Where'd you get that red spark plug starting tube, shown in your hand at 3:57? People talk about using a short length of hose. All the spare hose I have is curved, which makes it confusing if you're trying to start the plug straight.
What I have done before is get a used spark plug, cut off the crush washer and put a 45 degree taper on it with your bench grinder where the crush washer was and use the modified spark plug to drive down into the new thread and tighten. The 45 angle will seat the top of the solid insert. Then remove modified spark plug and put in your toolbox. The one I did was Cyl 2 on a Hondu Pilot. No room to hammer.
@@jeffryblackmon4846 I forget I have so many tools. Every few years or so I go through my toolboxes and amaze myself at some of the stuff I have, then the nightmares come back to me. "oh yeah, that's from when I fixed that hooptie my wife was driving when we were dating". hahaha
Panic doesn't solve problems. Improvise adapt and overcome. Keep a cool head and high stress situations will go as smooth as they can. But sometimes I do freak out haha
@@mikesilveira8114 those are also the words of a guy who has got himself in the shit a time or two and needed to figure it out without making it a way bigger situation 😅
You tubers with specialty sites, like yours, sometimes worry that they are quote, boring, their viewers, but I do not think that is the case here. You see, both amateur and pro mechanics have likely not done this procedure, often, so learning to avoid those mistakes, is not boring! Seriously!
Yeah, do we know the back story of this problem? It seems to be very common. I have a JDM Fit from 2006 and the service manual says to use anti-seize and torque to 18 N m (13 foot pound force). I wonder if there could have been some confusion about the units and/or the use of anti-seize in the US production.
Novice = install a helicoil. Intermediate=Installing the helicoil on a head w/o removing head. Advanced = Don't remove head, and install a helicoil down a plug tube, underneath a cowl totally blind. I definitely would have boogered that up doing it blind. Well done, and saved the customer a lot of ducats.
Glad to see you took the Piston down OB Motors on Hacks Cross in Olive Branch Mississippi didn't do that they drilled into the the top of my piston ruin it then JB welded my spark plug in without taking the drill bit out cost 3800 a new engine the owner states he was not liable that he was just renting a bay to the man but I was given a receipt with the company letterhead on it. OUCH
Johnny from Olive Branch Motors in Olive Branch on Hacks Cross I took him a time cert insert with all the trimmings and he drilled in the top of my piston left the drill bit there, JB welded a spark plug in cut $3,800 that's Stooooopid little Vietnamese
Been watching you for 5 years now. I'm still amazed at how you handle each job or situation. I've worked on vehicles since 1973. There are times I've needed help and your channel has helped me greatly! To see you do a job like this, explaining it, and giving detail is the amazement part! Your Professionalism, Experience, and detail to work is far beyond what many customers get today at their local shops! Sadly going 65 years old from what I've seen it's going to harder to work on New Vehicles because of the learning curve it takes to do the job correctly or completely understand the nature of the beast. Great job Eric!
She should thank whoever(?) put that cross thread spark plug for her and got her into that problematic trouble. A professional under one hour service turned ugly.
I've been turning wrenches on a wide variety of vehicles and industrial equipment since the late 60s, and I NEVER fail to learn stuff from your channel Mr. O. As an old retired guy on a fixed income, I finally have time to be patient. Old dogs and clever newer tricks work well together! ;)
Eric learned from the old school guys like yourself. We know in the old days you earned the education you got from the old professionals. I started working construction in 1980 at 14 and I definitely had a boss or two grab me up and throw me a few feet. I learned to listen and have a exceptional work ethic. Oh I miss the old days.
I'm cracking up as you repair the spark plug hole dodging all the possible negative comments. Dude id let you work on my car any day of the week. You never fail to impress. Always give great advice as always.
I have the same '09 orange honda fit 158k on the clock. Bought used at 145k, and decided to tackle a valve adjustment myself after being inspired by all of your videos. Everything is much easier to reach once you pull the intake, which is a bit of a pain. Fortunately I didn't have any broken clips to replace on the wiper deck. I was surprised to find when the engine was stone cold, 3 of the 4 plugs on mine were also finger tight. #3 took a little work to get out as it got hung up a few times, but I took my time running it in and out until it came out cleanly. Plugs were probably original. Valves were all over the place, but not super out of spec. No real surprises otherwise other than not realizing some of the hoses on the throttle body are coolant, and got all over me when I disconnected them. (i'm used to working on carbureted bikes) Throttle was really dirty, so I'm glad I took the time to really go through everything. It was kind of funny to put back in, as the car was idling at about 2K for a few minutes while the computer re-learned the positioning on a clean throttle. Thanks as always for bringing us along in your shop, and your thought process.
Yup, I have done two sparkplug repairs about 40 years ago. lol I purchased my kit to repair the threads on my motorcycle, then a few years later helped a friend repair the treads on a plug that blew out on his car. I remember the instructions saying to fill the tap flutes with grease to catch the metal shavings. I remember going about half way and removing the tap and cleaning it and repacking it with grease for the second half of the hole. Grease did a good job catching all the bits and the kit did a good job. I let people borrow it over the years and I'm not sure if I still have it. Great video Mr O.
