Geoff,
This has happened to me twice. First time it was the rear plug (I've jerry
rig this one since I wasn't about to pull the motor) the second time was the
one you lost. Not to bad to replace. Assuming the motor was still turning
when you shut it down (as opposed to seizing) you may be alright. I'd
replace the plug, fill it with coolant and go. Check temperatures often
(blown head gasket) and oil consumption. Good luck.
Chris
1978 MBG (soon to be V8)
1987 Merkur XR4Ti
1990 Mustang 5.0
1963 Austin Healey BJ7 (in boxes)
Webber, Geoff wrote:
> I'm soooo depressed!!!
> 15 people from all over Pacific come to Sydney for a 2 day meeting. I
> drive one of them the 40 minute drive into the city this evening
> enjoying the opportunity to show of my 69B - he's from China and has
> never seen one before! Its a perfect clear winters night, great way to
> start the meeting sessions. All is well with the world.
> Big dinner tonight to welcome everyone to Sydney.
> Then it hits.....I'm driving home and going around a right hand turn
> about 10 minutes from home, the car cuts out mid-turn. Takes a little
> while to re-start, but eventually we are going along nicely. Then about
> 4 minutes from home I know something is not right. Oil pressure is still
> good, temp is about 90C, would have guessed about 75C on this chilly
> winters night but I'll keep an eye on it. About 2 minutes from home now,
> rattling noises starting to come to the fore - all the gauges look good,
> I drop speed to listen a little more carefully.
> More rattles - quite constant now when accelerating - sort of the sound
> you would expect if there was no oil or low oil, something like that.
> One more turn and I'm in the driveway at home. Its 10:30 at night now,
> can't see a thing so I bring the Mitsubishi in behind the MG and use its
> headlights to see if anything is obviously wrong. aagahh!!! is that
> SMOKE?? the carport stinks of something very hot and clouds of white
> smoke are coming from the bonnet. I'm not feeling too happy as I pop the
> catch and lift the bonnet.
>
> Can't see much in the dark, but I can smell the heat, and my nice red
> engine has a distinct black band around the spark plugs from front to
> back. I get a torch and have a closer look.....
>
> To cut a long sad story short, it appears I've popped the centre welsh
> plug near the oil filter. Looks like the middle of it is missing and all
> the water is somewhere between home and the
> city.......S$%*&%@!!!!!!!!!!!
>
> OK, how depressed am I likely to be about this when I look in the
> morning?
> I've not had this failure before, so I'm not sure what to expect. I know
> welsh plugs are the designed point of failure if anything goes awry.
> Does this mean replacement isn't TOO bad a proposition? Could I have
> cooked something in the drive home? I am hoping the black band is burnt
> paint (the engine was repainted a bit over a year ago, so I can imagine
> the paint blackeneing if it got hot under there.
>
> Thanks for any thoughts or experience you might share. I'll let you know
> what it looks like in daylight.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Geoff
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