CL9 Wrong Sized Spark Plugs Stuck and wont come out!

Hi All,
I got an inexperienced mechanic to fit new plugs which I bought but apparently they were the wrong size and the mechanic failed to realize my mistake and he went ahead and forced 2 plugs in to the plug hole before he realized they were 21mm plugs instead of 16mm. So he put back my two old plugs but left in the two big ones thinking they fitted well and not knowing they were stuck. After a 300km trip for xmas and back to the city I was driving from work on the motor way one of the 21mm plugs blew the coil cap (plug cover) off the engine. The summary is: I need to get two plugs out of my top cylinder , one of which is broken and the other is intact but since its too big there is no space for a plug spanner to fit around the plug to take it out. After 3 days of trying , the mechanic I use has told me my only option is to take off my top cylinder to get the plugs out, and I have been really avoiding this. Please what are the dangers of damage to my engine if the top cylinder is opened and put back, e.g timing chain settings ?
Note: I am in Nigeria and most our mechanics here just use basic tools, no computerized diagnostics and they usually are not trained in any way, so I want to be equipped which fore knowledge of the procedure so I can correct him if he is going wrong. Also the default attitude of mechanics here is to cause more damage to enable you extend your repairs and rip you off.

The mechanic has already collected money for a new top gasket from me , meanwhile another mechanic tells me I can still re-use my old gasket since it was not burnt and my engine was fine except for the wrong plugs. I will post more updates as I am scheduled to start repairs in the next 3 hours, that would be 9am here. Thanks in advance for responses.

Buy new Engine.

Cost of removing the head will exceed the cost of a 2nd hand engine from wreckers.

Thanks for your reply Aman02. Though labour is cheap here the mechanic would charge me about $27 (USD) for his work, the top gasket is same price $27, then some other technician to get the plug out of the cylinder perhaps another $20 . The price of a used but good top cylinder is $81.

So the difference in cost between buying a new top cylinder and fixing mine are almost the same just about $20 difference, though I will try and find out the price for the complete engine and consider your advice.

WTF.

1st im confused about wat gaskets your talking about.

From what you have wrote... You have no idea if your head has been wrapped or any other dmg you motor has taken.

Now in syd, a descent mech would charge atleast $600 to pull off the head. That don't include the cost of fixing the head. Machine costs etc etc.

Cost of a good k24 in syd is approx. $800.

Now since your dealing with mechs who have no qualifications, isn't it reason enough for you to just buy an OEM assembled k24 block and install that.

Before you open yourself a whole new can of troubles with an engine has not been put back together properly?

The mechanic said we might need to change the top cylinder gasket since he wants to separate it from the block engine to get to the stuck plugs, the only damage he is anticipating is worn threads for where the plugs go into the top cylinder, we are yet to find out if there is actually any damage until he strips the top cylinder from the block engine.

We have dealers who buy wrecked cars from all over the world and strip them for parts, hence the cheaper price here. Unfortunately we don't have Honda outlets where you can get new factory parts so we tend to buy from these importers if we need spares. I am not sure about the price of a complete engine but I was once told it could be about $1,400 which to be honest I cant afford for now. But I am definitely sure that the used top cylinder costs $81 (I asked the dealer yesterday), the big question is: would the used cylinder be better than mine? So these are the choices I face:

1, Take off my top cylinder, separate it from the block engine and take the stuck spark plugs out and put back my own top cylinder if there is no damage to the thread for the plugs. Total cost will be $74 (Gasket $27+ workmanship $27+ other technician removing the plugs $20)

2 second option with the cash I have is to buy a used top cylinder for $80 and simply fix it on my block engine. Total cost is about $108 without a new gasket. (Top cylinder $81+workmanship $ 27)
I believe I will not need a new top cylinder gasket but the mechanic might just be scheming , so that I pay him for a new gasket and then he uses my old one and pockets my money.

Personally if a mechanic can't do spark plugs properly I wouldn't be trusting them to take the head off. Have you got any other mechanics you may trust more to help you out with the situation?

I would be asking the mechanic to fix the situation for you for free since they caused the situation in the first place.

How much of the spark plug actually blew off? The threads between a 16mm to 21mm are quite substantial and I would be very surprised they were actually able to tighten it down at all (especially if the thread is normally 16mm instead of 21mm)

You may be able to find someone that could use pliers to actually pull them out, if your not able to get a spark plug socket on the actual plug then there should be no way they were able to actually tighten them.

Hi cl9_luxury, the guy i am using for the repairs is different from the guy who messed up the plugs. The good news is that i went to meet him an hour ago and he had finished the job. he took off my top , got the plugs out and put back my top. though as i thought, he claimed to have put in a new top cylinder gasket. The car was heating up a bit because of trapped air in the cooling system and he did not fill up the radiator with the car running so the radiator was empty after a short drive. i have now bled the air and topped up the radiator and everything seems okay. i will update this thread if any problem arises. Thanks a lot for your contributions.

Thats a great result, as long as its all fixed up thats a fantastic result.

Happy driving :)

Thanks and i forgot to add my bill came to bout $49.

I had an email from a Nigerian prince once... ;)

@ Icu2... lucky you. am just a regular Nigerian bloke.

HA! Never go back to that Mechanic again. He should have known that the plugs weren't the right size. How dumb.

Yeah I will avoid him like a plague.

Do you have any mechanically minded friend or relative?


Im sure its possible to remove them without taking off head just need to try

head gasket is reusable. better go somewhere else to fix cos if your mech cant tell between torqued tight vs cross threaded tight, theres much less margin of error in fitting cylinder head

amant u fukin potato

good stuff you got it sorted. lmao nigerian prince