You can see how wet the # 2 cylinder was from the misfire. The # 1 cross hatching looked as good as new. I love how cheap bore scopes have gotten. Back when I was first getting into wrenching on boats, they were well over 1000 bucks, and they weren't digital. Now I've got one with the side cam and records video that was less than 80 bucks. Great repair Eric O.
I bought a $20 USB cable that plugs into my Samsung Tab A tablet. I don't think it has the side camera but the front facing camera with the light works great
As a retired semi and trailer mechanic I want to thank you for your logic and calm demeanor when you Run into issues like this and I also enjoy how you poke fun at the internet experts that come on here looking for something to call you on..😅. Thank you sir!
Eric, for someone like me, an amateur mechanic, your videos aren’t just instructional, but also…..funny..! I appreciate very much your efforts to keep camera rolling….
its hard to imagine a more awkward and difficult and non-ergonomic repair situation.....masterfully handled when you know what to do.....i'm shocked that such a catastrophic anti-ergonomic concealed failure mode with that spark plug could be repaired so quickly and easily in the hands of an experienced mechanic .... well done Eric O
Remember. If I can do it, you can do it. I couldn’t do that if my life depended on it. Great video. You mechanics earn every dime you make now days working on the trash car companies make. From an Old guy that really enjoys watching you solve problems that come up.
Hi Eric. Have an 08 Fit and about 10 K after changing the plugs (torqued to spec), I could smell gasoline under the hood. This lead me to a Honda forum where people were saying the plugs would come loose. Sure enough, that was the case and I caught it early. Now torque them about 4 ft-lbs tighter than spec'd. What I found incredible however was that others had the original, never touched factory plugs come loose or blow out. Honda said this was not possible and blamed the customers saying they must have changed them. So something about this motor. Never had this happen before on my other Hondoos. Great video. Always useful and entertaining. Hope I never have to do this procedure. 194,000 miles on this car.
Did you hear any squeaking noises, kinda like a belt squeak as well when they were loosening up? I wonder if the gasket was taking too much force to crush on the plug choice they used for this engine, robbing the threads of the proper amount of torque/stretch. One of those things were supplier differences affected the set spec in some cases.
I had many years in the automotive trade and continue to realize things about Mr. O. 1) He has the best diagnostic skills I've ever seen. 2) He is a master at devising fixes (not always doing the traditional ones) and has the extreme skills to pull them off. 3) He has invested heavily in tools and they pay off in one way or another in every job he touches. Yes, the prototype who everybody here wishes they had access to.
Watching your videos is like watching the 1960s Batman. Every episode, we see some new gadget that we've never seen before. That thread reamer and endoscope were like the Bat anti-shark spray and the Batarang.
Can't beat this procedure. Spot on Dr. O! I hope there are no knuckleheads who put stupid remarks in the comments - this job was first class and correct. This also should remind everyone out there to keep all jackwagons from ever opening the hood on your vehicle.
I always use a thin coating of soft grease on the thread tap when tapping a cylinder head that's on the engine. It captures most or all the shavings into the flutes of the tap. This prevents them from dropping into the cylinder. Tap Magic on aluminum works well to lubricate but doesn't capture any shavings.
I think your reverse threading tool ben a mechanic over 30 years and never heard of that 1 would think it would be perfect in situations like love your videos when watching you on utube for years this is the first time I've ever made a comment.
ERIC O I use Shaving Cream in the Cylinder . Run the Piston down . Fill up with shaving Cream .The Shaving Cream will catch the Metal Pieces .When done . Turn motor over to push the shaving cream out :-))
Gotta appreciate this man. He could have done this job in 1/4 the tike if he wasnt filming and teaching so many. Eric is the kind of guy id be honored to work in his shop. He doesn't ride the struggle bus. Knows his shit and just gets it done. I struggle to walk some day my body is done at 51.
Love getting home from a hard days work, sitting down to dinner, and watching the master mechanic, Eric O !!! Great content, my favorite channel. Best to you, the Mrs. and your family! 👍👍👍👍
What I have done before is get a used spark plug, cut off the crush washer and put a 45 degree taper on it with your bench grinder where the crush washer was and use the modified spark plug to drive down into the new thread and tighten. The 45 angle will seat the top of the solid insert. Then remove modified spark plug and put in your toolbox. The one I did was Cyl 2 on a Hondu Pilot. No room to hammer.
First time commenting Eric O. When you needed to expand the top of the helicoil with no swinging room the first thing that came to my mind was a palm nailer and then you said it👍 I used a palm nailer years ago to install a soft plug on my inboard motor on my boat with out pulling the motor, mechanic insisted motor had to come out because of position and lack of room. You are one hell of a mechanic keep the videos coming 😁
I remember a Caviler that had worn spark plug holes in an aluminum head. Took head off, went to speed shop, they stamped steel inserts in. We bolted the head back on, screwed in new plugs, and it ran for years. Saved several hundred for sure.
