1995 Toyota Camry Spark plug won't remove

Tiny
CHHE
  • MEMBER
  • 1995 TOYOTA CAMRY
  • 4 CYL
My car was cranking and not starting periodically and I went to replace my spark plugs to try to fix this problem. I used a 5/8'' spark plug socket and all the plugs unscrewed just fine except one. When I removed the spark plug wire it was coated in oil. Then when I placed the socket down the hole to remove the spark plug it wouldn't grip the spark plug. Almost as if it wasn't able to go down far enough. When I pushed downwards and turned in hopes of it attaching to the plug it felt like something was rubbery/squishy down there preventing the socket from going far enough down and surrounding the plug. How do I fix this and what is wrong? Would this cause a car to crank but not start. The car starts fine when it is cold, but if you try to start it 10 minutes after having driven it for a while it won't start. You have to leave it for an hour to cool before it will start again.
Monday, April 6th, 2015 AT 5:09 PM

3 Replies

Tiny
CARADIODOC
  • MECHANIC
  • 34,330 POSTS
There's probably a piece of old spark plug wire boot stuck down by the spark plug. You might fish that out with a pick or long flat-blade screwdriver.

A common cause of a crank / no-start is the crankshaft position sensor or camshaft position sensor. Both of them often fail by becoming heat-sensitive, then they work again after they cool down for about an hour. Start by reading and recording the diagnostic fault codes. If there is no code set, you'll need a scanner to view live data to see if one of those signals drops out just before the engine stalls.

When you have an engine-related problem, you need to list which engine you have.
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Monday, April 6th, 2015 AT 5:29 PM
Tiny
CHHE
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
The car is a toyota camry LE 4 cylinder 2.5 L gas engine.

One other question. Why would there be a lot of oil there? I just assumed that the head gasket was pertruding out and was surrounding the spark plug. But your saying it was likely a broken wire.
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Monday, April 6th, 2015 AT 5:36 PM
Tiny
CARADIODOC
  • MECHANIC
  • 34,330 POSTS
No. A piece of rubber spark plug boot that stuck to the plug and tore off.

If you have tubes going through the valve cover for the spark plugs, there's usually rubber o-ring seals that are supposed to keep the oil out of there. One of those could be leaking.
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Monday, April 6th, 2015 AT 6:11 PM

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