engine while driving it after the plug blew out. i suppose it would be important to mention that my plug blew out at a light and i had to drive the car 5 miles home wondering wth was going on. from previous experience, it felt like i had just lost a plug. not a really big deal i thought, and ill just limp on home and take care of it. having reflected on that, i know that the old insert did not fall into the head until the timesert was installed. i only discovered the old insert was in the head through trying to turn the car over once to blow out the filings that we couldnt vacuum up and the engine made half a turn and came to an abrupt stop. at that point i said whoa, that was weird, lets look first. like a said before we put a ratchet on the crank and it kept coming to a complete stop which let us know we had something in there.

i was able to stick a magnet down the spark plug hole and pick up the old insert. i tried to wiggle it through the spark plug hole but it was just too big. i feel like i could really get it out through the intake port if i dropped the valve low enough so that the only issue was getting it in between the valve stem and valve seat. anyone got any idea how much clearance that is?

MyGt03

How does that old saying go? Better to be safe than sorry? Something like that?

You need to pull the head and inspect for damage. For the price of a few gaskets, its cheaper insurance to future problems. Once head is removed, the spark plug hole can be addressed in further detail.

Jay-rod427

I'm confused the old insert fell into the cylinder through the spark plug hole, but can't fit back through the spark plug hole.?.?.?

99roushstage2

My guess is the threads on the old insert were stripped out and judging from what happened i'd say it was screwed too far to begin with. When the timesert guy was installing the timesert I believe he screwed the old insert out into the head and we didn't know. So the timesert is locked in place and so yes, the old insert that is roughly the same size as the timesert will not fit through the timesert.

ctgreddy

You have 2 options, try what you're saying, drop the valve some and try and fish it out and PRAY that it didn't mess anything else up. or pull the head. Might as well try and get it out the valve first, if the cylinder/head/piston is already messed up then getting it out of the valve and trying it isn't going to hurt anything else any worse.

if you go the valve route, then raise the piston as high as you can, pull the spring off the valve, and roll the cylinder back while watching the tip of the valve and when it looks like it's almost out of room then stop. if you cant fish the part out then dont get over excited and go further or you'll have to fish out a valve and the timesert lol.