So timely for me !! Today I am going to replace a spark plug on a 2005 Honda Element for a lady with very limited funds and some real challenges. Check engine light showed misfire at #2. Swapped coils with #4 and the miss stayed at #2. I pray it's a bad plug and not this nightmare. I am not a real mechanic so I would not take on this project. It's a different engine and visibility is easy. Thanks SMA.
As a friendly reminder, to all the people out there, the use of dielectric grease needs to be kept to a minimum. I had an intermittent miss on my Mazda Tribute. After replacing all the plugs and fighting the miss for a week I decided to clean all the spark plug boots and put only the bare minimum of grease on the boots. I didn't think it would fix the problem, but it did. I was amazed! Good work there! Very thoughtful!
Great video! Shows the contrast between fixing the problem in 15 minutes, or working on the car for hours and hours to pull the head and possibly creating other problems in the process. Very practical no-nonsense car repair!
I welded a 3/8 socket to the top of my tap, so it would accept a 3/8 extension, and wrap electrical tape around said extension a few inches up, to keep it centered in the plug well, has served me well, for years.
Hi Eric, I just found Eric O - After Hours. What a find. I saw your family photo. Beautiful! I have the utmost respect for you mister. Nice job working over the top of that Hondu with Mirrors & no smoke. Thank You for offering your time and expertise. I'm 71 and you help me keep in touch w/ new/ smarter ways and better stuff, so: You know you can use another cellphone as a live video camera for remote viewing, but also there are Free Apps to use OLD PHONES for it if you have WiFi. Keep up the great work Eric. ben/ michigan
Long story, but I ended up with a manual 08 Fit a while back... definitely not much to look at and no racing machine, but was _very_ nimble, great in heavy traffic and for its size had amazing amounts of useable interior volume. The back seats flipped every further increasing interior space... and they lowered the floor all the way back by moving the fuel tank up under the front seats. Head room was second only to a motorcycle. All & all, it was really _very well_ thought out... and thats not even mentioning the stellar fuel mileage. In the 7 years I had it drove it cross country a couple of times & went everywhere in it... biggest issue was a flat tire. Sadly, I don't think they sold that well; heard Honda recently dropped the line.
I never knew that there was such a tool as a reverse thread chaser. But then I've never damaged my spark plug threads either. Enjoyed the video. Thank you.
Mr. O feeling confident he got a quick fix. Me looking at the time stamp and knowing the crap has yet to hit the fan. I learn so much from these videos. Thanks for sharing. I don't think I will ever use that fancy threading tool but I have an urge to buy one.
Mr O, it is you and your accumulated level of skills which are cool. We respect you for sharing that knowledge and saving the lady a shedload of money on that little Honda.
Mr. O's calm demeanor and problem-solving skills are truly admirable. He handles every challenge with ease and confidence, making the process look effortless. Another fantastic video, Mr. O! 👏🔧 Your expertise and composure are inspiring to watch. Keep up the great work! 💪🎥💯
Back almost 60 yrs ago I was racing gokarts and had to use a helicoil on an exhaust port of a McCulloch engine. It was easy, no body panels in the way!
Hard to believe there wasn't any damage to the spark plug, looks like someone tried to replace it!?! That engine sounds like a blender full of locknuts!lol! Great video! I hope your customers appreciate you!
Excellent video. It is really *not* about spark plugs, or refitting 'stripped out holes.'' It is *not* about a man and a wrench. It is about having a backup plan, and solving problems. It is *not* about referring the problem to a specialist. It is about being the man they call. See problem. Fix problem. Next.
On the Fits this is fairly common. Even the OG plugs can loosen up. If you own a Fit and smell a little gasoline coming from your vents while the engine is running check your plugs and save yourself a repair bill.
I have the same year Fit and the #1 spark plug used to get loose every 10k miles or so. Lhere are lots of others complaining about the same problem on the Honda forums. I think Honda spec'd the plug torque a bit low and once I added about 5 ft-lbs, the plug never worked loose again. Mine is up to 290k and still running strong!
And here I thought for sure that was going to be a head off repair. You showed this old dog a new trick. Great repair Mr. Eric. You certainly take care of your customers. I hope they take care of you. Be well and God bless.
Been an aircraft mechanic for 33 years and of course I fix my own and friends and family's cars. I happened to stumble on this channel when I was troubleshooting a throttle body light and rough idle on a Fiat 500 and I've been hooked on your videos ever since. BTW... If you ever have someone come in with a red throttle body light and rough idle on Fiat 500, check the charging voltage. The alternator was the culprit (no battery light or codes set).
I have an '03 F150 that did the same thing and fixed the same way, but after seeing the tight spaces you were working with on this fit makes me realize how easy I had it with the V8 and roomy engine compartment!
If you think this was an impressive repair, let me direct you to Eric installing threaded inserts in a stripped out toyota engine block. As a machinist I would have the luxury of having a bare block that I could clamp on a milling machine, locate the holes precisely, and drill and tap perfectly on location and square. Full props to Eric doing it in the car and having it work perfectly with full massive torque applied to the head bolts at the end.
