safe to remove?

[nitronutz]

Hey guys. I was thinking about putting new plugs in my 02 1.8t amb. I had a bad nisfire after my VC/CTG job cuz the harness were brittle and cracking. I've replaced the coils, coil harness all the way to the ecu and I thought i'd replace the plugs also. However after digging thru a stack of receipts the previous owner had i found the #3 spark plug has been heli coiled i guess due to a strip..that was done at 75k now the car has 134k. Is it safe to remove that plug? Or should i leave it the hell alone since its not leaking or exhibiting any misfires?

[old guy]

Sooner or later you will have to deal with it. If I was faced with the same situation I would leave it alone until I was totally ready to deal with it. I would have an extractor ready along with a new helicoil in case it had to be replaced. Then I would replace the spark plug.

If the helicoil was installed properly it should not be an issue.

[nitronutz]

Thanks for the response but to my limited understanding if the heli coil were to fail wouldnt it come out with the plug if I tried to remove it? Then i'd re- tap and put another insert in .

[old guy]

Three possible scenarios. The helicoil was installed properly and the plug comes out.

The helicoil wasn't secured properly and it comes out with the spark plug.

And the worst scenario would be the helicoil wasn't set properly and the spark plug was forced into the helicoil. Now you will need an extractor and you will have to get the damaged helicoil out.

Unfortunately that isn't all that uncommon when trying to install a helicoil deep in the bottom of a spark plug well.

[nitronutz]

Would u k

[nitronutz]

Would u kindly direct me to what extractor i need if #3 scenario was to happen?

[old guy]

Google helicoil extraction tool. There is a tool specifically for removing helicoils.

[diagnosticator]

If heli coils were installed with the engine assembled, the chances are the inserts are not installed as securely as possible. Since only three plug holes were done, is evidence the engine was assembled when the inserts were installed. The Proper Practices procedure is to remove the head and do all four plug holes. When correctly installed, heli coils are a lot more durable and reliable than the original threads.

[tHatOne guY]

OP, you may wanna look into a time-sert. These are going to be the most reliable. They are more expensive though, so there's the catch.

Chek it out, http://www.timesert.com/html/sparkplug.html

oh, and I don't work for these guys or anything. I've had the best success with these on my street bikes as well as cars I've wrenched on