no I havent replaced the plugs and I dont think my parents have since they took over the car... I was planning on giving it a major maintanence overhaul when I got it back but now this happened and I dont think my parents or I will will keep paying it which is sad I really did miss driving my little fit but I called Honda and they said that the spark plugs are a wear and tear part but they dont ask for them to be replaced till 100k!! So I am kinda at a loss Ive picked up another job last week but I dont think it will be enough or in enough time. Is it driveable to take to a dealership 15 miles away? Or should I pay for the tow? the car turns on but its sounds horrible lol.

 

It's not a spark plug issue, it's a cylinder head issue that resulted in the plug and coil damage. You might have to argue a bit on this one, but you need to be clear on this point. Powertrain warranty covers the head but will not cover a wear and tear issue on a wear item like a plug.

The most important things for you to establish with the dealership are A) are you still under powertrain warranty (mileage & months) and B) the last work done in this area was at the factory in Japan, so it is Honda's liability if you are still under warranty.

It definitely is the head that failed if you can drop a new plug into the hole but not tighten it. If the plug failed, the new plug wouldn't drop in because there would still be part of the old plug present.

If you are out of warranty, then the last place I would go is the dealer - you will pay top dollar for everything.

As to drive it there or not, I would not. Now that you know there is a problem, you are on the hook for any additional damage that occurs from running the engine.

If you decide to pull the head yourself, I can point you to an EXCELLENT and inexpensive engine machinist on Merritt Island (next to Cape Canaveral). You could call him up, bring the head over and he could have it back to you in under an hour. Real nice guy, would probably let you watch him work.

 

Thx kbri I appreciate it. The car is at 89k it's an 07 and was purchased new so Honda does not look like an option. How much labor would be charged do you think at that shop? Looking at it I don't think pulling out the head would be too much trouble I could probably get my buddy to give me a hand. I could speaknto my rents see if they think its a viable option I don't want them going under on this car if their is something I could do about and would help me out also instead of buying another car

 

re-tapping the head is useless at this point. The old plug pulled out the threads when it exited the head, thus leaving no metal behind to thread.

I wouldn't pull the head just yet! I'd take it to a good independant shop and have them re-thread the hole using a Time-sert.
++ TIME-SERT Threaded inserts for stripped threads, threaded inserts, thread repair stripped sparkplug's, Ford sparkplug blowouts, threaded inserts threaded, repair stripped threads, stripped threads, inserts threaded inserts, Ford spark plug repair,

I've used these on a customer's BMW that blew out an original plug at 140k miles. It's WAY better than other methods of re-threading stripped holes in aluminum.

If you get the hole time-serted, throw a plug and coil on it and see how it does. You can check compression afterwards too. I'd do that first before ripping the head off, as it's way cheaper to do that (and less work) and see what you have.

My $.02

cheers

 

PS the overoiled K&N is common but it will only screw up the fuel air ratio when the wire gets coated with oil which is why we won't install K&N filters. Too great a chance of coming back for 'free' reworking.


Precisely our experience as well but have not had a problem with chasing the threads merely to change plugs routine. We have verified case of plugs overtorqued and ground off the threads so the plugs could all just be pulled out by hand, not unscrewed, but pulled. So much for shade tree mechanicing.(We think he used a air powered wheel nut gun)
And in this case any of the threads may very well not exist now so chasing the threads may have no value at all.. If that is the case the only solution is replace the head; using any of the thread inserts do not function well with the combustion pressures that plugs see. Sorry but thats our observation. If you need to replace the head check salvage yards, there are plenty of Fits in those we deal with.
good luck.

 

Hey bigtymer,

From your pic it looks like the spark plug lower threaded part is still in the hole. Can you look farther into the hole and see if there is still a little tail showing from the ground electrode on the spark plug?

I've had this happen once on my eclipse where the spark plug literally broke in 2 and left the threaded steel section in the head. What I did was I got a long flat head screw driver with the blade about the same width as the spark plug hole and wedged it lightly into the remaining spark plug material and screwed the bit out.

I'm thinkin this is the case because in your picture there is a definite difference in the color of the rings, this leads me to believe that the inner ring is steel and the head is still intact. re-inspect it really carefully and try to remove it. If you find it is actually just the sparkplug body threads left in there then its way less of a headache to repair. Just extract the threaded section, clean up the threads a bit and replace the plug.

If the threads in the head are really stripped then your best options are to replace the head or remove the head and helicoil the spark plug hole. but it really looks like the steel plug threads are still in your spark plug hole.