Great job fixing the lady up.. Older Honda Fit.. 160K or so. Those Cylinder walls looked GREAT.. Lots of life left on the car as long as it is not a rust bucket underneath. Nice to see a good car put back on the road.. Seems like its a manual trans too head you wiggle the shifter for neutral before starting it. That thing is a good 300K plus car if taken care of.
Eric O is so calm regardless of the situation which keeps him out of making hasty decisions. He always gets the job done and has a happy customer as well. It’s all about how you approach a situation that gets it behind you.
Beyond being a good automotive “scrapper”, he still has the need to continue learning, which is another aspect to the enjoyment watching his videos. Additionally, his family dynamic is really to be appreciated.
- *Spark Plug Saver | 14m x 1.25 Thread Reamer and Thread Inserts | 5 Piece (3 Thread Inserts, 1 Reamer, & 1 Swaging Tool)* - amzn.to/3IDmnHy
- *DEPSTECH Dual Lens Industrial Endoscope* - amzn.to/437nKqb
Where'd you get that red spark plug starting tube, shown in your hand at 3:57? People talk about using a short length of hose. All the spare hose I have is curved, which makes it confusing if you're trying to start the plug straight.
Glad you mentioned the TikTok thing. Whoever it is is just taking clips of your really old videos to make them.
@@TheFallenAngel13524 yeah I'm trying to get that sorted but it's a pain
Wow. That endoscope is way cheaper than I was expecting. Thanks!
What I have done before is get a used spark plug, cut off the crush washer and put a 45 degree taper on it with your bench grinder where the crush washer was and use the modified spark plug to drive down into the new thread and tighten. The 45 angle will seat the top of the solid insert. Then remove modified spark plug and put in your toolbox. The one I did was Cyl 2 on a Hondu Pilot. No room to hammer.
I'm not sure what's more impressive, the fact that Eric has all of these oddball tools or the fact that he can find them when he needs 'em.
Yes! Finding where the tools are (last place they were laid upon?) is very important!!
@@jeffryblackmon4846 I forget I have so many tools. Every few years or so I go through my toolboxes and amaze myself at some of the stuff I have, then the nightmares come back to me. "oh yeah, that's from when I fixed that hooptie my wife was driving when we were dating". hahaha
A lot of mechanics have unpopular tools. Have to get the job done somehow.
Amen!!
Definitely the latter!!!
I'm 66 and have never seen a reverse thread chaser. Thank you for showing that.
I honestly believe what makes Mr O as good as he is, is the lack of panic. He sees the problem and simply fixes it. As always, excellent video Mr O!
Panic doesn't solve problems. Improvise adapt and overcome. Keep a cool head and high stress situations will go as smooth as they can. But sometimes I do freak out haha
@@SouthMainAuto Those are the words of a US Marine! Semper Fi
Yeah, I know it bothers me when my mechanic runs around the shop like his hair is on fire when he works on my car.
@@mikesilveira8114 those are also the words of a guy who has got himself in the shit a time or two and needed to figure it out without making it a way bigger situation 😅
@@mikesilveira8114 Actually it's a line of dialogue from Clint Eastwood in Heartbreak Ridge, he plays a Marine Sergeant.
You tubers with specialty sites, like yours, sometimes worry that they are quote, boring, their viewers, but I do not think that is the case here.
You see, both amateur and pro mechanics have likely not done this procedure, often, so learning to avoid those mistakes, is not boring! Seriously!
If the customer had taken that job to the dealer, it would be a new cylinder head for sure. You saved the lady a load of cash. Good one Eric.
They would’ve done an engine
Probably techs at the dealer that butchered the threads in the first place...
dealers are not mechanics just part replacers
its an 09, when i took my 07 fit to the dealer in 2015 they refused to work on 'such an old vehicle'
Japanese engines aren't commonly repaired anymore. Replace engine.
As a Honda Fit enthusiast, watching Eric O fix the infamous 09-10 GE8 spark plug ejection is a dream come true!
What causes that, under torque?
Yeah, do we know the back story of this problem? It seems to be very common. I have a JDM Fit from 2006 and the service manual says to use anti-seize and torque to 18 N m (13 foot pound force). I wonder if there could have been some confusion about the units and/or the use of anti-seize in the US production.
(Mine's a GD rather than a GE though - with the eight spark plugs. But they're all more accessible than what Mr. O is fixing here!)
Is that a nuclear attack siren or maybe the nuke plant is melting down? Bummer either way.
Novice = install a helicoil. Intermediate=Installing the helicoil on a head w/o removing head. Advanced = Don't remove head, and install a helicoil down a plug tube, underneath a cowl totally blind. I definitely would have boogered that up doing it blind. Well done, and saved the customer a lot of ducats.
Thought it was Canadian drachmae up around Eric O's neck of the woods?
I’m not sure how using a #4 screw extractor would rank on that scale?
Glad to see you took the Piston down OB Motors on Hacks Cross in Olive Branch Mississippi didn't do that they drilled into the the top of my piston ruin it then JB welded my spark plug in without taking the drill bit out cost 3800 a new engine the owner states he was not liable that he was just renting a bay to the man but I was given a receipt with the company letterhead on it. OUCH
That's Mississippi for you
Johnny from Olive Branch Motors in Olive Branch on Hacks Cross I took him a time cert insert with all the trimmings and he drilled in the top of my piston left the drill bit there, JB welded a spark plug in cut $3,800 that's Stooooopid little Vietnamese
Made that look way too easy. And that's a brilliant repair kit. The design of the pilot tap is the bees knees.
Mrs. O is as much of a character as Eric. I love this channel 🙂
When your knee deep into a "project" you sometimes forget to take a break and eat. Good to see Mrs. O got your back man! Respect your partner.
It is the best channel for mechanical issues for sure.
@@Jay.Kellett , you're*
Been watching you for 5 years now. I'm still amazed at how you handle each job or situation. I've worked on vehicles since 1973. There are times I've needed help and your channel has helped me greatly! To see you do a job like this, explaining it, and giving detail is the amazement part! Your Professionalism, Experience, and detail to work is far beyond what many customers get today at their local shops! Sadly going 65 years old from what I've seen it's going to harder to work on New Vehicles because of the learning curve it takes to do the job correctly or completely understand the nature of the beast. Great job Eric!
He is the consumate professional.
@@xbahamutzero Forgot the Knowledge and experience!
🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
She should thank whoever(?) put that cross thread spark plug for her and got her into that problematic trouble.
A professional under one hour service turned ugly.
I've been turning wrenches on a wide variety of vehicles and industrial equipment since the late 60s, and I NEVER fail to learn stuff from your channel Mr. O. As an old retired guy on a fixed income, I finally have time to be patient. Old dogs and clever newer tricks work well together! ;)
38 years wrenching here. always learn something new.
Eric learned from the old school guys like yourself. We know in the old days you earned the education you got from the old professionals. I started working construction in 1980 at 14 and I definitely had a boss or two grab me up and throw me a few feet. I learned to listen and have a exceptional work ethic. Oh I miss the old days.
Totally agree.
With interest rates much higher now you should be getting wealthy.
@@ekaftan I've busted more flippers in my lifetime than anyone alive or dead in the sport of pinball. I take it easy on cars.
I'm cracking up as you repair the spark plug hole dodging all the possible negative comments. Dude id let you work on my car any day of the week. You never fail to impress. Always give great advice as always.
The classic roll down the window while key in ignition thing. Yes, I learned from experience.
I have the same '09 orange honda fit 158k on the clock. Bought used at 145k, and decided to tackle a valve adjustment myself after being inspired by all of your videos. Everything is much easier to reach once you pull the intake, which is a bit of a pain. Fortunately I didn't have any broken clips to replace on the wiper deck. I was surprised to find when the engine was stone cold, 3 of the 4 plugs on mine were also finger tight. #3 took a little work to get out as it got hung up a few times, but I took my time running it in and out until it came out cleanly. Plugs were probably original. Valves were all over the place, but not super out of spec. No real surprises otherwise other than not realizing some of the hoses on the throttle body are coolant, and got all over me when I disconnected them. (i'm used to working on carbureted bikes) Throttle was really dirty, so I'm glad I took the time to really go through everything. It was kind of funny to put back in, as the car was idling at about 2K for a few minutes while the computer re-learned the positioning on a clean throttle.
Thanks as always for bringing us along in your shop, and your thought process.
Seafoam through the brake boost vacuum line really made my Fit engine quiet. Got to take off the cowl but it is worth it.
So this was your vehicle?
Yup, I have done two sparkplug repairs about 40 years ago. lol I purchased my kit to repair the threads on my motorcycle, then a few years later helped a friend repair the treads on a plug that blew out on his car. I remember the instructions saying to fill the tap flutes with grease to catch the metal shavings. I remember going about half way and removing the tap and cleaning it and repacking it with grease for the second half of the hole. Grease did a good job catching all the bits and the kit did a good job. I let people borrow it over the years and I'm not sure if I still have it. Great video Mr O.
This is not a DIY job in my view, it's for a seasoned tech. The tools, the tricks, the experience. A success job.👍
You can see how wet the # 2 cylinder was from the misfire. The # 1 cross hatching looked as good as new. I love how cheap bore scopes have gotten. Back when I was first getting into wrenching on boats, they were well over 1000 bucks, and they weren't digital. Now I've got one with the side cam and records video that was less than 80 bucks. Great repair Eric O.
I bought a $20 USB cable that plugs into my Samsung Tab A tablet. I don't think it has the side camera but the front facing camera with the light works great
As a retired semi and trailer mechanic I want to thank you for your logic and calm demeanor when you Run into issues like this and I also enjoy how you poke fun at the internet experts that come on here looking for something to call you on..😅. Thank you sir!
Why I love this channel Eric always teaching folks the right way to repair your vehicle. No BS straight up experience
Eric, for someone like me, an amateur mechanic, your videos aren’t just instructional, but also…..funny..!
