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Warning: spark plug ejected

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racingbmwm3 View Drop Down
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Joined: January/28/13
Location: Port Townsend
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    Posted: May/10/17 at 5:03pm
2 weeks ago, driving around town, immediately after going over a speed bump, there is a very loud bang, followed by the car violently shaking, so I pull over immediately and once stopped notice the engine is the cause of the shaking.  Shut off engine, pop hood expecting to see a big hole in the block (not really since you can't see the block).  Actually discovered cylinder 1 spark plug wire, boot, and plug laying on top of the valve cover.  Walk home, grab some tools, go back to reinstall the plug, assuming maybe I didn't tighten the plug all the way 3 years ago when I changed them.  But no, plug started tightening up, then got loose.  Threads stripped in the head.  Worried I was going to have to replace the head, but found with some searching on northamericanmotoring, that it could be repaired with timeserts.  Bought the toolkit and 5 timeserts.  Spent an afternoon doing the job.  ordered new plugs, installed those after letting the car sit for a couple days for the red loctite to fully cure.  Discovered 2 more plugs were loose, cylinder 4 was still torqued.  Car is running great now.

Moral of story, apparently the plugs need to be checked to make sure they haven't loosened themselves over time as that is a common problem.  Also, looks like I'll be replacing my plugs every 40-50k miles instead of the 100k I thought I would get out of them...

And, I have the tool available if anyone else runs into this issue.
'05 Cooper, BRG, Aerokit, Sport Package, 135k
'89 325iX, Diamondblack, 270k
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KnottyMan View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote KnottyMan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/13/17 at 2:55pm
I check my torque every 5k when oil change and tire rotation interval comes around.
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