Helicoils!!!! (Removal from deep holes)

[Stokestack]

Well, I was able to pry the coil (via that fragment) away from the perimeter of the hole using a spade bit. I also bought a funky two-jointed plier that's long enough to reach into the plug well:



As I attempted to rotate this thing out, the end broke off, along with the mystery fragment:



However, I was still able to grip the broken end of the coil and try to pull it out. No way was this thing coming out, even with two hands. The end of course broke again at some point; I can't tell if it just flopped over or fell into the cylinder. But that's not the bad part: In the struggle with the coil, the pliers pressed the lens of my borescope against the side of the well enough to break it... and send a tiny shower of glass fragments and powder right into the cylinder.



Broken glass in an engine. What could be better?

[Mononeuron]

OK. That's not a helicoil. It's a threaded insert that is one piece and probably cast into the head. No wonder you were having a hard time with it. :-(

[Stokestack]

OK. That's not a helicoil. It's a threaded insert that is one piece and probably cast into the head. No wonder you were having a hard time with it. :-(

How can an insert be cast into the head? The whole thing moves when pried. This is one piece?

[Frank S]

Looks like someone had stripped out or broke off the Ford better Idea crap spark plug then did the thread repair and used a liquid metal sealant to hold the repair piece in place and to prevent compression leakage. If it were me I'd bite the bullet and pull the head, Because it is going to be very difficult to remove the old repair then re tap the hole for a new repair coil and keep any debris out of the cylinder if you don't

[Stokestack]

Thanks. Yes, I've decided the only thing to do is pull it off. From what I've read, it's doable without removing the engine.

I see some people referring to inserts that only cost $70 or so, but the Time-Sert kit for this application is $330 or $400 (not sure which I need). I don't want to go with some generic crap.

[Frank S]

I in doubt take the head to to a reputable engine re-builder machine shop at least they will have the equipment to check it for cracks and give a warranty
I used to do all my own block vatting and machining, as well as my own head work but I mostly took the crank and cams in for grinding since I didn't have the set up for that and I carried the heads and block in to have them checked for cracks even after doing any repairs to known cracks but I mostly worked on 50 and 60 year old engines

[Stokestack]

Thanks. The recommended place (a Ford dealer) has a three-week wait, and I have no reason to suspect there's anything else wrong with the engine.

I'm kind of looking forward to doing it. It will be the most ambitious repair I've undertaken, certainly.

[Frank S]

A friend of mine has one of the earlier Triton 5.7 in his F150. I told him when the bought the truck to have a new set of spark plugs installed. He said it runs fine and only has 80,000 miles on it OK, but you still need to have them changed.he didn't then at 150,000 it started running a little less than fine until at 160,000 he decided to change them himself 3 of them broke while trying to them SO he bought that special extractor from Snap-on Luckily he got them out then used Permitex never seize on the threads when installing the new ones. Makes me glad I only own an older diesel

[NortonDommi]

Just a quick point. I've used Helicoils in spark plug holes and it is fine for shopping carts but if you are going WOT regularly fit a solid insert. I found out to the detriment of an engine that Helicoils don't/can't transmit a lot of heat. The solid inserts actually dissipate heat better than spark plug straight into Ali. Don't use anything,(Loctite), on inserts. On spark plug threads Champion and other manufacturers recommend Graphite powder but Nickle-coat anti-seize works too.