Need help to diagnose engine failure. I have a 2003 S2000 with 60,050 miles. I enjoy this car but can't understand what happen to me last sunday. I live in florida and we have some heavy rains at times. I was going home and driving around 60 MPH when my check engine light came on. I thought because I just turned 60K that it needed a service. I went another 3-5 miles when the check engine light started flashing. I knew this wasn't good so I started to pull over when the engine just shut down. We had it towed to my friend who's a Chevy mechanic. He put it on the computer and it showed a number 1 and 4 misfire. We pulled the valve cover off and we saw the number one cylinder coil melted and we can't get the spark plug out. The cams are all black on 1st cylinder and ok on remaining. What would cause the coil to heat like that and how to get plug out of cylinder head? Do I need to replace engine?

 

Since nothing else really looks wrong, I wonder if that coil could have shorted and caught fire. How does the wiring to that coil look? That could explain the melted coil and the discoloration around it. As for getting the plug out, if penetrating oil doesn't work you could try liquid nitrogen on the plug to cool it and see if that helps. The idea would be to try to cool the plug and not the head material around it if possible. Unless someone else has an idea, you may end up having to pull the head.