73 replies to this topic

[itzrick]

One of our friends of a lot of ours has a challenger and it started to use a lot of oil. When they looked at it they said a plug exploded and #7 was burning oil and they are going to change out the engine under warranty. They didn't give her a reson it happened. There are a lot of people guessing (MDS, Tuner, Bad plug) so I thought I would ask you guys what you thought.

[BayouTiger]

Plug exploded? What does an exploded plug look like? Any other damage?

[itzrick]

The parts must have broke the piston or scratched the cylynder wall cause it use 3 quarts of oil going to Bowling Green and back and the head is all black for that cylinder. If you have life there is a picture of the head there. It looks like the plugs are still intact but she said one had exploded causeing the damage. When I first heard that I thought that was going to be their excuse to charge her for the repair but they told her it was covered under waranty

[RT_6Speed]

I think I know which car you're talking about. I noticed on the trek to CF3 and during the cruise it would occasionally puff out a substantial amount of smoke. Certainly a lot of guys on here that can make a far more educated guess but I would almost think something had to come in contact with the plug end to explode one, either piston or some other piece. Would be interesting to see the plug, wonder if it looks like one of these (not from a Hemi)...

Can you paste or link the picture from the other forum?

[itzrick]

I'll try but I don't know if it will work across forums or if it's legal but here goes. hell it wouldn't be the first post I've had deleted. Thread: What do ya think?? post 10

[RT_6Speed]

For comment here's the picture being talked about...no question there is a problem with that cylinder. Sure would like to see the plug and see what the mean by "exploded". Electrode is still attached to the left one, can't tell if its there on the right one or not. Wonder if a ring broke? I would think if a part was loose in the cylinder it would have chomped on both plugs and the head enough to see.

[Jay6spdRT]

If a part broke off the plug and fell into the cylinder, it would cause major damage. But like RT 6speed said, it is usually a broken part in the cylinder (ring, piece of piston, etc) that wallops the spark plug and smashes the electrode, it's not the other way around.

Never seen or heard of a spark plug breaking during normal operation. I do know Debbie was burning oil like crazy during the cruise, because I told her about it afterwards. She was 7 or 8 cars ahead of me, and I'd see a big cloud of smoke, several times the size of the vehicle, every time she hit the throttle going up a hill.

I advised her to check the oil level as soon as possible - that is when she found out she was 3 qts low from the trip. Apparently she'd been having problems, but the oil burning got worse on the drive up to CF3. that's why she didn't race the car that Saturday. clearly only running on 7 cylinders anyways.

Lucky she made it all the way back to Texas from B.G. with that kind of damage. I felt really bad for her, her R/T is important to her... glad the dealer is taking care of her.

[BayouTiger]

Ah! So this is Debbie's car we are talking about. That is awesome that she is getting it fixed under warranty. She was really bummed at B.G. You hate to see something like this happen to such a nice lady!

[itzrick]

VERY TRUE

[NTMID8R-R/T]

yep Deb's car, she is getting a new motor out of this covered under warranty. I just hoped she didn't get my wife hooked on the RT, as Deb let her drive it for the cruise that Saturday.

[Jay6spdRT]

Well, Dave, it was clearly only running on 7 cylinders, so that helps.

[NTMID8R-R/T]

Just glad she was able to make it back to Dallas in the condition it was in.

[BlackVoodoo]

It had been in the shop for several other reasons, codes, cam sensor, etc. They even replaced her ECM so any potential warranty problems stemming from Predator use was wiped. She drives it hard, but keeps on top of maintenance, the dealer does it all so it's been documented from day one. Funny having said that they didn't mention when it was time for a plug change. She had over 50K when it began having problems.

[Jay6spdRT]

Just glad she was able to make it back to Dallas in the condition it was in.

Yep, ditto. I was worried about that. Glad it worked out ok.

[BlackVoodoo]

If a part broke off the plug and fell into the cylinder, it would cause major damage. But like RT 6speed said, it is usually a broken part in the cylinder (ring, piece of piston, etc) that wallops the spark plug and smashes the electrode, it's not the other way around.

