the dangers of NGK step colder plugs not good

[sleeping_blue]

I was have a problem with under hard shifts or even some times just a high rev, between shifts i would have a have back fire an some times i was told i would have a fire ball come out the tail pipe. reading here on the forums i though, hmm go check the spark plugs. so i did i pulled out the first one and it split right down the side. right in my hands i pulled another plug it was cracked all the way around. the third plug from cyl#4 was not cracked but at the base off all the plugs the ceramic closest to the metal ( sorry dont know the ends outs of a spark plug) are all brown. jsut like the other two i pulled. here is the bad part,some of the ceramic fell right down onto the piston as i was pulling them out first off i dident know there were cracked second i was just clumbling apart like a suger cube. i fished as much of it as i could out with a screw driver wrapped with some ducket dape. an for the most part 4 hrs later i got most of it out. i ran to autozone got stock plugs put them back in the car started up fine. within the first 2 sec of it running i could here the remaning peaces bounce around an get shot out. i have double checked the gap on the ngk plus .028 was what there were set at. i guess im kinda lucky the motor is fine. an the turbo is fine it still spools up just normal. sorry for the poor qulity of the pictures they came off my cell phone. these plugs have 5000 miles on them. also with the new plugs in the back fire has come to a complete stop and the car idels, feels, an sounds alot smoother.

 

[dkswim]

whats up with the razor??? ouch

 

[sleeping_blue]

lol i forgot to move it hey its midnight i been up sence 4 am cut me some slack

 

[Babyface13]

Dosent cobb reccomend these plugs with the AP?

 

[acidbug]

I was have a problem with under hard shifts or even some times just a high rev, between shifts i would have a have back fire an some times i was told i would have a fire ball come out the tail pipe. reading here on the forums i though, hmm go check the spark plugs. so i did i pulled out the first one and it split right down the side. right in my hands i pulled another plug it was cracked all the way around. the third plug from cyl#4 was not cracked but at the base off all the plugs the ceramic closest to the metal ( sorry dont know the ends outs of a spark plug) are all brown. jsut like the other two i pulled. here is the bad part,some of the ceramic fell right down onto the piston as i was pulling them out first off i dident know there were cracked second i was just clumbling apart like a suger cube. i fished as much of it as i could out with a screw driver wrapped with some ducket dape. an for the most part 4 hrs later i got most of it out. i ran to autozone got stock plugs put them back in the car started up fine. within the first 2 sec of it running i could here the remaning peaces bounce around an get shot out. i have double checked the gap on the ngk plus .028 was what there were set at. i guess im kinda lucky the motor is fine. an the turbo is fine it still spools up just normal. sorry for the poor qulity of the pictures they came off my cell phone. these plugs have 5000 miles on them. also with the new plugs in the back fire has come to a complete stop and the car idels, feels, an sounds alot smoother.

You should have gotten a wet vac in their to clean out all of the debris left by the cracked/broken ngk plugs.

You better hope none messed up your seals/scored your cylinder walls as this will lead to white smoke out the exhaust.

i suggest doing oil change ASAP!

Why did you change them out in the first place??

If i were you, I would send letter to the vendor that sold you those NGKs.

 

[sleeping_blue]

i couldent use a vac because i was parked on the far side of a parking lot i would need an cord about 600 foot long just to reach. i did the best i could with what i had

there as no smoke at all from the exhaust so far but this is something i nervus as hell about. i dont even have 10k miles on my car yet

oil change is getting done today im pist thou i just did one 2 weeks ago.

i was only planning to check the plugs due to a back fire at eather high rev 4700 and up or during a speed shift. i was going to check for a the status of the plugs an this happened

i will be contacting the vender

 

[imac]

wow thats nuts. hopefully the debris didnt mess up any of the internals on the way out.

and yea, contacting NGK def would not hurt.

 

[GoFast]

i am pretty sure they were supposoed to be gapped at 030 not 028

 

[CoolWhip]

wow thats nuts. hopefully the debris didnt mess up any of the internals on the way out.

and yea, contacting NGK def would not hurt.

Who put them in? Where they coated with a thin layer of copper anti-seize?

Even more nervous about putting in mine.

 

[SPEED3TYPE2]

dude that sucks! you could here the debree in the mototr wehn you started..

 

[FrequentFlyer]

s*** dude, I would have towed the car closer to an electrical outlet or got someone to help push. You've got brass balls to attempt starting it up after "getting most of it out". One piece of ceramic could easily have trashed your motor.

 

[LBV]

Let's not be too quick to blame the step colder plugs as the heat range shouldv'e had absolutely nothing to do with the ceramic shattering.

It almost seems like they were overtightened to the point that the twisting force just broke the ceramic.

 

[MSP #167]

Let's not be too quick to blame the step colder plugs as the heat range shouldv'e had absolutely nothing to do with the ceramic shattering.

It almost seems like they were overtightened to the point that the twisting force just broke the ceramic.

yea i'd put my money on that.

 

[desperado-c]

yea i'd put my money on that.

Yeah, I always wondered why it was hand-tight and then a 1/4 turn. Now I see why:

Excessive tightening of the spark plug beyond the recommended torque damages the spark plug. If this happens, the insulator can come loose, which can damage the spark plug as well as the engine.

http://www.pvl-zuendungen.de/fr/fb_densoinstall.htm

 

[sleeping_blue]

ok here the up date. took my car and the plugs to the dealer i wanted a compression test done make sure everything is still good. and it will be done mon. the motor is fine not a problem at all no smoke, no knock, nothing.
ok first off im not dumb yes there was anti-seize on them i hand tighten them until i could go no further then put a 1/4 turn with a wrench. also put the junk that gose over the plug and wire for better conection.this isent my first rodeo. but any way the dealer said the plug had " blow by"? as he explained it the commpression was so high that it found weakness in the ceramic of the plugs and went threw. now 2 of the plugs cracked and the other two u can see were it went threw on the side were the metal and cermic meet. did an oil change today. everything is fine and dandy as far as i can tell.
althou my a/f has changed alot it has leaned out some. the exhuast note has changed more smoother and lower tone. an the fuel pressers have dropped a little. according to the dash hawk.
i just wanted to give u all heads up to what happened to me thats all

 

[sleeping_blue]

if anything i thing i must have got a bad lot of plugs dont get me wrong i love ngk have used them in about 5 cars now. with no problems. infact i will most likely go back some day down the road an put them in agin. im just crazy like that

 

[LBV]

Just thought I'd post what the tightening tq specs are for the plugs as "a qtr turn after hand-tight" is not really the best way.

Anyway, per the shop manual it's "8.0 - 10.3 ft-lbf".

 

[sleeping_blue]

sounds about right i have been told 10 to 15. with 15 being on virge of being to much or in extream cases only. thanks