I have recently joined because of an old thread that helped me get through this brief nightmare. It all started with a valve cover leak, all of you here should know this by now. No big deal right? 8 mil, 10 mil, extension, screwdriver. First problem (for me) one of the ground wires snapped off of the retaining bolt. No big deal. I was already digging into the head, I figured I may as well do the plugs. 3 of the 6 plugs had a decent amount of oil around them. From the firewall, 3rd cylinder had almost a rusty look to it (any input please). Found that boot and one other to be brittle and cracked. Replaced those 2 and all other plugs. Feeling pretty good about how things are rolling, starting to bolt down the first coil pack and that damn grounding washer dropped right into the first spark plug hole. It happened so fast, and when I saw it 4 inches deep cradling the spark plug I broke. Pliers, magnets, super glue, cursing, praying... all done before I googled it. When I did though, bimmer forums popped right up. Seems I'm not the only one who has had this issue. The fix that worked for me... 20 minutes tops. 5x1/8 drill bit, and the pick up magnet that did not work earlier..... Length of the drill bit a little excessive I just wanted to make sure I could get down there. Eased into it, that washer started to spin right away. Finally punched a hole through, my plan was to fish hook it somehow. That didn't work so I started drilling in another spot. Drill started to pull through and stopped just in time. Pulled back on the drill and it came with, then reached down with the extendo magnet... pulled it out. Ran around my car holding it up.....twice. Hope this works for any of you. I may just be beating an old bush, I am new to this forum and would love to help and receive any advice.
I wouldn't worry to much about damaging the plug well, there isn't much you can do to it. A scrape or knick isn't going to hurt it.
Have you tried a few small magnets, or maybe some gum on the end of two pencils?
How far down is the washer?
You could try to pry the top of the plug with a screwdriver using the top of the plug well as the pivot point.
If the ceramic and center wire breaks below the washer it would be easier to get the washer out.
Try breaking an old plug to see how difficult it is before you mess around with the one in the engine.
If you do manage to break the plug that is in the well, use a vacuum to such up all of the broken bits before you remove what's left of the plug.
Did you even read his post???
Good job! Glad you got the washer out and the day ended in a happy way.
Thanks for sharing, hopefully this will help someone else down the road.
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1999 BMW e36 328is with rotary valve engine head
1999 Oldsmobile Eighty Eight
1990 Jeep Comanche Eliminator
1962 Austin Healey Sprite
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