Never seen or heard of a spark plug breaking during normal operation. I do know Debbie was burning oil like crazy during the cruise, because I told her about it afterwards. She was 7 or 8 cars ahead of me, and I'd see a big cloud of smoke, several times the size of the vehicle, every time she hit the throttle going up a hill.

I advised her to check the oil level as soon as possible - that is when she found out she was 3 qts low from the trip. Apparently she'd been having problems, but the oil burning got worse on the drive up to CF3. that's why she didn't race the car that Saturday. clearly only running on 7 cylinders anyways.

Lucky she made it all the way back to Texas from B.G. with that kind of damage. I felt really bad for her, her R/T is important to her... glad the dealer is taking care of her.

Was reading over your post Jim and it reminded me I drove the car from the hotel to Smoky Bones and back Saturday. Felt normal and had good power, probably one plug was dead but felt like all 8 cylinders were in the loop. Oh well, hopefully after she gets her car back she can post pics on CL.

[Sickrbpcp]

The car has been chugging oil for a long time, as she had it in shop last year after a "twisted sisters" run. At first they tried to tell her ( this time) that a stuck PCV valve caused it, and her friends said "Hogwash". They then did a leak-down on it, and found one of #7 plugs the insulator had come off the center electroid. They are replacing the motor, don't know if that's a long block but fingers crossed its complete, sans alternator, compressor, etc. doubt we will EVER know what happened as I'm not sure that they even tell the dealers techs once it is analized, but seeing as its a MDS cylindar THAT'S where my money would be placed in a bet, also the reason I would not have an auto Hemi past '04. Ohh almost forgot this is/was a "no catch can" car!

Forgot this is a 2010 build/dated car.

[Jay6spdRT]

Was reading over your post Jim and it reminded me I drove the car from the hotel to Smoky Bones and back Saturday. Felt normal and had good power, probably one plug was dead but felt like all 8 cylinders were in the loop. Oh well, hopefully after she gets her car back she can post pics on CL.

Well, if it was the insulator that came off... maybe it still had enough spark to fire? The other thing is... maybe it was spark plug that does emissions work and not the primary spark plug that failed? We'll never know.

The car has been chugging oil for a long time, as she had it in shop last year after a "twisted sisters" run. At first they tried to tell her ( this time) that a stuck PCV valve caused it, and her friends said "Hogwash".

Yeah, when I first told her about the oil clouds coming out of the exhaust, she told me she'd been having excessive oil consumption and had it to the dealer, but she said they told her it was ok via computer check or some BS. This is why I hate dealers. When the 5.7 is working properly, it should have virtually zero oil consumption. When I change my oil after 3000 miles of hard driving, the oil level has barely moved down on the dipstick. You'd think a dealer would know this!!!

Stuck PVC valve my ass. You should have seen the size of the oil clouds coming out of that car. One I drove thru on the cruise actually made my eyes water.

Glad she has knowledgeable friends that helped out, so the dealer didn't keep stringing her along until she had a catastrophic engine fail. BTW, that's why I hate dealers - worth repeating.

[Sickrbpcp]

You have met her now, she is also the first other Challenger to let me wrench it ( installed the CAI on it) so ya see/know why she was/is instant family. Her dealer seems ok so far and we do still have Doug ( Revotech years ago at Z), who had found/started the origanal "re-grease the mainshafts" Star center case # that everyone had used including Val here, and who had EXPLAINED to me why the 5.7 needed a catch can ( sorry plumbing and almost as bad on 392s) so if the dealer there doesn't fix it, we could take it to his. But it looks to be getting replaced there, so that's good and if they figure out what it was and tell her we will for sure let y'all know here also.

[itzrick]

I wouldn't have thought the insulator of a plug would take out a piston or what ever was letting the oil in the chamber. I would have thought it would have just shatterred when it hit the piston and head.