helga is officially off my s**t list,1400mi/19.45h something "broke", pls advise...

[ryan roopnarine]

1400 miles in 19.45 hours, at about 25 mpg on 93 and 89 interspersed (EAT'd), not as good as i was hoping, but not too bad either. it would have helped to know where the OPP is and isn't on the 401... the water wetter is good stuff, i kept my temp at a solid 5 degrees F lower than with just the 35% antifreeze that is in there now. the only problem i encountered was that around mile 400 of the trip, i began to hear a ratta-tatt-tatt (like some kind of lifter noise) in the engine, resembling a kind of knocking, at which point I added 150 mL of m1 5w30 prophylactacally.... within 200 miles, was significantly reduced....i thought the noise had something to do with the 30/40 degree temps. by mile 1000, the noise was back in force, and i decided to see what exactly the noise was. using only a flashlight and the q-dog stun technique (a hose and a screwdriver) i isolated the noise to under coil 5, where i found that the spark plug was almost completely loose. tightening it back up ended the noise. my question is.....would driving it around for 800 miles with it loose (at speeds above 85) cause any problems? i'm thinking specifically about threads being stripped and needing to be helicoiled or something in that vein, or of crap falling in there. i used 3/4 of a quart on the trip because i put bg 44k in about 500 miles previous, and i guess it burned out, as i usually don't consume any oil between 6k oil changes. thanks.

[Bill H.]

no problem.

[632 Regal]

bet you were glad when you found that loose plug, I would have freaked out on a long trip to have strange noises.