I'm getting tired of problems....help...suggestions

Ok, so I've owned the car for only about 2 months.....I knew the car would need some work because of it's long period of inactivity from the previous owner but it's becoming a headache......

So the car goes back in to re paint the front end and front ground effects yesterday (was unhappy with how they turned out when the whole car was painted about a month or so ago)....

owner of the shop calls me up 30 mins after dropping it off and tells me that the car is making a loud popping/backfiring sound when he went to move it into the booth......STRANGE, as it worked properly when I dropped it off. He appears to have some mechanical knowledge and told me there's a sound that he thinks is coming from the intake manifold....maybe a leak of some sort...... I asked him if he thought i could make the drive home tonight, which is about 7 miles and he said he thought so but would pay close attention to the temp guage...

1. He wouldn't be trying to scam me into doing work....guy is honest (or at least I think so) and his shop doesn't do mechanical work of any kind....and when he called he didn't mention anything about having it repaired anwhere.

so i have to assume this problem just developed right when he turned it on (still strange to me though)

Any suggestion of what to look for here when I go to get her? I know I can't paint a good picture yet because it's all second hand info..... But I'm going to bring the necessary tools to check the plugs to make sure they aren't loose. (my car did shoot a plug out the head about 3 weeks ago leaving me stranded at starbucks.....however threads in the head were still salvageable, I was very lucky, and i torqued them all down to 13lbs... Don't think this is the problem though, I had ticking last time before the plug blew for like a week and didn't know what it was.....I've had no ticking since
 
it's a 2000gt.....car was sitting for about 3 years with full fuel...premium..

in the last 2 month....I've replaced the fuel filter/pump (and a host of other things that would have nothing to do with this)...sea foamed through intake hose. crank case(changed oil/filter after 200 miles and again 200 miles after that), and fuel....Put on a total of about 700 miles on the car in the last 2 months..... car threw no codes and passed emissions here in cali....

I'm going to take a ride over to the shop right now on my bike to check her out....I'll be back and post up I suppose....i can't attempt to drive her home till later when my g/f comes home and will follow me in another car in case something happens....I'm bringing some basic tools to inspect the plugs!
 
well.....not F...ing good.....just had the car towed home from the paint shop..(second time towed in the last month)

I got there and went right to the plug location that had the problem the last time and found the plug in pieces in it's cavity..... there are no threads for sure left on the head....I pulled another plug and it just slipped right down in there without screwing in....

Before i go on.......here's a link to what happened originally with this car...
http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=704158&highlight=hotstang46


and here's a pic of the plug after I pulled it out today


What are my options here guys? What all you guys think is damaged...do I timesert, new heads (completely uneducated on heads)? what should i do and or have to do?


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Hey I checked that spark plug number that is showing in your pics and that is the wrong plugs for your car. The threads are wrong and too long so your piston is smashing them from what I gather. The champion number is a 401 not a 391. Might want to verify it I checked with a local parts dealer and they confirmed it.
 
well isn't that interesting.....i bought that plug at my local auto zone.....I'm going to have to investigate this further.....

If it turns out that it's the wrong plug shame on me for not double checking.....but shame on those bastards for giving me the wrong plug.......I'm not quite sure about what I can do about it now though if it turns out they sold me the wrong plug.....I'm almost sure I don't have the receipt...but I will look..



none the less....the car is now sitting in my garage and I have no idea what my options are or how to proceed:shrug:
 
well isn't that interesting.....i bought that plug at my local auto zone.....I'm going to have to investigate this further.....

If it turns out that it's the wrong plug shame on me for not double checking.....but shame on those bastards for giving me the wrong plug.......I'm not quite sure about what I can do about it now though if it turns out they sold me the wrong plug.....I'm almost sure I don't have the receipt...but I will look..



none the less....the car is now sitting in my garage and I have no idea what my options are or how to proceed:shrug:

heli coil it...
 
I can't even find any info out about a 391 plug, discontinued maybe?.....but i found a pic of a motorcraft plug for my car and it matches the champions that are in the car.... strange that the picture you have there says it's a 401...i looked on their sight and saw that was the applicable plug for car.....:shrug: I'll try to call em tomorrow....
 
well isn't that interesting.....i bought that plug at my local auto zone.....I'm going to have to investigate this further.....

If it turns out that it's the wrong plug shame on me for not double checking.....but shame on those bastards for giving me the wrong plug.......I'm not quite sure about what I can do about it now though if it turns out they sold me the wrong plug.....I'm almost sure I don't have the receipt...but I will look..



none the less....the car is now sitting in my garage and I have no idea what my options are or how to proceed:shrug:


thats your first problem, NEVER buy parts from autozone...lesson learned :bang:
 
thats your first problem, NEVER buy parts from autozone...lesson learned :bang:

I buy plenty of parts from autozone, and as long as you take counter guys out of the equation, your OK. It's the same at Advance, Pepboys, Oreilly, etc. You should always know what you need before you go to a parts store.

I've never seen a time sert, it's been discussed plenty around here. Personally I would put new heads in, but that's extra $$
 
I can't even find any info out about a 391 plug, discontinued maybe?.....but i found a pic of a motorcraft plug for my car and it matches the champions that are in the car.... strange that the picture you have there says it's a 401...i looked on their sight and saw that was the applicable plug for car.....:shrug: I'll try to call em tomorrow....

It is a discontinued plug is what they told me.
 
It is a discontinued plug is what they told me.


It is in fact the right plug......just got off the phone with champion.... the 391 reading on the plug they told me is not the Part #....it is the one that begins with R, they just said it was old stock.....



I'm thinking that it's not worth it to spend money on the timesert and having it towed to a shop when I can do heads for a reasonable amount of money. provided you guys don't think I have damage t anything else.....I'm going to do som searching on here to get educated on heads... any related info or pointers you guys can tell me relating to which heads, other mods while heads are off or whatever would cool.......thanks
 
Sorry to hear that man.. i know sometimes it can all add up and be a big headache and stuff.. but the people that they hire there at autozone and shucks and stuff are not very good techs :nono: (oh and iam not talking about ALL the people that work there just alot that i have run into) you need to know what your getting, and if possible bring in parts so you can tripple check them ******** you know what i mean?! In this day and age we really shouldnt HAVE too but.... we do...

But if your going to do new heads.. think about it for a while and find out what you really want your car to be... its a pretty big job for most of us, and if the heads are off then make sure you buy what you want now.. I bought some PI heads and didnt even know much about cars when i did and now iam kickin my self:bang: for not doing more when i had them off like Port and polish, cams, springs things like that..

So just read up about what you want, and dont worry about the money.. think long run.. IMO :nice: