Morning.....
Long story short. 1 of the spark plugs blew out of the head and had the car towed to the shop. They are looking for a used cylinder head or a motor. They are telling me that a used motor is 3k. I have no clue about any of this stuff, but that seems really high. This sound about right?
Anyone else have anythng like this happen before. The motor only has 135k on it.....
Thanks for your time...

 

Also,
Wold any other motor fit in this car?

 

Yes, a used K series 2.0 motor will run about 3k I would assume. Since the 02-05 Civic SI's came with the less desirable motor, you might be able to find prices slightly cheaper.

Make sure you know what needs to be replaced. The cylinder head is only the top half of the motor. Cylinder head replacement total cost would be about $2k I would assume. Complete motor replacement done by a shop would cost probably around 5k when all said and done.

 

Ouch.....Just paid 4500 for the car.
Thanks for the reply

 

Spark plugs blow out because they were loose, they wobble until the aluminum threads in the head are gone then they come out. There are sleeves that can be installed in the head to fix the threads. This is best done with the head removed from the engine.

 

I'm with MK378 on this, in thinking that it was loose.

Did any threads come with it, or was it just the spark plug? If the threads are bad, I'd try a helicoil in the spark plug hole to fix the threads. Why does that shop seem to think the entire engine is toast?

Several years ago, I had a spark plug blow out of my Miata. It turned out to just be loose, and finally gave way. I screwed a new one back in, and ran that motor another 180k miles with no problems.

But yes, even worse case scenario would be needing a new cylinder head. If you can change a timing belt on the car, it doesn't take that much more to do a cylinder head.

 

Just heard from the shop. They used a camera in the motor and determined I need a new motor. Ugh. Anyone have any suggestions where I should look for a used motor online?
Thanks again

 

Call me a skeptic, but what did they see that made them determine the engine is bad?

 

My fiancee got the call. Said something about rods and pistons....

 

If it's, "something about rods and pistons" causing a spark plug to remove itself, the only thing it could be is a connecting rod failure (unlikely) or a wrist pin failure (just about as unlikely) that caused the piston to break free and forceably hit the spark plug punching it out of the head. But if that was the case, you'd probably be seeing something that punched a hole in the block followed by a massive oil spot in your engine bay (and a lot of noise).

Long story short, I'd call them back and have them explain exactly what's going on. There's a big difference between a $3k engine, and a $5 spark plug. Or if you opt to have them replace the motor, write down the engine number, check it again when they're done to make sure it's not the same engine, and collect the defective parts.