Stripped Plugs After Engine Head Gasket Repair

[Sirrom0206]

Good Evening,

- 2000 Honda Accord SE,
- Engine type F23A1,
- Plug type NKG ZFR5F 11

- My daughter & I just finished her head gasket replacement only to end up with a stripped plughole in the head. I know I need to tap the hole but with what size? Do I use a helicoil and the same size plug or a larger size plug?

- Do I have to remove the head again to get the shavings out of the cylinder or can I vacuum out the cylinder using a penlight and a mini attachment on the vac?

- We also cracked the knock sensor. Will it work if I glue it back together?
Will it kill the computer if I start the car without it?
A replacement costs, Advance auto parts $112 bucks & O’rallays $ 135 bucks.
I rather not spend another ~$140 dollars on this project.

Thanks in advance!

 

[78civic]

WOW, That's a bugger. The "RIGHT" way is yes, pull the head again and use the heli-coil for that particular thread size of the plug..

Man, I don't know if I'd chance that.. Since it's aluminum, small shavings might not hurt and you can't use a magnet. IF you could get an attachment that small in there. BUT I've had luck with globbing a heavy grease in the flutes of the drill and tap to catch the shavings. And come to think of it, With a heli-coil you need to break off a 'tang' that is used to go in the slot of the tool to install the coil.. That would need to come out or it won't thread the plug correctly.
See if you have any 'good' machine shops around you that may be able to give some shade-tree advise.

Hope you get it. Keep us posted. E

 

[90si2]

the only way that you can be positive nothing bad will happen is by pulling the head back off and drilling the plug holes out to the the right size for the helicoil and the helicoil size should be for the stock plug size. as for the knock sensor it will run with out it but eventually it can hurt the motor because if your motor starts to knock it wont retard the timing