ok..poorman or Pa...have unfortunate news...spark plug thread is not holding in the #4 spark plug (the one closest to the distributor..or when looking at the engine from front of car, the far left plug) I think the thread chaser ruined the threads....what now?! I know I can go with what they call a heal-a-coil to rethread the hole...is this true? Saw the kits at the parts store, but not sure how to use it. Was advised that is best to do this with the head cover off? Can I get some kind of direction with this unfortunate new circumstance.....

 

That is not good news.

The helicoil will work, but you risk getting metal into the cylinder. You could remove the cylinder head. That will be much more work and cost more money. This may not fix the original problem with your accord.

Here are two questions that you need to answer:

What do you want to do with this car? How much do you want to spend to fix this?

 

Pa...my wife wants to sell this car! We did have it sold as I stated before but the vehicle stalled for the new owner before he even got it home and then wouldn't start...needless to say we returned their money and got the car back to the house...this is when I checked the plugs later that night and then could not get the one back in very well...I am disappointed. Is the helicoil a hard process...we just want to get it back running again. If I am not a mechanic...can I take the cylinder head of myself....I am pretty handy just unsure of the process? Do not want to spend a lot of money on this vehicle. I am getting so good info that the original problem may be the distributor....desperate to resolve

 

I am not so familiar with the 89 accord. I owned a 95 accord. That car had a long tube and the spark plug sat on the bottom. I had to use long extensions with my socket to remove a spark plug.

How is the setup on your accord?

Did you use a tap to remake the threads in the cylinder head?

 

I think I've seen other inserts that might work better than HeliCoil for this job, but not sure what they are.

Helicoil is wound out of wire, and has a piece going across the opening, to engage the tool. You have to break that piece off, and THAT leads to the risk of it falling into the cylinder.

The inserts you want are made solid, probably made specifically for sparkplug holes.

edit...
Here's one.
http://www.fulltorque.com/sparkplug.htm
(disclaimer: I've never done this or any type of repair on a sparkplug thread)
Spark plugs have to handle high temperatures and heat transfer across the threads. That's why there's specific ones for aluminum heads.

PS... HeliCoils aren't real difficult to install, if you get the full kit with installation tools. But they're for normal bolts, not for sparkplugs.

 

Looks like there is a light at the end of the tunnel...have to know if cylinder head is aluminum or cast iron? Seems to me to be aluminum. I used a thread chaser to "clean out" the threads and put to much force on the chaser..as metal came out with the chaser. I thought this is what the grooves in the chaser are for. Spark plug is not tightening down well enough. Will do some calling around for more info. The spark plugs are easy to get to..(small extension required). Is removing the cylinder head difficult? Helicoil is not the way to go? Hopefully poorman will chime in as he has had these older vehicles. Looking for a way to not get into spending too much on this vehicle. Thanks!

 

Removing the head is a semi-difficult job, so maybe let us know what's the biggest repair job you've ever done. (Hard to judge someone's abilities over the web.)

Pretty sure the head is aluminum. I'm really only sure about that for the newer F-series engines.

 

I'm torn on how to answer this....and will say, knocks on wood, that I have not ever had to do this.

First, the true spark plug kits do not have the "tab"/"tang" that has to be broken off/removed. They do have a expander (if that make sense) that you have to use to lock the insert in......adding a good high heat thread locker to the insert is nice for the "next guy".

Does the head need to come off....ture answer is yes...however there are some kits that say you don't.

 

Answer to Jim's question...I am not an auto mechanic and have only done simple repairs..my experience is very minimal and will most likely not attempt to remove the cylinder head...especially after making a mess out of the simple job of removing and replacing a spark plug!! I would have no idea of what to do first for such a job. I believe with enough research and phone calls I can go with the insert route. I am sure some mechanic has run into this problem before. Is the cylinder head on the 89 honda accord lx aluminum or hard steel? Also....why would a thread chaser be suggested if it does this kind of damage to your spark plug hole? Any guidance out there on insert kits?

 

Chasing threads is a bit of a trick, you have to feel the cutting tool as it properly enters the threads. If it goes in cross-threaded, you have to be able to recognize that before you do any actual cutting of the threads. I would have been in the same trouble if a sparkplug hole (especially recessed & angled) was the first time I'd ever used a thread tap.

It's entirely possible that your threads were already too far gone before you even got that thread-chaser tool.

Even to use an insert, you have to re-cut that threaded hole to a larger diameter, and that can be tricky too. Alignment of how you hold the tool is very important. The sparkplug hole sitting at an odd angle doesn't make that very easy.

I'd also get a shop-vac and attach a small-ish hose so you can stick the hose around there to suck out the metal shavings that you'll make. And stick the vacuum hose down into the cylinder after you're done to get anything that fell in.