INFO: Melted Rubber in Spark Plug Value

Hey

I was changing the spark plugs in my 97 Civic, when I realized that I
was unable to get one plug out. On checking I saw a whole array of black
inside. I concluded that it was the rubber found inside the spark plug
socket that had come off during the last change and had melted into the
sides. Is there anyway I can remove the plug?


Cal

 

Cal,
One option is to let your favorite mechanic do it. If you want to do it
yourself, visit a plumbing shop and buy a section of pipe that is about
three feet long. The pipe should be slighly bigger than the handle of your
socket wrench. This should allow you to use more pressure. Most mechanics
keep a section of pipe in their tool box. A torque wrench might also help
you get the plug out.

 

So is the rubberized goo stopping you from putting a socket on it or
can you get the socket around it but it is just stuck?

If so, be careful getting happy with extenders or cheater bars:
Make sure you remove the plug with the engine cold. The head being
aluminum and the plug being steel, they expand at different rates which
means that you can actually do damage if you force it with a cheater
bar if the engine is warm.

When reinstalling, put a little anti-seize compound on the threads for
next time.

Remco

 

Can you remove the valve cover and get better access to the plug that way?

 

Umm...the rubber is melted me think in a way that I cannot put a socket on
it @ all. I was trying to use a screwdriver to kinda plow some rubber out
so that i could put a socket around it but unsuccessful as of yet.

 

Once you can get a socket on the plug, you may want to use a shop vac or
some other method to remove the rubber debris such that it doesn't all fall
into your cylinder. It also sounds like it may be time for a new set of
plug wires.

Eric

 

The first step is to remove the rubber. It may take some time but until
you can get a socket on the plug--you will never be able to remove the
plug. There is no magic way of getting the rubber off--it will take lots
of time and work. Don't try anything crazy like trying to melt it
off--that will only cause you even more problems since some of the melted
rubber could end up in the wrong places.

 

which is the valve cover???

There is only the spark plug wire and the shaft that is set in?