Here they are, as promised. The other thread about the loose plugs here was getting long, so I thought it would be better to have another thread that had the pictures.

I don't proclaim to know what happened here. And the SM, as well as the techs at the dealer were in the dark as well. This is a very odd issue, but I just can't let go of the fact that the plug not being in the cylinder was the snowflake that triggered the snowball. HOWEVER, as I will show in the pics, the wall about 1/4 of the way around the cylinder on the driver's side was badly scored and grooved. This leads me to believe the skirt was at fault as well. How to connect these two events may lead you to figuring out what happened here...


First, here is a little of my impression of what actually we saw. First, Gregg and I saw a spark plug that was so badly burned, it was hardly recognizable as a spark plug, it was also bent on the side the coil attaches to it, not on the side that ignites. This complicates it for me at least, because I would have thought that the piston was what crunched the plug, since that's the only thing that moves in the whole area. However, this raises evidence thatthe plug being jettisoned out with enough of force to bend it on the spark plug cover...

The valves were burned in #1 and a retainer was also cracked, but it was still holding on to the valve. The coil was like a bowl of spaghetti. They said they have a bitch of a time getting it all out of there.


Here's a shot of the spark plug, or what is left of it. There was a lot of what USED to be spark plug on the top of the piston.



The wires below are what was once the coil. I understand that it was made a little worse when they removed it, but this was what it looked like when it came out of the sleeve...
[IMG]http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=525775&a=13824360&p=54777742&Sequence=0&res =high


Notice in the picture below the scoring of the cylinder wall...the grooves in the wall appear to be the same as the width of the skirt, which obviously, you cannot see...



Notice the burned chamber that the #1 spark plug lives in. It's the one nearest the hand in the shot...



Broken valve retainer from one of the valves on #1, but it hadn't let go of the valve...

 

Scored #1 cylinder wall...it's roughly the top 1/4 of the wall in this picture...




Burned valves in the #1 chamber...#1 is the furthest from the front...




And of course, the new block... (thank you Honda!)



Here are the albums on Photopoint that have the low res shots...

http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?...&a=13824360&f=0

And the high res shots are here, but be warned, they are about 600k all you dial up folk...

http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?...&a=13824459&f=0



Any ideas on what went on here?!

 

*whew* glad you are getting it replaced quickly.

so this is covered under *your* (not necessarily everyone else's) warranty?

 

Greg, it doesnt sound like exactly the same problem but I had a spark plug break apart and then fall into the cylinder causing major problems a year ago (around 8k miles, the car was one year old). My engine started making a strange noise but I was only a mile from my destination so I kept on. It sounded moderately bad, like it was misfiring but I needed to get where I was going and park the car. When I came back, the car would not start at all. Had it towed to the dlr.

They said that they've never seen anything like, they had to order a new block and a lot of new parts (when I saw the repair parts list I was glad that I wasnt footing the bill). Also got my clutch replaced at the same time (as a one-time courtesy of course) because they said that it was almost completely worn out (I have no idea why so early, I dont ride my clutch).

Anyway, here's what the work order says: #3 spark plug came apart, cylinder wall, combustion chamber, spark plug hole threads and coil pack severely damaged. Replaced short block and head assembly and related parts.

I wonder if a loose plug could have led to what eventually happened in my case as well?

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Schatten
[B]*whew* glad you are getting it replaced quickly.

 

Greg,

Glad to know that all is well and that you were taken care of. Great pics.

Marc

 

these pics are scary....... thinking about getting the extended warranty

 

Greg sorry to hear your bad luck. I do appreciate your headsup on the spark plug torque issue. I checked mine today and they were all 13+. Good luck with your rebuild.

 

you break 'em good Greg!

Too bad the valve didn't drop...

 

The factory spark plugs that came in a 96 Corvette w/ an LT4 motor used to loose it's prongs to the motor. I think GM put 4 prong plugs in them.