Spark Plug Bit Cracked Off Into Head!! Advice Please??

Hi,

I changed my spark plugs today. Upon removing the third one, I saw that it had no insulator nose left, i.e it must have cracked off and fell into the head while I was unscrewing the spark plug.

Will my engine be okay or will it write itself off as soon as I start it? I haven't started it yet and am unsure of the consequences.

The photo shows the spark plug on the left and there's no insulator nose left on it, compared to a normal one on the right.

Please give me some advice!

Thanks
IMG-4498-min.JPG
 
My coil pack had this,, ran for 6months like that fine, only till I removed the plugs realized they were all loose and knacked, ( bad 3 days to throw it together for my sister and make it decent and pass a mot lol)
Never had a problem, but I supose you can stick a light down to see jt? or a thin magnet?
Were it's broke what's it look like is it a clean or sorry break? Cause it may have been gone for a while?
Is it a Bosch plug?
 
Sorry I meant the electrode cracked off, not the insulator nose! I have a better photo - the right one has a cracked off end. The left one is normal.

And thats reassuring to hear nissan boy!

IMG-4500-min.JPG
 
My coil pack had this,, ran for 6months like that fine, only till I removed the plugs realized they were all loose and knacked, ( bad 3 days to throw it together for my sister and make it decent and pass a mot lol)
Never had a problem, but I supose you can stick a light down to see jt? or a thin magnet?
Were it's broke what's it look like is it a clean or sorry break? Cause it may have been gone for a while?
Is it a Bosch plug?

Where the break is, it looks covered in soot, and also this spark plug is really sooty overall. It doesn't look like a clean break and the spark plug itself was loose as well. Maybe it did crack off a while ago then like you say. And yes it is a bosch plug.
 
Guys Im still a bit worried.

I did a compression test and got these results which seem to reassure me since the 3rd cylinder (the one with the cracked spark plug) gave a decent reading.

cylinder 1 - 150
cylinder 2 - 168
cylinder 3 - 165
cylinder 4 - 165

I guess it just concerns me what if sometime down the line, it causes a problem.

The readings are a bit low for a 1.0, but I do have a 1.4 inlet cam, which reduces the compression a little I remember reading one of franks posts about it can be 10-20psi lower with 1.3 cams in a 1.0, so my readings make sense.
 
It's been broke for a bit that , the metal isn't clean on the break so it's probs long gone lol , if it broke on removal there would be even a little bit of clean metal ,
What cylinder is the broke plug from? ,
Other then cyl 1 they seem about right , checked the tolerance on the cams/buckets may have a tight one ,
 

frank

Club Member
yes those compressions look fine eh, 222 deg of duration means the inlet is closing when the piston is returning up the bore, ideally you would fish the electrode out with a small magnet, but it should spit out anyway
 
It's been broke for a bit that , the metal isn't clean on the break so it's probs long gone lol , if it broke on removal there would be even a little bit of clean metal ,
What cylinder is the broke plug from? ,
Other then cyl 1 they seem about right , checked the tolerance on the cams/buckets may have a tight one ,

Yes the metal is sooty on the break! Broke plug is on cylinder 3 and this had a decent reading on the test.

150 is a bit low agreed, will check the valve clearances at some point

Thanks for your help mate!
 
yes those compressions look fine eh, 222 deg of duration means the inlet is closing when the piston is returning up the bore, ideally you would fish the electrode out with a small magnet, but it should spit out anyway

Ah thanks for the explanation on why compressions are lower with the 1.4 inlet cam.

Might still check the valve clearance on cylinder 1 though at some point.
 

frank

Club Member
Ah thanks for the explanation on why compressions are lower with the 1.4 inlet cam.

Might still check the valve clearance on cylinder 1 though at some point.
that late closing event is why the powerband moves further up the rpm :) reversion at low rpm, and more efficiency at higher rpm (supercharge effect when the inlet gasses are flowing fast)
but it sounds like yours is too much affected tho, and as your compressions are ok then you may need to advance that new cam
 
Ah okay, might look into filing down the dowel then to advance it.

Any idea why mine has been affected so much? Sorry for all the questions, just love learning about the car lol.
 

frank

Club Member
going by your lobe positions pic on the other thread, the inlet looked bang on tbh, thats why i asked you about compressions.
but if the crank had been turned backwards or chains slack, then the timing of that cam may be out ?
i had to advance the cam in my white 1.0 for some reason, it was very laggy at first, like you described
 
Hi,

Yes I am using the second notch for TDC.

But when I clicked the internal ratchet fully in in the tensioner, and then put the chain back on, the chain became tensioned and didn't have that slackness that it had before. This seemed to have eliminated the lag that I had at the lower rpm (0-3000), even with them compression numbers.
 
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