Question of strategy

[JDStrickland]

I have a misfire report, SERVICE ENGINE SOON, MISFIRE reported.

The spark plug hole is full of coolant, that I think I know where it came from so I'm not worried about the source nor the remedy, I have this stuff handled.

The trouble I have is the strategy on removing the coolant from the spark plug hole.

I have a compressor, but it's 30 miles away on a job. My first choice is to use the compressor to blow air into the hole and spray the coolant out, then pull the plug and confirm my suspicions on where the coolant came from. Since my compressor is not available, I have to explore Plan B.

Plan B is to remove the plug and let the coolant fall into the cylinder, then go start the engine with the plug removed and let it run for a few seconds a cylinder down and blow the coolant out the open spark plug hole.

My question is, "Is Plan B a bad plan?"

My mechanic once was putting in a helicoil and he blew out the aluminum shavings this way. His rationale was that the aluminum is too soft to harm the cast iron, so blowing it out the spark plug hole only presented a hazard of getting a shaving stuck in a valve seat. He said the chances of that were small enough that the method was a safe bet. The alternative was to take the engine apart, and if no shavings get stuck, avoiding the alternative is precisely what you want. Shavings, and coolant, has to come out some how, blowing it out the spark plug hole seems like an okay plan.

[Kaput]

Vacuum? Rag on a stick?

[UnderCoverGuy11]

When I did my plugs the first time I had oil in the Wells, I used a paper towel, rolled it up to fit around the plug but small enough to get in there. The paper towels soaked it up, had to do it a few times for the ones with more oil in it but it worked perfectly fine

[Eric93se]

So how did you manage to get cooling in the plug hole?

After you suck the coolant out you should remove the spark plug and dry out the hole some more. With the plug still out you can spray some WD40 in the hole to flush the hole clean so it doesn't rust. The small amount of WD40 in the cylinder won't hurt anything and will burn off.

[rajicase]

Youre way over thinking this. Get a straw, stick it down there and suck the coolant out! just don't swallow it! hah.. or run to autozone and buy a hand pump that comes with a long clear tube about the thickness of a straw and pump it out. Costs like two dollars.

[snaponbob]

Plan "B" is fine assuming you don't have any paper towels !!!!!!!! Fold up the towel a couple times, and stick it down around the spark plug. Repeat until the towel no longer wicks up any fluid.

[matlock328]

+1 straw and suck it up, then get a hair dryer into it! Don't let anyone see you though.......

[eric325]

Do you have one of those hand pumps?
I have one that i use for my diff and transmission.
That would work.

[rajicase]

^^That's the pump I was referring to. And HAH at matlock328: Don't let anyone see you.... hah yeah that'd be an interesting encounter. "its not what it looks like!!" I know id find it funny if I saw someone leaning over the engine bay and "drinking" something in the engine... :o

[Eric93se]

I hope your joking about the hair dryer, you would be there for like 10 years trying to heat the water in the hole to get the fluid out. And sucking it with a straw?? Ummm....

[matlock328]

Get the Sony V max force heatinator.......have that puppy dry in minutes!:D

[JDStrickland]

The trouble is on my F150, and the #4 plug is way in the back, well under the cowling and the windshield. It's very difficult to get to. I spent hours replacing the plugs almost 50,000 miles beyond the recommended life, and if I had any idea how hard it was, I would have left them another 50,000 miles because there was no indication that they were needing replacement other than the odometer clicks. When the Check Engine light said that the #4 plug is misfiring, I was bummed. This one is the most difficult, the rest of them are only hard.

I recently had to replace the heater coil, and the fittings were leakers, and they live directly above #4, that's how the plug hole filled with coolant.

If it was as easy as a paper towel to soak stuff up, I would not be wondering if I let whatever coolant there was fall into the cylinder when I took the plug out.

I removed the plug and let the coolant fall, then I started the engine and let it run for 30-ish seconds with the plug removed.

[flyfishvt]

So this is on your Ford? Aren't their redneck discussion forums for that? I mean why would you clog up a civilized BMW forum with questions about a F150 mud bogger with a confederate flag in the window?

[Eric93se]

I know right, talk to your psychologist about that. O'yeah and it's your fault you bought a Ford! :icon15

[rajicase]

So this is on your Ford? Aren't their redneck discussion forums for that? I mean why would you clog up a civilized BMW forum with questions about a F150 mud bogger with a confederate flag in the window?

Hahahah :D