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Old 14-01-2015, 06:35 AM   #1
Skinnerj
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Piston hit the spark plug, please help.

Hi
I have a 2002 323 sp20. Yesterday upon start up I heard a knocking sound and the car was sluggish on the drive home from work. Under closer inspection I have found that leads and coil packs are fine, as my fiancé also has a sp20 which I could swap them with. Car still had the same problem. I then checked the plugs to notice that the piston has hit one of my spark plugs and closed the gap between the pins. Clearly the cause of the car being sluggish. I bent the spark plug pin back and reassembled the the rest. I drove the car from the front yard to the garage and the sluggish problem was resolved.
I am now trying to figure out what caused the piston to hit the plug. My assumption would be that the time belt slipped.
Any suggestions.
I also have another question. The fact that the engine seems to be running fine, does that mean that the valves and cam gear have not been damaged in the process?

Any advise on the matter would be greatly appreciated
Thanks.

Last edited by Skinnerj; 14-01-2015 at 06:39 AM.
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Old 14-01-2015, 03:31 PM   #2
TheMAN
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it's not the piston that bent the spark plug

it's the VICS (butterfly shutters) screws in the intake manifold that came off and went through the combustion chamber (hopefully)

this is a known defect

hopefully the engine is fine... run a compression test to see if it stuffed the engine or not.... if compression is good, replace the intake manifold (good idea to tighten the screws with new thread sealer)
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Old 20-01-2015, 09:19 PM   #3
greenman
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I guess but not sure if you put in plugs with the proper heat range the piston will not hit them, be sure you have right plugs in it
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Old 21-01-2015, 06:30 AM   #4
Orion
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I think that if he had the wrong plugs then all the pistons would strike them and the car wouldn't run at all.
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Old 26-01-2015, 07:36 AM   #5
project.r.racing
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Quote:
Originally Posted by greenman View Post
I guess but not sure if you put in plugs with the proper heat range the piston will not hit them, be sure you have right plugs in it
how does heat range effect the length of the plug?
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Old 10-02-2015, 09:10 PM   #6
rolf
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bent plug

totally impossible that the belt slipped the first victim would be the inlet valves mabe the plug was dropped on instalation or the plug is to long [/B]
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skinnerj View Post
Hi
I have a 2002 323 sp20. Yesterday upon start up I heard a knocking sound and the car was sluggish on the drive home from work. Under closer inspection I have found that leads and coil packs are fine, as my fiancé also has a sp20 which I could swap them with. Car still had the same problem. I then checked the plugs to notice that the piston has hit one of my spark plugs and closed the gap between the pins. Clearly the cause of the car being sluggish. I bent the spark plug pin back and reassembled the the rest. I drove the car from the front yard to the garage and the sluggish problem was resolved.
I am now trying to figure out what caused the piston to hit the plug. My assumption would be that the time belt slipped.
Any suggestions.
I also have another question. The fact that the engine seems to be running fine, does that mean that the valves and cam gear have not been damaged in the process?

Any advise on the matter would be greatly appreciated
Thanks.
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Old 11-02-2015, 04:46 PM   #7
TheMAN
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wrong
all 323 petrol engines are non-interference.... breaking or slipping the timing belt will NOT result in engine damage
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Old 11-02-2015, 10:34 PM   #8
Ice88
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TheMAN View Post
it's not the piston that bent the spark plug

it's the VICS (butterfly shutters) screws in the intake manifold that came off and went through the combustion chamber (hopefully)

this is a known defect

hopefully the engine is fine... run a compression test to see if it stuffed the engine or not.... if compression is good, replace the intake manifold (good idea to tighten the screws with new thread sealer)
^^ What he said.

Quote:
Originally Posted by project.r.racing View Post
how does heat range effect the length of the plug?
^^ This.

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheMAN View Post
wrong
all 323 petrol engines are non-interference.... breaking or slipping the timing belt will NOT result in engine damage
^^ Again.

In all seriousness check the VICSs screw. Also check for further engine damage as a vics screw has been known to cause fairly substantial engine damage.

Most people dont tend to have too much, but if your unlucky...

EDIT: Also replace the bent plug.
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