I appreciate very much your efforts to keep camera rolling….
I know you're a pro but that was an awesome repair man. I'm impressed. From one mechanic to another....good job.
How you don't have well over 1Mil subs is beyond me... People are missing out. Great job as always!
You did the owner a big favor and yourself as well. Everyone wins, as much as possible.
Eric: "Make sure your hole is always clean!" Truer words never spoken! 🤣
Mr O
Enjoy the videos you make thanks for posting them
I had Honda motorcycles in the 70s and 80s. Always got nervois tightening plugs into the alunimum heads. Good job as always Mr. O
its hard to imagine a more awkward and difficult and non-ergonomic repair situation.....masterfully handled when you know what to do.....i'm shocked that such a catastrophic anti-ergonomic concealed failure mode with that spark plug could be repaired so quickly and easily in the hands of an experienced mechanic .... well done Eric O
Eric separates the professional from the amateurs, yet another example
I was pleasantly surprised when I picked up a used Ford Fusion last yer, that the plugs and coils are right up top, in your face. Like it should be.
Amazing! Saved the customer a ton of cash. Most shops would have sold her a used engine
Glad to hear that you are able to smell gas again. You may have mentioned it in other videos though. Thanks for the video Eric
Remember. If I can do it, you can do it. I couldn’t do that if my life depended on it. Great video. You mechanics earn every dime you make now days working on the trash car companies make. From an Old guy that really enjoys watching you solve problems that come up.
Hi Eric. Have an 08 Fit and about 10 K after changing the plugs (torqued to spec), I could smell gasoline under the hood. This lead me to a Honda forum where people were saying the plugs would come loose. Sure enough, that was the case and I caught it early. Now torque them about 4 ft-lbs tighter than spec'd. What I found incredible however was that others had the original, never touched factory plugs come loose or blow out. Honda said this was not possible and blamed the customers saying they must have changed them. So something about this motor. Never had this happen before on my other Hondoos. Great video. Always useful and entertaining. Hope I never have to do this procedure. 194,000 miles on this car.
Did you hear any squeaking noises, kinda like a belt squeak as well when they were loosening up? I wonder if the gasket was taking too much force to crush on the plug choice they used for this engine, robbing the threads of the proper amount of torque/stretch. One of those things were supplier differences affected the set spec in some cases.
@@ice44567 I honestly cannot recall any squeaking noises but this was almost 7 years ago. You could be right about the differences in suppliers.
Honda dealer says they have replacement heads with the defect fixed.
I had many years in the automotive trade and continue to realize things about Mr. O. 1) He has the best diagnostic skills I've ever seen. 2) He is a master at devising fixes (not always doing the traditional ones) and has the extreme skills to pull them off. 3) He has invested heavily in tools and they pay off in one way or another in every job he touches. Yes, the prototype who everybody here wishes they had access to.
Watching your videos is like watching the 1960s Batman. Every episode, we see some new gadget that we've never seen before. That thread reamer and endoscope were like the Bat anti-shark spray and the Batarang.
Even though you got no space to do your wackin you still manage to finish, I respect that.
I couldn't see enough of this operation. You know our trust issues.😊
Can't beat this procedure. Spot on Dr. O! I hope there are no knuckleheads who put stupid remarks in the comments - this job was first class and correct. This also should remind everyone out there to keep all jackwagons from ever opening the hood on your vehicle.
I always use a thin coating of soft grease on the thread tap when tapping a cylinder head that's on the engine. It captures most or all the shavings into the flutes of the tap. This prevents them from dropping into the cylinder. Tap Magic on aluminum works well to lubricate but doesn't capture any shavings.
When he first blew air into the cylinder, you could really see the shavings flying. Get yer safety glasses on, buys.
Instead of changing the spark plugs at 100,000 miles I just junk the car and buy another one.
I think your reverse threading tool ben a mechanic over 30 years and never heard of that 1 would think it would be perfect in situations like love your videos when watching you on utube for years this is the first time I've ever made a comment.
A blind repair that somehow we got to see incredibly well. Thanks Eric.
I have never heard of spark plugs backing out. This is very novel to me. Great video.
If they're only finger t tight they will back out has happened to me but luckily I didn't mess up the threads
@@noblsht The Honda Fit is well known for becoming loose overtime, at the original factory sparkplug torque spec. They increased it years later.
Well done Eric, tapping a spark plug hole blind, takes nerves of steel! 😀👍
I don't live in New York, but just watching content like this makes me more comfortable with working on vehicles. Thank you for the content!
That customer is a lucky person to have you doing the work. Very nice repair
ERIC O I use Shaving Cream in the Cylinder . Run the Piston down . Fill up
with shaving Cream .The Shaving Cream will catch the Metal Pieces .When
done . Turn motor over to push the shaving cream out :-))
where does it push out, the exhaust?
@@nickaa827 You don't put the Spark Plug in Until
you have finished the new threads and the sleeve in .
then turn the engine over :-))
I want to thank you for explaining the steps that you take to put in the insert. We can always learn. Thanks again. Good Job.
