Thank you for all the replies.
I drove it to the Dealer today, and I told them how I couldn't torque the plugs down properly. The gentleman I spoke to said he doubts that I stripped the threads in the head, and told me I may not have tightened the plugs enough. He told me that once I have the plugs in hand-tight, that I should be able to get a full turn of the torque wrench before it will torque down properly. I did not do a "full turn", as I always thought a 1/4 to a 1/2 turn is all that is necessary. Needless to say, as for it not getting tighter, he said that may have been due to the metal plug gasket, since that presses against the plug and head, that I may have felt that it was not getting tighter, when it may have been. He also said that if I stripped the threads, that I wouldn't have been able to get the plug back in by hand. He told me to try it again when the engine was cold. Needless to say, I told him I would rather have them do it in case it was stripped, and then they could fix it then and there. He told me worst case scenario, I would need a new cylinder head - that is the absolute worst case he said. He did say that for stripped threads like that, they use a HeliCoil, like TRD mentioned. I will be making an appointment for the end of the month to get it in. They are booked up until next week, and due to scheduling conflicts, won't be able to bring it in until the end of the month.
The engine sat overnight and I did not use it before I took out the old plugs. The old plugs were all the same NGK's, and I made sure the Denso's were the same number as well.
I guess this problem can happen and has happened to other people. I wonder why the manufacturers don't use a bit of anti-seize on those areas.
I will keep everyone posted as to what the final outcome is.
Thanks again
|