DavidinCT

Hey all,

Just looking for some advice. So someone did Spark plugs, and one didn't go in right. Long story short, driving a plug flew out of the motor(driver side, 1st plug towards the front of the car) and this cause limp mode, wrecked the plug, and coil. It kind of stripped the head a little. The small shop tried to replace plug with some thread sealer, this worked fine for about 2 months and 2 days ago, it happened again.

The shop is suggesting to replace the motor. Replacing just the head will cause problems with compression on one side of the motor (that is what they are saying) and could cause more uneven wear on the motor.

The car ran perfect, a little hesitation after oil change but, nothing major. It was claiming on 190K now (I put a lot of miles on my car)

Thoughts ? What would you do ?

Gerf

I would look into finding out if you can helicoil the s/plug bore, you probably would have to pull the head to be safe but it still would be cheaper than an engine.

DavidinCT

That is not an option because the plug is deep and there is no room to do anything like that...

I did ask about that.

Can it be done from the reverse side ?

swfla

iTrader: (1)

Is it possible this small shop isn't fully schooled in Lexus? I'm no mechanic, but I'd get an opinion from a shop with Lexus/Toyota expertise. I understand that it'd be hard to bring them the car for a visual inspection, but talk to them in person about your situation. It's a lot easier and cheaper than replacing the engine.

Gerf

That would depend on what the insert looks like, there is a kit that is the same size 14mm x 1.25 but it's made for a ford It might work and is not too expensive, here is a video of it. skip to 7:19 of the vid

DavidinCT

The shop I have have been dealing with are pretty well versed on what they say. They have been there for a long and worked on Toyota cars a lot (there are always a few in their lot). I have been bringing my cars there for many years, very honest and fair pricing. Based on the issue I saw, and what they are saying, not really sure there anything an official Toyota repair shop would say.

The Spark plug will not stay in, so it's replacing the head (and it's claimed that will cause compression issues on the other side) but would keep the spark plugs in place, or replacing the motor at a very high expense (trying to avoid at all costs right now).

Any other thoughts here ?

swfla

iTrader: (1)

Glad you have a good shop. If they say the threads can't be fixed, it's an expert opinion. They are giving you two choices: replace head or replace engine. I'd do a risk vs cost assessment. Both options carry a dependability risk, especially an expensive used engine. Maybe it's worth the cost/risk to replace the head? I hope someone comes up with a thread repair solution for you in the meantime. BTW, I saw a rebuilt 2014 engine with warranty on "car part planet" for $7400.

DavidinCT

I'm leaning towards the head but, all depending on the cost factor. If it's going to be $2500 to do the head installed, A replacement motor I was quoted for $4K with 56K on it, this also needs like almost $2K in labor to install (quoted 21 hours of work). It might be just cost effective to just replace it.

If it's compression issues they are talking about(with replacing 1 head), wouldn't it just be advisable to replace both heads if the price is reasonable ?

I'm balancing the cost/risk right now, anyway about it, I need to a car to get back the office.

Anfanger

You need to get a spark plug thread repair kit. Something similar to this one -

Striker223

Sounds like they owe you an engine. You can replace the head without compression issues so I have no idea where they are getting that from

SW17LS

Was this the shop that did the plug replacement they screwed up?

I have never heard that replacing the head on one side would cause compression issues on the other side...

DavidinCT

No it was friend (who has been working on cars for over 25 years), I watched him do it, he slowly put each the plugs in and turned them very slow before tightening them up and torqued them right. I am sure he didn't do it.

Looking over the history of the car, Lexus was asking every time to do the plugs but, the last buyer refused, I bet the last owner did the plugs at a small shop and screwed them up.

I don't know, I am not placing blame here, the car is out of warranty and it needs to be addressed. I am trying to do it within a fair budget, spending $7-8K on a replacement motor is not something I really want to do UNLESS there is no other choice.

The car ran perfect before this one issue... sigh,

I am pretty much at the point of replacing the head on the driver side. Let's see where the numbers sit... Is this a motor out job ?

Striker223

No it can be done in car but in some cases it makes more sense to just drop it. I would just buy a lower mile engine in this situation and swap it is vs replacing a head since it would be faster/easier.

If you torqued the plugs vs just snug then 3/4 turn max then that is likely what killed it. You never want to trust the TQ spec on an alum head unless the threads have never been used before since they fatigue badly due to the properties of the material. It's best to do it by feel ironically enough.....

swfla

iTrader: (1)

Ask your shop what the cost is for the labor for both options. I'm with striker223 about the head causing compression issues. Even if a new gasket (the only thing) is 1/4 of a mm different thickness, the computer should compensate for it. Ask your mechanic for a simple explanation why compression would be an issue. You're not challenging them, you're just asking for education. A used replacement engine can cause more issues and more time to fix them than a new head. Most likely with the computer talking to other components that it's never "seen" before. New head subassembly is about $1600 for the part. The only up side for the engine replacement is the low miles compared to your current engine.

DavidinCT

I've done a lot of research on this in the last 24 hours, I even talked to a top guy out in another state who has been doing this professionally for over 30+ years. He said the compression issues on a car like this should not be an issue. The car will fix those issues in real time so there will never be an issue.

A motor swap is claimed about 21 hours of labor to do (that is by the book, they would charge real time costs)... So their rate times 21, yea it's going to be close to 2K in labor alone. It gives me a baseline on what the cost will be.

Does anyone here who really knows, just replacing one head, will it cause problems in the long run ? I want the car fixed but, I want it to be dependable and don't want to have swap a motor 3 years from now after spending 2K+ getting this fixed.