Alfa 156 blown spark plug

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Tue 3 Aug 2004 16:17
Alfa 156 blown spark plug - bigchill
My alfa 156 suddenly developed a really bad misfire like it was running on 2 cylinders, on opening the bonnet there was a horendous knocking coming from the top of the engine, I removed the engine cover to find it had blown one of the small sark plugs out of the head stripping the thread on the bottom 4 pitches of the plug. I brought this car 2nd hand in march 2003, the car is a 2000 year 156 1.8TS the car has done 40000miles and had yearly service since new, it uses very little oil and has run like a dream no problems.

However I could not insert a new plug in the head as the thread has been damaged, looks like it might be ok if cleaned up with a tap or it might require a heli-coil insert. More worringly the electrode is missing from the bottom of the plug hopefully this went out the exhaust. Not really sure what other damage has been done. I have booked it into a main dealer as dont fancy doing the work myself.

Anyway, has anyone encountered this problem before, know of causes. Would the manufacturer be liable for producing faulty goods.

Also why do alfa not check plugs until the 60000 mile service, I found that several of the other plugs were loose they obviously havnt been touched since leaving the factory. I suggest you all check your spark plugs are done up to the correct torque.
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Tue 3 Aug 2004 17:38
Alfa 156 blown spark plug - Aprilia
Don't run the engine. Get someone to look into the cylinder (with a scope) to check if there are any bits of plug left in there.

If plugs are not done up properly the heat cannot dissipate into the head casting the the plug will overhead - result: preignition and plug falls apart.
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