You saved the girl (the owner of the car) a lot of money and grief. That was a good repair on a tough job.
Lady
Gotta appreciate this man. He could have done this job in 1/4 the tike if he wasnt filming and teaching so many.
Eric is the kind of guy id be honored to work in his shop.
He doesn't ride the struggle bus. Knows his shit and just gets it done.
I struggle to walk some day my body is done at 51.
I was impressed at how clean the piston with the good plug was.
Love getting home from a hard days work, sitting down to dinner, and watching the master mechanic, Eric O !!! Great content, my favorite channel. Best to you, the Mrs. and your family! 👍👍👍👍
I care Eric I care, I learn something every video you post! You just saved this lady a boat load of money!
What I have done before is get a used spark plug, cut off the crush washer and put a 45 degree taper on it with your bench grinder where the crush washer was and use the modified spark plug to drive down into the new thread and tighten. The 45 angle will seat the top of the solid insert. Then remove modified spark plug and put in your toolbox. The one I did was Cyl 2 on a Hondu Pilot. No room to hammer.
Great job, especially since you couldnt see it. And hey thanks for treating us to the roar of the mighty 1.5L !
First time commenting Eric O. When you needed to expand the top of the helicoil with no swinging room the first thing that came to my mind was a palm nailer and then you said it👍
I used a palm nailer years ago to install a soft plug on my inboard motor on my boat with out pulling the motor, mechanic insisted motor had to come out because of position and lack of room. You are one hell of a mechanic keep the videos coming 😁
You've convinced me of two things. One never buy a FIT, as it's a maintenance nightmare; and damn but you are good!
I remember a Caviler that had worn spark plug holes in an aluminum head. Took head off, went to speed shop, they stamped steel inserts in. We bolted the head back on, screwed in new plugs, and it ran for years. Saved several hundred for sure.
So timely for me !! Today I am going to replace a spark plug on a 2005 Honda Element for a lady with very limited funds and some real challenges.
Check engine light showed misfire at #2. Swapped coils with #4 and the miss stayed at #2. I pray it's a bad plug and not this nightmare.
I am not a real mechanic so I would not take on this project. It's a different engine and visibility is easy. Thanks SMA.
Love the videos where Mrs O comes out and talks or helps. Thank you guys for the great video.
As a friendly reminder, to all the people out there, the use of dielectric grease needs to be kept to a minimum. I had an intermittent miss on my Mazda Tribute. After replacing all the plugs and fighting the miss for a week I decided to clean all the spark plug boots and put only the bare minimum of grease on the boots. I didn't think it would fix the problem, but it did. I was amazed! Good work there! Very thoughtful!
I was thinking a palm nailer would be perfect and then you said it yourself. Great video as usual. Thanks for showing.
Same thing I said it out loud to myself right before Eric said it ,, if I had a palm nailer I would send it to him
He got some pretty good blows on that with the sideways hammer. 😆
It always puts a smile on my face when you and mrs O talk back and forth lol … Made my day ..
Great video! Shows the contrast between fixing the problem in 15 minutes, or working on the car for hours and hours to pull the head and possibly creating other problems in the process. Very practical no-nonsense car repair!
Or just use JB Weld high temperature epoxy and wait for it to set and don't bother putting in new threads.
Heli-Coils are neat/fantastic. In tests - they come out substantially stronger than original threads. Good Job.
Dr. Magic hands, working blind and still gets the job done, excellent work Eric.
I welded a 3/8 socket to the top of my tap, so it would accept a 3/8 extension, and wrap electrical tape around said extension a few inches up, to keep it centered in the plug well, has served me well, for years.
Your style, your wisdom and your insistence on quality and doing things the right way makes you a national treasure. Thank you sir!
Hi Eric, I just found Eric O - After Hours. What a find. I saw your family photo. Beautiful! I have the utmost respect for you mister. Nice job working over the top of that Hondu with Mirrors & no smoke. Thank You for offering your time and expertise. I'm 71 and you help me keep in touch w/ new/ smarter ways and better stuff, so: You know you can use another cellphone as a live video camera for remote viewing, but also there are Free Apps to use OLD PHONES for it if you have WiFi. Keep up the great work Eric. ben/ michigan
Enjoy your videos a lot and really love it when I see Luna or at least hear her meow. She's a sweet cat.
Long story, but I ended up with a manual 08 Fit a while back... definitely not much to look at and no racing machine, but was _very_ nimble, great in heavy traffic and for its size had amazing amounts of useable interior volume. The back seats flipped every further increasing interior space... and they lowered the floor all the way back by moving the fuel tank up under the front seats. Head room was second only to a motorcycle. All & all, it was really _very well_ thought out... and thats not even mentioning the stellar fuel mileage. In the 7 years I had it drove it cross country a couple of times & went everywhere in it... biggest issue was a flat tire. Sadly, I don't think they sold that well; heard Honda recently dropped the line.
I never knew that there was such a tool as a reverse thread chaser. But then I've never damaged my spark plug threads either. Enjoyed the video. Thank you.
