2000 i30 Blown Out Plug

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mtravis
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue May 07, 2019 10:29 pm

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Has anyone repaired a blown out plug on a 2000 i30?

Lisel Deep Hole Aluminum Head M14 x 1.25 Spark Plug Hole Repair Kit, https://www.homedepot.com/p/Lisle-Deep- ... /306764002, seems to be the best kit to do the repair, just curious if anyone has used it before.

Thank you!


amc49
Posts: 1183
Joined: Mon Jun 19, 2017 7:24 pm
Car: '11 Nissan Versa
'17 Nissan Altima

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Doing it head still on motor presents special issues, the drill or tap cuttings fall into the engine to tear it up.

If the tap job gets drill or tap started slightly crooked you can give up on it, the plug will never seal, user skills fit in there bigtime.

mtravis
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue May 07, 2019 10:29 pm

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@amc49, Agreed, there's only a single opportunity to get it right. A reply from a shop that machines spark plug hole repair kits like that one said that the '00 i30's head is, "unique". Despite listing a M14 x 1.25 deep hole kit, and different kits in that size for iron or aluminum heads, they had none that would fit and '00 i30.

Which makes me think that a one size fits most kit might not work without some adaptation, if at all.

Hopefully, they will reply with a definition of what is unique about the VQ30DE head design.

macgiver
Posts: 1612
Joined: Wed Jul 04, 2007 10:21 am

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I agree fully with amc49 he touched on enough points , I'm sure many more tricky aspects abound - I would hope you would find a shop w/expert mechanic EXPERIENCED,to do a good honest job of it (on the car :facepalm: )
Hopefully under $200 ??

mtravis
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue May 07, 2019 10:29 pm

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Over the phone estimates are $250 to $300, assuming that there are no other problems.

The uniqueness of the head was just the depth to the top of the plug hole, not the thickness of the head, anything like that.

https://www.denlorstools.com/page_41041 ... nsert.html is confirmed by the DenLors to be correct for a '00 i30..

The cost, now we are around $230: kit, insert, Loctite, small (less than 14mm, needs to fit through the spark plug hole, into the cylinder) hose to attach to a shop vac.

So, we have should work for $120 or so (kit + shop vac hose) + 2 to 4 hours personal time doing the work, is expected to work for $230 + 2 to 4 hours personal time doing the work, or at a shop for $250 to $300, plus 2 to 4 hours personal time, tow there, wait, drive back.

I have successfully done a Heli-Coil insert before. Patience and paying careful attention to details are important, as they are with most shade-tree mechanic fixes.

macgiver
Posts: 1612
Joined: Wed Jul 04, 2007 10:21 am

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Out of curiosity - what is the original cause ? ie. too many R&R on plugs , "strippage" during R&R (Removal? or Install ?) ,other ??

mtravis
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue May 07, 2019 10:29 pm

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The root cause is unknown. A guess is that the plug was cross-threaded sometime in the past, partly stripping the threads, but the plug still stayed put.

This car is a person's first vehicle, +120k miles when purchased about a year ago.

After several thousand miles, the plug was blown out, coil pack and plug both broken in that event.

There are still a couple intact threads at the bottom (closest to the cylinder) of the hole. The back half (side toward the intake vales) of the hole has some remnants of threads about a quarter of the depth they should be, while the front side is pretty smooth.

macgiver
Posts: 1612
Joined: Wed Jul 04, 2007 10:21 am

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God just told me ,....If they prepped propper and used quality J & B type epoxy ( MarineTex ) installing top of the line, NGK , Irridium plug there - would've made it beyond 200k mi.Tell new owner :facepalm:
Never mind , I got the communication wrong - was drinking J & B ..... :spitout:

macgiver
Posts: 1612
Joined: Wed Jul 04, 2007 10:21 am

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" One more thing " , as Columbo would say ...... what's this car again ? ? 2000 I30 :sad:

mtravis
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue May 07, 2019 10:29 pm

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Yep, one of those cars that most of us on a forum have owned at one point, or more than once. It is good enough for the price when you buy it, but you have no idea of who did what in the past.

mtravis
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue May 07, 2019 10:29 pm

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Just to close this thread out, we found a mechanic that did the work for $300. They already had the correct TimeSert kit.


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