What is that and what has it done with my spark plug?

[632 Regal]

picture looks like an evil eye from a movie or something, can you post something better? Heli coil is a good option if you can get the old plug out, aluminum shavings down the hole are not the worst that can happen.

[CloudNine]

It looks like a washer that some lunatic dropped into the hole. Or, it might be part of some thread repair kit that prevents the next guy from trying to remove the plug. It's hard to see how far down the plug it is. Can't see the white insulator on the plug, though. Quite a mystery.

[632 Regal]

I think it's a photo of a Halloween costume gone bad.

[Ross]

It looks like a washer that some lunatic dropped into the hole. Or, it might be part of some thread repair kit that prevents the next guy from trying to remove the plug. It's hard to see how far down the plug it is. Can't see the white insulator on the plug, though. Quite a mystery.

Looks that way to me too.
Have you tried a magnet? If it's JB Weld a magnet won't stick. If it is JB Weld whoever did this needs a beating.
If it makes you feel better my task today is removing a broken spark plug from the rear bank of transversely mounted engine in a mini-van.

[dauchande]

It looks like a washer that some lunatic dropped into the hole. Or, it might be part of some thread repair kit that prevents the next guy from trying to remove the plug. It's hard to see how far down the plug it is. Can't see the white insulator on the plug, though. Quite a mystery.

Yeah, I wish. It's a cylinder made of metal that has a hole in the top where they pushed through the top of the spark plug. I've tried to pull it out with several tools. I can wiggle the spark plug a little bit, so it's extremely unlikely that it's *not* stripped.

I'll be hitting up my mechanic after christmas to see if it can be removed and fixed without removing the head. If it can't, I'll just remove the head myself and either buy a used one or have it rebuilt, whichever is cheaper.

Damn car runs *worse* after changing the valve cover gaskets, spark plug boots and spark plus, geez, I can't win, grr.

...Of course, it might have something to do with the bad cats/o2 sensor (error 1221)

[MBXB]

Check for intake leaks

[genphreak]

I've never been much of an 'ass-man' myself but... LOL!

[Mordan]

don't change that plug, it is too risky.

save money or sell the car to buy a 525i/535i. Personally, I would sell it and buy an inline 6. They are far easier to maintain and repair.

[dauchande]

don't change that plug, it is too risky.

save money or sell the car to buy a 525i/535i. Personally, I would sell it and buy an inline 6. They are far easier to maintain and repair.

I'd love to find a 1993 535i manual, but there's nothing in Arizona, I'd have to go to California assuming I could even find one there.

I'm probably gonna pick up an e28 535i for the daily commuter and put this one in the garage where I can rebuild it at leisure.

The power of the V8 is addictive, so I have problems with wanting to get rid of it. I think it just needs a rebuild from the ground up, instead of piecemeal.

[Mordan]

The power of the V8 is addictive, so I have problems with wanting to get rid of it. I think it just needs a rebuild from the ground up, instead of piecemeal.

more power to you ! . Hopefully you have a garage to store it.