Oil in cylinder #4

[speedlever]

Thanks for the link silveridge... put one in my cart.

I've never had any issues with the rubber thingy... if we're talking about the same thing. I found a quick squirt of WD-40 on the rubber insert allows it to hold the plug and yet release it without issue. Without the WD-40, it would hold so tight that my tools would separate inside the tube. Sounds like the magnet holds in a similar fashion but releases without issue.

[Qxtreem]

Thank for all of the info. Has me worried as I am coming up on 75k miles. I ordered the swivel wrench and will check out my plugs.

Q

[Ourfarm09]

Originally Posted by csimo

Funny that we both posted it at the same time.

Great minds think alike.

[silveridge]

Originally Posted by speedlever

I've never had any issues with the rubber thingy... if we're talking about the same thing. I found a quick squirt of WD-40 on the rubber insert allows it to hold the plug and yet release it without issue. Without the WD-40, it would hold so tight that my tools would separate inside the tube. Sounds like the magnet holds in a similar fashion but releases without issue.

The magnet in the GearWrench socket holds the plug securely...there's no chance of the plug inadvertently falling into the plug chamber during installation/removal. But the magnet releases without issue when you want it to.

[csimo]

I received a response from an engineering friend. He has not heard of any specific issue with cylinder #4. The cylinder head is common among the other Honda V6 engines so the Ridgeline should not be any different. He did inquire with someone on the service end of things and nothing was known of this issue. These are people at top levels of their field so I think they would know, and I don't think the person I asked would mislead me in any way.

My personal observation.... I think there's confusion of cylinder numbering and it's possible that #4 is becoming a self fulfilling prophecy. I'm not saying that problems don't exist, but it's possible that #4 is being blamed for issues that have nothing to do with it.

I do know my own spark plug in #4 was only finger tight. I know it was tight when replaced, and was a NGK plug supplied by Honda (not a parts store, etc.).

Coincidence? I don't know, and I don't like the word.

[speedlever]

Joe, did you relate your own spark plug story to your E friends?

I have not yet had a chance to check the plugs in our J35 motors.

[IanRTL]

Could it simply be that the spark plug worked its way loose in these specific cylinders, causing all sorts of problems over time? Maybe this could explain this ENTIRE phenomenon? I would assume that for any real damage to occur, the plug would have to be loose for quite awhile. Maybe the specific #4 plug wasn't tightened properly from the factory and it just took 70-90k miles for the problem to rear its ugly face? This would also explain our non-ability to pinpoint this issue to a specific head casting, date of manufacture or even model year. Should we maybe put out an APB to check the spark plug torque yearly?

[laserguy]

I pulled out 4,5,6 and 2 plugs and pulled all coils, all coils looked identical I did not bother to remove #1 and #3 plugs just double checked them for tightness, my 3/8 HF torque wrench was set at 14 lbs, and that is what I set all of them. The 4 plugs I revomoved all look the same, they had like a light redish color on most of the plug but he iridium tips looked good and clean enough, I just wiped off the the coils with a rag, used a brush for the treads on the 4 plugs I did, they had a bit of dust rust at the end and at the very top of the thread was more of a stain that dust.

What I considered a PITA was removing the connectors from the coil packs on the back I had to slightly pull the coil pack and fight with it to remove the connector, in some cylinders a 5 1/2 inch extension worked good, just had to remove the extension while holding the socket to keep it from going back down and have room to remove them, for the rear ones I used two 2 1/2 extension together and I had to do the same move, remove one extension while holding the the one with the socket. I did not find the need to use my wobble adapter ext set from HB item #67922 that I paid like $2.50 for it, but I did not remove 1 and 3 plugs.

The other PITA was the allen wrenches for the coil packs, were tight and I hope I put them as tight as they were, I was afraid of breaking those since they are plastic but have a metal bushing on that hole.


I guess everybody has a different story and experience doing the plugs and I thought I would share mine. While I did that and after I removed the black plastic cover while it was removed I sprayed with simple green and hosed is off to clean it up.
The only thing that caught my attention and don't know if it is normal was like some black dust on each left corner of the area pictured, I am not sure if anyone have seen that before.

[speedlever]

Good work laserguy!

(yikes.. a naked J35 engine... it looks... vulnerable).

[csimo]

Originally Posted by speedlever

Joe, did you relate your own spark plug story to your E friends?

I have not yet had a chance to check the plugs in our J35 motors.

Yes, I explained that I was shocked to find my #4 plug only finger tight.