Mr. O feeling confident he got a quick fix. Me looking at the time stamp and knowing the crap has yet to hit the fan. I learn so much from these videos. Thanks for sharing. I don't think I will ever use that fancy threading tool but I have an urge to buy one.
Mr O, it is you and your accumulated level of skills which are cool. We respect you for sharing that knowledge and saving the lady a shedload of money on that little Honda.
IMO the timesert kit is the way to go, had to do a V6 accord in one of the back cylinders... worked great still working to this day
It’s not only your knowledge, it’s your personality…and your wife. I’m blessed you’re alive when I am!
Mr. O's calm demeanor and problem-solving skills are truly admirable. He handles every challenge with ease and confidence, making the process look effortless. Another fantastic video, Mr. O! 👏🔧 Your expertise and composure are inspiring to watch. Keep up the great work! 💪🎥💯
And did it without using a mirror. He could have just ripped the rear view mirror out of the car and used it.
That catchphrase at the end really means something, even if it only gives a little more confidence than we had.
Having the correct specialty tools makes a world of difference!! Great job Mr. O!!
Back almost 60 yrs ago I was racing gokarts and had to use a helicoil on an exhaust port of a McCulloch engine. It was easy, no body panels in the way!
You are definitely one of the best mechanics.
Had a 91 Chevy that launched the spark plug left a dent in the hood, 200k miles, had it heli coiled got another 100k out of it.
Hard to believe there wasn't any damage to the spark plug, looks like someone tried to replace it!?! That engine sounds like a blender full of locknuts!lol! Great video! I hope your customers appreciate you!
Excellent video. It is really *not* about spark plugs, or refitting 'stripped out holes.'' It is *not* about a man and a wrench. It is about having a backup plan, and solving problems. It is *not* about referring the problem to a specialist. It is about being the man they call. See problem. Fix problem. Next.
On the Fits this is fairly common. Even the OG plugs can loosen up. If you own a Fit and smell a little gasoline coming from your vents while the engine is running check your plugs and save yourself a repair bill.
Great job, Eric! I didn't expect you could install an helicoil with such bad access to operate the tools.
I have the same year Fit and the #1 spark plug used to get loose every 10k miles or so. Lhere are lots of others complaining about the same problem on the Honda forums. I think Honda spec'd the plug torque a bit low and once I added about 5 ft-lbs, the plug never worked loose again. Mine is up to 290k and still running strong!
And here I thought for sure that was going to be a head off repair. You showed this old dog a new trick. Great repair Mr. Eric. You certainly take care of your customers. I hope they take care of you. Be well and God bless.
Eric separates the professional from the amateurs, yet another example
Been an aircraft mechanic for 33 years and of course I fix my own and friends and family's cars. I happened to stumble on this channel when I was troubleshooting a throttle body light and rough idle on a Fiat 500 and I've been hooked on your videos ever since. BTW... If you ever have someone come in with a red throttle body light and rough idle on Fiat 500, check the charging voltage. The alternator was the culprit (no battery light or codes set).
Being an aircraft mechanic I bet you have installed your shar of heli-coils.
I have an '03 F150 that did the same thing and fixed the same way, but after seeing the tight spaces you were working with on this fit makes me realize how easy I had it with the V8 and roomy engine compartment!
Good to see getting past the dental woes. Keep up the good work!
Another good insert repair, your very nearly an expert now Mr O!😂👍
Not too many years ago, I remember the Neon with the blown out plug. What you did there still floors me today! Here's to shallow jokes ; - )
You explained that extremely well.
If you think this was an impressive repair, let me direct you to Eric installing threaded inserts in a stripped out toyota engine block.
As a machinist I would have the luxury of having a bare block that I could clamp on a milling machine, locate the holes precisely, and drill and tap perfectly on location and square.
Full props to Eric doing it in the car and having it work perfectly with full massive torque applied to the head bolts at the end.
Wow I thought for sure you’d need to remove the head to fix that. You’ve got some mad skills to fix that on the car. 👍
Great job fixing the lady up.. Older Honda Fit.. 160K or so. Those Cylinder walls looked GREAT..
Lots of life left on the car as long as it is not a rust bucket underneath.
Nice to see a good car put back on the road.. Seems like its a manual trans too head you wiggle the shifter for neutral before starting it.
That thing is a good 300K plus car if taken care of.
Thanks for another lesson Eric. You are a good teacher with a sense of humor and an honest delivery.
Right on Mr. O
You got a hole shot. And you made a customer very happy.
Eric O is so calm regardless of the situation which keeps him out of making hasty decisions. He always gets the job done and has a happy customer as well.
It’s all about how you approach a situation that gets it behind you.
My first thought would have been. What have I gotten myself into ! Lol
I think that is a hard earned trait.
Beyond being a good automotive “scrapper”, he still has the need to continue learning, which is another aspect to the enjoyment watching his videos. Additionally, his family dynamic is really to be appreciated.
Which country does this scrapper term come from?
this feels like a whole lot of patience *and* you're explaining what's happening. love this channel
I am impressed. Figured this was going to result in a cylinder head replacement. Great work.