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Siezed spark plug


Randy
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Hi, can anyone please help?

I have a 55reg Ford focus 1.6, i aquired the car last year after a service and first mot.

I have come to service the car myself only to find that i cannot remove one of the spark plugs. (no2)

The plug wells are half full of rusty water!!!

Is this normal??

Since cleaning the area and soaking it in WD40 for a week it still wont budge. But is again full of water.

Since trying again to remove it yesterday the car now has a missfire under load and the engine warning light flashers when its missing, goes off on light throttle!!

So my question is what to do next????

I susspect Ford have not changed the plugs in its life so far (14.000mls old)

I have seen the problem here: http://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=498

and i intend to sort the washer jets but the cars running condition is most important first.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Randy

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sounds like you will definetly need new washer jets as you have mentioned.

if you can let the engine warm up a bit, that might just break the bond enough to undo the plug. the last thing you want is it snapping though.

spark plugs on you car should probably be changed at about 30-36k miles?

when refitting the new plugs make sure you put some copper grease on them to stop them seizing in place. also make sure the contacts inside the ht leads are clean and dry.

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Thanks, i forgot to mention i'd tried the plug removal with engine hot, warm and cold, still no joy.

I have read that it is possible to shear or snap the plug in the head.

Maybe its time to visit a garage???

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try a few drops of clean engine oil around the spark plug hole leave it to soak in then use a ring spanner on the t bar off the spark plug socket to give you more leverage.

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DONT TOUCH THEM THEY CAN SNAP FORD ARE AWARE OF THE PROBLEM AND IT WILL BE THERE RESPONSIBILITY TO FIX IT TAKE IT TO FORD AND DONT TOUCH IT IVE HEARD OF THIS PROBLEM THOUGH I HAVE TO SAY WITH MY MARK1 FOCUS IVE NEVER HAD THIS PROBLEM

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Thanks everyone i was thinking the same about taking it to Ford to let them sort it.

I also have a Mk1 focus and the plugs are fine in that. (i mean they come out ok)

Cheers people.

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Hi,

it's fairly commonish on some Ford engines.

I've had to snap all the plugs off, turn the engine over to blow the centres out, stuff the holes with bits of rag, drill down almost to the seat, tap a big screwdriver in and wind the remnants out!!

Took several hours, and was NOT a fun job!

I certainly don't want to have to do it again!

If Ford can do it for sensible money, save yourself a lot of grief and get them to do it.

Be cool.

Marv.

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I had the same trouble removing plugs from my mk1. I was using a T-bar but it was useless. I got a deep tightly fitting socket and sprayed the base of the plug with wd40 and left to soak for an hour. After that I let her tick over for about 15 minutes to heat the plugs. Once all that was done the plug was easy to unscrew. If it won't move after a bit of force, leave it as the ceramic will most likely shear off. Bring it to ford and not just any ole mechanic as they won't accept responsibility for any damage! good luck.

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DONT TOUCH THEM THEY CAN SNAP FORD ARE AWARE OF THE PROBLEM AND IT WILL BE THERE RESPONSIBILITY TO FIX IT TAKE IT TO FORD AND DONT TOUCH IT IVE HEARD OF THIS PROBLEM THOUGH I HAVE TO SAY WITH MY MARK1 FOCUS IVE NEVER HAD THIS PROBLEM

Can anyone clarify that if Ford break the plug they fix it at no cost to me?

If this washer jet fault is a know problem why did the cars not get recalled for them changing?

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Can anyone clarify that if Ford break the plug they fix it at no cost to me?

If this washer jet fault is a know problem why did the cars not get recalled for them changing?

if you go to ford and say you have a seized spark plug they will probably warn you that if it snaps your paying for it. you could always phone them and explain the situation??

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Sounds good.

Aslong as they cant tell you had a go at the plugs its up to them to deal with then

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Sounds good.

Aslong as they cant tell you had a go at the plugs its up to them to deal with then

i have to agree, and providing you didnt mention the seized plug then really they snapped it so they should pay the damage. they probably have insurance for things like that anyway.

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  • 3 years later...

I have a 2006 Focus 1.6 Sport which I bought from a local dealer less than 12 mths ago. I took it to one of my local garages for a service 2 weeks ago (we're going on holiday in4 weeks) and they advised me my spark plugs were seized and rusted. I had it back for a week as was still running , although now not running as well as it was before the service. I took it back as they wanted to keep it for the day and soak it in oil/lubricant for the day and overnight. So I agreed. They rang me the following day to advise they had got 3 of them out but the 4th had snapped off inside the head gasket. They have asked a local head gasket specialist (whom I also know) to look at it and they couldn't get it out as it had snapped off too low down. The garage who still have my car have rang me today to say as they were taking the engine cover off they noticed a crack in the cylindar head and that it's a manufacturing fault from the factory. To have a new cylinder head is going to be expensive and i could be talking another engineer (2nd hand of course) if they can find one. I am quite upset to say the least, I have 2 kids and don't work local. For this week I have had to beg lifts off my parents and my best mate who fortunately works near me. It looks like i'm not getting my car back soon. When I rang the garage I bought the car from as I knew they had done a service on it before I bought it, they advised they only did a basic service which consisted of filter changes and oil change.

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Call ford uk its time they acknowledged this issue as the dealers have known about it for years so should be checking this or advising to get the upgraded washers heard a lot of this recently sadly the whole head may need removed now

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Any half decent garage should be able to get this out and if it does strip the thread they have kits to re tap and insert a new thread seen it done on numerous occasions and should not cost the earth of course it will be just unfortanate if the head splits in the process all the ones i now of did not have any further problems so not the end of the world .myself i would use a long handled crack bar and just use the extra leverage to tease it round not going gung ho there are better penertrating oils on the market than wd40 for this job as well .

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Plus gas is the one we used to use years ago good stuff for releasing seized nuts an bolts worth a try if anyone else comes across this problem

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coca cola does a blinding job too....giving away my secrets now ;)

freeze sprays are worth a try as well

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The fiesta is the same, mine is a bit orange but not seized in, I was surprised about the amount of water that actually leaks through the nozzles, I found it out while trying to check my oil and coolant. Black silicone putty is going to be deployed soon.

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The new jets leak too so i took them out split the seal from them applied black marine sealant to the seal where it meets tge washer then where it meets the bonnet and fitted in place once dry i sealed it from the underside of the bonnet as well itll never leak now its just ridiculous that it has to be done in the first place

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The new jets leak too so i took them out split the seal from them applied black marine sealant to the seal where it meets tge washer then where it meets the bonnet and fitted in place once dry i sealed it from the underside of the bonnet as well itll never leak now its just ridiculous that it has to be done in the first place

It's almost as if they allowed for it the fiesta airbox has a gutter around the top which can only be for the water, I'm surprised I don't have any excitement in the morning after rain.

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