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Taking advantage of the beautiful day, I was heading north on I94 when I felt the engine change, and looked down to see the CEL come on, and blinking. Having previously read postings of the blinking CEL and seeing words such as catastrophic, danger, doom, etc. I immediately pulled over, shut off the car, and called for a flatbed.
While waiting, I checked for fluid leakage- there was none- and I pulled the dipstick to check for signs of any metal shavings (I'm not sure if I would find any but what else was I to do while waiting ). No shavings.
Prior to the CEL:
- Running normal
- Purchased a new tank of gas, but not from my usual station. I did notice that she was about
10-20 miles per tank off of her usual.
- At the time of the CEL I was on the interstate going about 80mph in 6th.
- I was able to shut her off after about 10-20 sec. of the CEL
- I ventured a brief restart and she was vibrating really, really bad.
I have not yet read the code. I finally ordered my very own code reader (with my CEL frequency it should come in handy) so I'll just wait until I receive to learn the code. Unless, in the meantime, anyone with a reader is nearby who can come over to read it.
While waiting for my code reader I ventured to pull the plugs and found the #1 had debris and a missing tip/pin and the coil had a dark residue to it. The #1 was easier to remove but not loose. Here are the pics.
#1 Plug with debris (shown with #2 for comparison)
#1 Coil (has dark residue)
I am not going to do anything else until I read the code and I am trying to remain optimistic it is just a bad plug. However, if it is "catastrophic" then I am going to fix it step by step through the winter. It would be easier to hand it over to someone (read Pinyo ) but a. I've had a lot of expenses this year, and b. I really need to learn the car inside and out.
In the meantime your advice is appreciated and I will update with more info.
Interesting. Sure looks like a bad plug possibly due to not being torqued properly. Not sure why it would have the residue all about. Since you mentioned it was easier to remove, I wonder if it was leaking. The plug certainly looks stained and discolored in the pic. Could be a new plug will have her purring smoothly again.
I hope that is all. Not sure what else it could be.
I've read of plug tips disintegrating and debris scoring the cylinder. With as much debris as you have I'd say there's a good chance you have some internal damage.
Wish I could visit and help. Best of luck and keep us updated.
I'm worried about what debris the spark plug left in the cylinder and what it may have done before you shut down. It's good news that you weren't at high rpm's when she threw the blinking CEL.
Good luck and let me know if I have any tools or other help I can send your way.
Uh-oh, bad news indeed... Thanks for the advice you gave me about my CEL and trying new plugs first... Seems to have been the answer so far...
Wish I had some better advice for your current situation though...
I'm with hecash. Either the plug was defective, or it backed out of the threads. You definitely need to inspect the threads that the plug screws into very carefully. If they are ok, then compression and leakdown tests should tell you if you dodged a bullet or not.
Now my paranoid ass is worried about my plugs. My car has 25K miles on it...never been beat on, and has OEM plugs since I've never removed anything under the hood.
Does this problem occur only with aftermarket plugs?
Should I be worried about factory plugs doing the same thing?
I read a post somewhere that some cars had issues with factory not torquing the plugs properly.
On the upside it looks as though all the pieces of the plug are intact still there. It may just have just blow loose and you were fortunate enough no to have anything drop into the engine.
The first thing I'm gonna do next season is ditch the Iridiums and go back to plain copper. And make sure they are torqued down right!
Good Luck Kallan, Let us all know how it turns out!
If it's bothering you, just bring the car by my place over the weekend and we'll pull the plugs for inspection and replace them with 19 ft=lbs of torque. Will take about 30 minutes.
The issue of plugs backing out relates to both OEM and aftermarket. However, with the iridium, sometimes the tips break off. It's tiny and may just pass into the cylinder and get blown out but maybe not.
The original torque spec was in the 13-15 ft-lb range but it's now 19.
Thanks for the offer!
I may just do this myself since it looks fairly easy to do during my next oil change. I'll ask you for help when I have some serious issues
My Unexpected Winter Project
). No shavings. 
) but a. I've had a lot of expenses this year, and b. I really need to learn the car inside and out. 
