So last week I noticed I was having a misfire out of cylinder 4... so decided to change all my plugs yesterday.

everythjng was going smooth up untill cylinder 7 my last plug 🙄... I could not for the life of me get the new spark plug to line up correctly....NOTE: previous spark plug showed no sign of damage and came out with no hassle.

For hours I tried lining it up and finally came to the conclusion that maybe I damaged the well... I jumped in my old faithful (04 f150) and went to auto zone and bought a chaser. I greased it up and began to get after with with my 3/8 ratchet and never seemed to get any smooth loose motion in the turn. I backed off and noticed it didn’t look like I was properly aligned with the angle of #8 and gave up not wanting to damage it any further.

does anyone have any idea on what I should do next?

 

I used a back tap without the ratchet wrench which worked best for me. Works from the inside out. I didn't want to use an actual ratchet because I thought it would apply too much force. https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...19/#post713187

 

I’ve never tapped before... I get the concept and I understand how to do the job I’m just concerned of the angle In which number 7 is in.

will the tap self correct the angle?

 

I seen a spark plug hole repair kit the other day at Canadian tire here in Canada. Made specially for this

you may find this at your parts store or shop around. Just follow instructions

 

Also looking for opinions here.... should I do this myself or trust a mechanic?

if I do it myself I know I can take my time but I’ve never done it before and won’t know if I’m doing it correctly.

if I take it to a mechanic he might know exactly what to do... but what if he over looks the angle and or just forces a plug in making it worse and recommend removing the head and charging triple.

im trying to see how serious of an issue this is.

Yalls feed back really helps, thanks in advance.

 

Hard to tell as the results will vary according to the amount of damage that has been done. I know when I lightly cross-threaded on of my spark plugs, I was able to fix it by taking my time with a back tap - no ratchet wrench. Some folks have had to use a heli-coil method because their threads were stripped. If its not stripped, I would say the back tap is worth a try.

 

I checked with a couple shops who stayed they would not do the job for me... saying they don’t mess with that stuff....

I found one shop who stated they would do it for a $500 fee.

i ordered the back tap and should have it tomorrow, if I have any trouble I’m gonna quit and trailer it over to the shop.

lots of the shops mentioned “pitch, depth, angle, etc” so it only made me more nervous.

If anyone else has any input before I conduct this operation I would greatly appreciate it.

 

I'm a complete noob and I was able to do it. Just take your time and don't use a ratchet wrench. You need to feel the tap working. It took me about 30 minutes before I could line it up and get it to bite. Ever time my hand would cramp, I would walk away and take a break. Watch this video:

 

Watched that exactly video, and ordered that exact tool! Thanks for the boost in confidence I’ll deff take my time. What cylinder were tapping?

im hoping I have enough room to maneuver the tools.

 

If you can, slide a camera or cell phone in front of the hole to see if things are actually messed up.

If you have a borescope or something that can look at the threads you might have a better idea.

If it gets messed up, time to do the head gasket.