Hello all,
Sorry for the long read. This is how my Easter weekend was ruined.
Well I was getting terrible mileage in my Envoy, like literally 8-10 mpg city and 12-13 average however normal highway 21-22 so I decided that it was time for me to change my spark plugs since they are probably original, never changed with 123k miles on the car which is terrible. I wasn't too sure if the poor mileage was because of this but I also felt that I was lacking some power.
Note: I bought this car not too long ago as the second owner.
I was watching a video on youtube by MAY03LT and it really did seem easy and not that complicated. I decided that I should have a go at it. Well the whole thing turned into one entire nightmare for me and I have no idea how to recover from this. First thing's first, the last 2 cylinders were extremely corroded and the spark plugs were in terrible shape. I had to use too much force to remove it and a lot of rust was left on the thread inside of the well. I did get the spark plugs out but I was afraid some rust could've fell in the well into the cylinder. Next thing, I started to replace the spark plugs and the last 2 would not want to go in, it would get very tight very fast and I knew this was because of the corrosion. A mechanic I called at this point said he wasn't interested in helping me and I was screwed. He however told me to use WD-40 and keep on twisting back on forth to get the plugs in. This worked but I was scared that the WD-40 would screw with my engine which I hope it didn't. I managed to get the plugs in and put the coils back in and tried to fire up but I had a terrible misfire which turned out to be the 5th plug not in tight enough. I fixed that but then I was getting rough idle at 1000 rpm or lower, with the roughness increasing.
I took out each spark plug one by one to re-position them to make sure they were not loose and that's when reality turned into a nightmare.
The 3rd spark plug for the 3rd cylinder had some of the ceramic/porcelain part break off and fall into the well, down into the cylinder. I couldn't believe what had just happened and I know I am completely screwed.
I am lost, and very very stressed at the moment. Honestly. The mechanics I called said they can't help me because they don't have the tools and one of them said to call the dealer.
Dealership offered me a fix, for $2396.40 not including tax. He said the whole engine had to be taken apart to get access to the cylinder head and this would take 3 days of labor.
I am stuck. I have been trying with a small shop-vac and a plastic hose taped together getting into the well to suck out the ceramic/porcelain. At this point I took out two pieces but I have no idea how many more pieces there are. The shop-vac is giving me a hard time because it feels too weak. Guess my car will sit for a while.
Anyone offer any thoughts or advice? I really need it, and thanks a lot in advance.
EDIT: I am using AC Delco 41-103's
2002 GMC Envoy SLT
123K Miles
4WD 4.2 I6
Sorry for the long read. This is how my Easter weekend was ruined.
Well I was getting terrible mileage in my Envoy, like literally 8-10 mpg city and 12-13 average however normal highway 21-22 so I decided that it was time for me to change my spark plugs since they are probably original, never changed with 123k miles on the car which is terrible. I wasn't too sure if the poor mileage was because of this but I also felt that I was lacking some power.
Note: I bought this car not too long ago as the second owner.
I was watching a video on youtube by MAY03LT and it really did seem easy and not that complicated. I decided that I should have a go at it. Well the whole thing turned into one entire nightmare for me and I have no idea how to recover from this. First thing's first, the last 2 cylinders were extremely corroded and the spark plugs were in terrible shape. I had to use too much force to remove it and a lot of rust was left on the thread inside of the well. I did get the spark plugs out but I was afraid some rust could've fell in the well into the cylinder. Next thing, I started to replace the spark plugs and the last 2 would not want to go in, it would get very tight very fast and I knew this was because of the corrosion. A mechanic I called at this point said he wasn't interested in helping me and I was screwed. He however told me to use WD-40 and keep on twisting back on forth to get the plugs in. This worked but I was scared that the WD-40 would screw with my engine which I hope it didn't. I managed to get the plugs in and put the coils back in and tried to fire up but I had a terrible misfire which turned out to be the 5th plug not in tight enough. I fixed that but then I was getting rough idle at 1000 rpm or lower, with the roughness increasing.
I took out each spark plug one by one to re-position them to make sure they were not loose and that's when reality turned into a nightmare.
The 3rd spark plug for the 3rd cylinder had some of the ceramic/porcelain part break off and fall into the well, down into the cylinder. I couldn't believe what had just happened and I know I am completely screwed.
I am lost, and very very stressed at the moment. Honestly. The mechanics I called said they can't help me because they don't have the tools and one of them said to call the dealer.
Dealership offered me a fix, for $2396.40 not including tax. He said the whole engine had to be taken apart to get access to the cylinder head and this would take 3 days of labor.
I am stuck. I have been trying with a small shop-vac and a plastic hose taped together getting into the well to suck out the ceramic/porcelain. At this point I took out two pieces but I have no idea how many more pieces there are. The shop-vac is giving me a hard time because it feels too weak. Guess my car will sit for a while.
Anyone offer any thoughts or advice? I really need it, and thanks a lot in advance.
EDIT: I am using AC Delco 41-103's
2002 GMC Envoy SLT
123K Miles
4WD 4.2 I6