Spark plug chewed to bits

[Cro]

:S Strangest thing I have seen so far on the car. Unsure at this stage whether this is would be the cause of my engine to die or just a side effect of it happening.

Anyway the plug on cylinder 3 looks like this:

Engine just went OM NOM NOM to the end of it looks like.
When I whipped off the upper inlet there was small bits of metal which I now know was the plug.

So whats the story, what would have caused this? And what am I going to have to do to fix if it can be. Would the metal have caused damage inside the block?

 

[DannoTheGreat]

s**t, never seen a plug that bad before!

 

[DrR]

I'm now guessing the end of that spark plug is in your engine.

 

[Aluco]

Mice. Next time you change your oil you might get the end of it out haha

 

[Cro]

Lol thanks for the confidence guys :rasp: But yeah know what you mean, never seen anything like it myself!
Best to strip the head and see or try and get away with an oil change? Engine flush possible?

 

[Cooksport]

Blimy!! Thats quite an effort, never seen that before.

 

[gaz_5103]

i would say that will have done engine damage, i would be lifting the head of before i stuck a new spark plug in.

 

[Cro]

Any idea what the cause might have been before I pull it to bits?

 

[Mike@Rentech]

oh dear, fucked engine time.

 

[Cro]

Lol mike! Ever seen it before?

 

[Tigger]

Bloody hell Cro!

Always knew your bus would eat most cars on the road but not itself surely?

Hope you get it sorted out and it's easy on the wallet mate

 

[James.f]

s**t, what the hell happend there, could it have been down to a faulty/cracked spark plug that worn out overtime to make it like that...

 

[Cro]

Not sure mate, i'd say by the way its happened something has just munched into it if thats even possible. Im totally lost as to an explanation

 

[pip.]

Niose bit of spark errosion.

 

[lemonnobby]

Valve dropped off and mashed the end of the plug is a possible

 

[sideways danny]

Valve dropped off and mashed the end of the plug is a possible

that seems likely.

better picture of the end of the plug possible? could be detonation caused by contaminated fuel?

 

[SBV116]

that seems likely.

better picture of the end of the plug possible? could be detonation caused by contaminated fuel?

Thats what happened last time i saw a plug like that ( another 172 )!! Even punched a hole through the coolant gallery in the head and lost that!

Be prepared for a big bill!

 

[sideways danny]

Steve, you got that pic of the piston or you want me to post it?

 

[MikeyK18]

Fookin heck Cro, i've never seen that in my life, i patiently await the reason behind it lol

 

[SBV116]

Steve, you got that pic of the piston or you want me to post it?

post it dude!! aint got it to hand!! lol

 

[Cro]

that seems likely.

better picture of the end of the plug possible? could be detonation caused by contaminated fuel?

I had just put in £15 fuel after being well into the red light actually!! I'll get a pic of the end of the plug for you now danny

 

[sideways danny]

 

[sideways danny]

or one I prepared earlier....

 

[Cro]

Best pics I could get off the iphone

 

[MikeyK18]

Best pics I could get off the iphone

Mate, you need a 3GS

 

[SBV116]

MMMMMMM pistons, nom nom nom!

 

[Cro]

Better than the last two

 

[sideways danny]

oh that's had a valve head hit it several times, no question at all

 

[Whiteley]

Seeing as we're adding pics of interesting looking piston/valve/head combos I thought I'd add a couple of my own!

 

[Cro]

So what might have caused that danny? Strip the block and look for damage then or new one you reckon?

 

[sideways danny]

So what might have caused that danny? Strip the block and look for damage then or new one you reckon?

well, in theory it could be over-revving. Seen them go on engines that have been living on the limiter too much. But there's also a fault that renault acknowledged in a tech update

 

[Cro]

Lol definately isn't over revving, most days gets driving like a granny

 

[murcod]

Valve dropped off and mashed the end of the plug is a possible

A guy in Australia just had exactly that happen, but in his case spark plug couldn't be removed.

Here's a pic of his head:

Note the spark plug in the middle still fitted, and valve wedged in sideways!

 

[DannoTheGreat]

i had a piston in a thousand pieces in the sump of my old ibiza cupra, wasnt pretty

 

[Slammed172]

Jesus.

 

[TimR26]

Christ

 

[Da]

Ouch, looks nasty.

Makes my problem fade into insignificance in comparison!

 

[Mike_182]

Also seen strokers run lean, piston melts and when it stops running, you pull the plug and it's full of piston-metal.

That's usually expensive too.

 

[Cro]

I'm just presuming my engine is dead and on the hunt for another one

 

[Mike_182]

I wouldn't go that far on an assumption without checking, but it's likely.