tritium_pie

I was following the DIY for changing my spark plugs, and was using a Husky brand socket for spark plugs that has a rubber gasket inside to hold the plug. Guess which part got disconnected from the socket after I had cranked the spark plug down?

I've been trying to re-align the socket and the plug but not able to, and I'm concerned now the rubber has actually slipped down towards the hex of the spark plug, so it seems I'm going to need to do some kind of surgery to cut this rubber part deep inside the motor and then extract it.

The only thing I can think of would be some kind of very long thin flathead screwdriver with the flathead sharpened into a knife. Or maybe if there is some kind of long hook thing? My wife suggested a crochet hoook but I'm not sure if there's a lip underneath the rubber part I can catch.

Any other ideas?

s2000ellier

remove the plug and start over, unthread and pick up with a magnetic telescopic tool.

you only use the rubber socket to remove/install the plug, you use a regular socket to tighten, loose.

tritium_pie

I'm not able to remove the plug because I can't get a socket over it.

the plug is in the motor, 20# torqued, and when I pulled up the socket it left the rubber gasket around the plug. the gasket I think has now deformed in my attempts to put the socket back over it to try to remove the plug.

I think I need to remove the rubber gasket while it's attached to the spark plug, deep in the motor, which is going to be a great fun way to spend the afternoon. :|

92gli

Harbor freight has long picks as well as a flexible grabber thing that deploys the teeth when you push down on the plunger at the top.

DaGou

http://www.amazon.com/Performance-To...ords=hook+tool

HarryD

Try adding some electrical or duct tape into the socket, and then twist and turn it onto the spark plug. Press down a little, twist and turn. And hopefully it'll get enough stick to pull it out. I've done it before.

Obviously, make sure you don't lose the tape down there and don't let it fall into the head

windhund116

"I've been trying to re-align the socket and the plug but not able to, and I'm concerned now the rubber has actually slipped down towards the hex of the spark plug, so it seems I'm going to need to do some kind of surgery to cut this rubber part deep inside the motor and then extract it."

Hmm... wonder how that rubber portion came off and logged itself over the hex portion of the spark plug? I'd try a 5/8-inch (16mm) deep socket just to loosen the spark plug. Then, try placing the spark plug socket back onto the plug, to remove it from the engine. If that doesn't work, you can try lifting the plug out with a long magnet tool. But, be sure you have this tool before completely unscrewing the plug.

I use this spark plug socket. It is magnetic. so, it holds the plug while you are inserting and removing. And it's one piece, you don't need to add extensions that can also get lost in the spark plug tube. They also make an 11-inch version for really deep SP tubes!

http://www.amazon.com/GearWrench-805...KW0NS335RNPTWJ

darcyw

try a dental pick to try and stick it and lift out the rubber ring. maybe i'm just not visualizing the problem. Could you post a picture?

darcy

tritium_pie

Ho.ly.sh*t. After struggling with this mightily, I finally got it out!!!

Ok, first to answer some of your questions:

darcyw: Yes, a dental pick might have worked. Not too many dental supply stores around here though. The thing is, the dental pick is only the size of a pencil and to have enough of the handle to move it around, I would've needed to attach something, and attach it quite firmly, to have pulled this rubber off. The rubber was STUCK.

windhund116: How the rubber slipped off and got wedged lower is I didn't realize the rubber had come off, and then when I tried to put the ignition coil in, it wasn't going down far enough, so I tried to be a bit firmer. Unfortunately the rubber came off on the first plug I had put in there, so I didn't know until I put the ignition coils on the later plugs that it didn't take hardly any pressure and thus something was stuck on the spark plug. :|

HarryD: I was concerned about putting electrical tape in there and losing even more stuff in the tiny and rather deep opening. However, I did like your idea of pushing and twisting, and eventually it worked, but I had to make some modifications.

92gli-- Went to Harbor Freight, they only had the magnetic type. I knew the tool you meant too, and really, now seeing how stuck the rubber was on the spark plug, it wouldn't have worked. It's REALLY stuck.

DaGou-- I think those tools are too wide for the hole.

Ok, so after too many hours today spent at Michael's craft store (which had some very promising looking tools, and wires, etc), and Harbor Freight...

The socket that lost the rubber part was a hexagon shaped socket, and with the rubber sunk down so far, it was tough to see where the points of the hexagon were and where the appropriate points of the socket lined up. And I knew I needed to use the rubber mallet to really get the socket to squeeze the rubber and sink down low enough to get purchase on the metal.

I ended up using a spare socket that had the star (multi-points, not just a hexagon) that I bought just-in-case this one didn't work (THANKFULLY!!!!) and with it attached to a long socket extension I pushed it down onto the rubber, hit it with a rubber mallet, attached the ratchet and turned it fractionally counter-clockwise, removed ratchet, hit it with a rubber mallet, re-attached ratchet, turned it again, hit it with a mallet... etc.... and eventually when I was turning it felt like I was gripped onto the socket... when I pulled it, there was the spark plug! And wrapped tight around it was that damn rubber gasket thing!!!

Something else I tried that did not work, and would have taken FOREVER, was putting an Exacto knife in there, and using the rubber mallet to try to slice down the rubber to eventually weaken it and maybe break it through enough that I could hook it with a stiff wire and pull it out. Now that I'm looking at the spark plug, I can see that my cuts with the Exacto knife were only going down ~20% of the rubber, and I had been stopping when I heard the tone of the rubber mallet hits change (thinking that was when the Exacto knife was hitting the bottom of the rubber and the top metal of the spark plug). Looking at the rubber it doesn't look like any small pieces fell off, but I really can't be certain. I think I'm going to take a q-tip or something, it it on the end of a long stick, wet the end, and try to pick up any tiny bits that might've fallen onto my cylinder. (There's probably a better tool, I'll go to the tool store, but I'm open to suggestions too.)

After all the hammering and scraping and such, I've already ordered a new spark plug. I'm not going to risk it with this plug, even though it's probably ok.

Here's the spark plug now removed, with the rubber gasket part still attached.






(If you're wondering... I used that piece of scrap paper from the recycle bin as a white background for the photos, saw the words on the back and said, "Well that's pleasantly obtuse.")

99SH

Crisis averted. Good work!