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Old 08-18-2019, 11:21 AM   #26
skier55
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I don't know - I'd probably give extraction a try since I have the tools to do so. If it didn't go easily, I'd have it brought to a shop. If you do get it out, you need to inventory the bits you have and make sure you have the whole sparkplug - you do not want to find out you are missing a chunk of insulator the hard way!
By insulator, do you mean the ceramic?
If so, I'm pretty confident I have gotten it all out since the top piece (in the first photo) was the first piece that came out. Then I used compressed air to remove any bits out while the bottom piece (in the first photo) was still in. Finally, I removed the bottom piece (in the first photo) with a magnet tool.

Photos at https://imgur.com/a/4ycXTpr.


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Originally Posted by DrD View Post
If the spark plug deformed/ovalized when it broke, it might not come out easily and could damage threads. On the plus side, it looks like the entire threaded section is there, and the deformed region would be at the top of the threads, so hopefully once it gets going it comes right out - if you lubricated the threads with some anti-seize before installation, there's an even better chance all will come out smoothly.
Yeah, I put some anti-seize before installation.

On another note, I thought with NGK's (at least genuine ones) you shouldn't put anti-seize.
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Old 08-18-2019, 11:23 AM   #27
skier55
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Also - Amazon does a relatively poor job at monitoring for suspect/counterfeit items - they basically seem to sell whatever a vendor wants to peddle on their site, so buyer beware!
Yeah, I've known about counterfeits being an issue with Amazon for a while but never thought it would happen to me.

I had changed some spark plugs with ones I bought on Amazon earlier this summer on another car. Just double checked that the seller was NGK & the prices were more or less normal.

Sometimes the lessons you learn in life can be expensive or painful; I guess those lessons you never forget.
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Old 08-18-2019, 12:25 PM   #28
DrD
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Originally Posted by skier55 View Post
By insulator, do you mean the ceramic?
If so, I'm pretty confident I have gotten it all out since the top piece (in the first photo) was the first piece that came out.
Good deal - the only other piece I would worry about is the ground electrode - if that's still intact when you get the rest of the plug out, you should be good to go.
Quote:
Yeah, I put some anti-seize before installation.

On another note, I thought with NGK's (at least genuine ones) you shouldn't put anti-seize.
if there's no anti-seize on the threads, I always put a bit on there - you aren't going to hurt anything (it will change the behavior a little when torquing down, I suppose) - I don't recall if the last ones I installed (NGK laser iridium) had anything on the threads before installation or not.
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Old 08-18-2019, 12:28 PM   #29
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Good deal - the only other piece I would worry about is the ground electrode - if that's still intact when you get the rest of the plug out, you should be good to go.
Pardon my ignorance, but by ground electrode do you mean the L shaped thing where you measure the spark plug gap from?

What happens if that doesn't make it out with the easy out or magnet? Is that too big of a metal piece where the cylinder head would have to be removed?

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Originally Posted by DrD View Post
if there's no anti-seize on the threads, I always put a bit on there - you aren't going to hurt anything (it will change the behavior a little when torquing down, I suppose) - I don't recall if the last ones I installed (NGK laser iridium) had anything on the threads before installation or not.
Got it. Thanks!
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Old 08-18-2019, 04:42 PM   #30
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Pardon my ignorance, but by ground electrode do you mean the L shaped thing where you measure the spark plug gap from
Yes - that's the piece. The spark goes from the electrode in the center of the insulator to the ground electrode over it. I would be worried about any chunks sitting in the combustion chamber that are large enough to ding things up. Since the plug broke in the middle, it should still be attached. Most debris should get blown out the exhaust valves, but before it does, you worry about any damage it causes.
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Old 08-18-2019, 11:02 PM   #31
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So I got it out all in one piece using a #4 square easy out (sold at Sears) + a 10 mm knurl grip deep universal socket (sold at Home Depot). The easy out didn't dig in a ton but enough to turn the threads of the broken spark plug. I had to use my magnetic rod tool to get the spark plug thread out of the hole once it was unscrewed. Photos coming soon.

Anyway, I replaced the spark plugs on cylinder #3 and #1 (passenger side) and not the other two (driver's side).

When I started the car the idle is a bit high at around 1.5-2k RPM. The car also had the CEL on with two codes: P0102 and P0113. From a quick search, it looks like this is related to the air intake, which I did have to remove to do the passenger side spark plugs. I'll try a few tricks and will let you know how it goes.

EDIT: I had a loose clamp on the air intake. Once I tightened that, reset the CEL, and restarted the car - the CEL disappeared and the idling slowly came back down to 750.

Last edited by skier55; 08-18-2019 at 11:43 PM.
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Old 08-19-2019, 10:45 PM   #32
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Good deal!

Sad that we have to watch out for counterfeit sparkplugs, now! Hopefully Amazon cleans up their act and purges their market of crap!
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Old 08-19-2019, 10:57 PM   #33
Jersey Man10
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I'm definitely getting them from autozone now to avoid potential headaches.
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Old 08-19-2019, 11:32 PM   #34
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Originally Posted by DrD View Post
Good deal!

Sad that we have to watch out for counterfeit sparkplugs, now! Hopefully Amazon cleans up their act and purges their market of crap!
Nope. Amazon is making tons of money sourcing from the chinese market. Its only a matter of time when amazon will be nothing but "made in china" clones and knock offs. And the sad part about it is that people will still buy these clones and knock offs thinking its "quality" parts.
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Old 08-20-2019, 12:14 AM   #35
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Nope. Amazon is making tons of money sourcing from the chinese market. Its only a matter of time when amazon will be nothing but "made in china" clones and knock offs. And the sad part about it is that people will still buy these clones and knock offs thinking its "quality" parts.
uhh isnt it already?
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Old 09-07-2019, 02:37 PM   #36
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I've posted photos and descriptions of exactly what I did at https://imgur.com/a/1JjnAtA.

Hopefully this helps the next person who inevitably makes the same mistake as I did.
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Old 09-10-2019, 12:17 AM   #37
Obi2winky
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Is this a common problem, spark plugs breaking inside? I'm relatively new at doing my own maintenance work and I'm hoping to try changing the spark plugs on my 2012 Impreza for the first time soon. Unfortunately, I've neglected my poor car and it's got 180k miles on and its still the original plugs. Is there a torque limit that I should aim for? Maybe if the plug won't come out with a certain torque, I'll just take it to a mechanic before a I risk breaking it.
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Old 09-10-2019, 01:21 AM   #38
skier55
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Is this a common problem, spark plugs breaking inside?
I don't think it's a common problem but from my research it certainly has happened to more than one person.

I broke the new one while screwing it in...not the old one while screwing it out.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Obi2winky View Post
I'm relatively new at doing my own maintenance work and I'm hoping to try changing the spark plugs on my 2012 Impreza for the first time soon. Unfortunately, I've neglected my poor car and it's got 180k miles on and its still the original plugs. Is there a torque limit that I should aim for? Maybe if the plug won't come out with a certain torque, I'll just take it to a mechanic before a I risk breaking it.
You could try PB blaster if it's stuck and you don't want to risk breaking the plugs using a breaker bar (or some other high-torque) rachet.

I just hand torqued the new ones in. I think the spec is like between 10-20 ft-lbs but I would do some research to confirm that first.
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