Do this to confirm.

Take another spark plug out of the head and take a picture of that spark plug hole and compare that picture to the one you already have. You should be able to immediately see the hole sizes are different if the spark plug ripped in half and left its threads.

Lates,

James
H-Fit.com....Performance Products for your Honda FIT GD3 GE8


Lates

 

I believe I posted the pic of.the two holes and it looks like it is wider in the one that blew if at all possible I posted on a local forum to see if anyone knew if a shop close to my parents in west Orlando but still waiting on response. I am hoping for the best I'm sure I got a few months before the bank even starts asking questions but I don't want to let it get to that

 

An update on the status I had a tech go to my parents house to take a look at the car and pretty much said the same thing I figured happen the plug blew out from the pressure I guess little by little it started unscrewing and taking the thread with it b/c of the pressure. He gave me a price of 950 to have it.towed to his shop to pull apart the head and rethread all the cylinders he said 3 out.of 4 look bad. Would cover the parts and labor but I'm not sure if I should take him on the offer... or go to Honda and pay the extra which to me I think would add up to more than 1500... blah anyone have an extra head laying around??

 

Is there anything else he should be looking at or doin with the head? I had a friend who mentioned something about checking the bottom also I really didn't understand was he was talking about though

 

Actually he mentioned something about also needing to resurface the heads but I'm at a loss as to what that means

 

I would not spend that much money to fix it when there is a chance the fix could fail. Especially when you can get a used 50k mile motor on ebay for that price or even less...

 

My friend you now have me deliberating more than ever b/c there are a few on eBay but I don't know if I can trust one lol. I can't trust the shops eBay myself I have trust issues I guess lol. But if I did go the route of purchasing a new motor how much would that typically run for at a shop to remove the old one and mount the new one to the tyranny and drop it back in?

 

Lkq I've heard good things anyone can share?

 

I bought my 2ng engine from LKQ. They are OKish. To be sure the engine ran great and it took 14 psi and a crazy aggresive tune to blow it up. I'm still using the head from that engine even now. With that being said, there was a little water in my oil pan because the bastards were too lazy to cover the exhaust manifold. Also, engine had clearly been out in the elements for many months. It's still worth the risk. Also you get to have 2 of every sensor, coil pack, misc. parts, etc. when you get a second engine. (assuming they leave yours as complete as mine was.)

 

Resurfacing is when they mill/shave a little (a thousandth) metal on the head. I am guessing the head is warped and needs to be leveled. The warp could be due to the problem you had or just normal wearing.

They probably want to check bottom for any stress cracks on the pistons, cylinders, and other components.

But you're looking atleast around $1500-2000 (including engine purchase) max for swapping the L15A1 . It's the labor that cost the most. Taking it to the dealer would probably double that, but I'm not too sure.

Getting a new head is the cheapest route you can go if you can find one at the salvage yard and have your tech. install it.

 

I got a good deal at lkq for a 08 motor with only 14k. Had a minor issue with the oil pan but took the one from the old motor and used it. The shop that did all the work charged $400 to put the motor in and the motor itself cost $850. I get $150 back for the motor when LKQ recieves it so it came out to about the same I would have paid to remove the head or even just replace it. I took a look at the car yesterday and it felt great to hear it start. Sounds awesome I remember when I first got her how the engine had that little ticking sound which had me worried when i first got the car. Hoping to hit the road this week maybe give her another break in period lol road trip to the MIA or something. Anyone in South Florida still doing fit meets lol

Thanks again to everyone in fitfreak I am glad to be back on the road I am going to put my motorcyle up for a good month lol. Been using everyday past 9 months, Rain or shine.

 

Impressive.
Well done. Nice to seethose who have their act together. Hope your installation included setting valve clearances and fresh oil and filter (which you should change after a few hundred miles). Its not a new engine and has been sitting on a shelf somewhere for a while. That fresh oil twice within 500 miles matters a lot to longevity.

PS that comes from replacing more than a few engines gotten from junkyards. You may want to consider having a dealer do an update on your ECU too.

 

thanks for the extra heads up Mahout I would not have thought about changing the oil twice within the first 500 miles but your right... It is a fresh engine and who knows how long its been sitting in their storage or the condition in which it was kepted. I will keep updating as time passes and hope for the best later on down the road. Won't be modding for a while as this was a hefty bill but hope to get her back to speed.

 

You're welcome. glad to help. good luck.