2005 Corvette AC & Heat control door resembles a vertical blind.

Corvette has some amazing engineering! Who needs real doors to control airflow in the HVAC (Heating Ventilation & Air Conditioning) system, when you can have this material that rolls on spools. This is a masterfully designed system that lasts in most cases until the car is just out of warranty. Kidding aside, if you’re experiencing a problem with your Corvette’s air conditioning, this could be the issue. Codes can be stored and attempts at resetting or calibrating will fail. The weak point is where the material attaches to the spool, on the one pictured it was ripped clean away.

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Courtesy of Brainstuck.com

Big three auto makers bubble is soon to burst, the question is should the Government bail them out? What is the best tool to use when it comes to their situation? What would your grandparents suggest? And what guarantee do we have that they won’t come back again later knocking on our door, begging for money like a drug addict in the middle of the night. What remains obviously apparent is that without bankruptcy, the big three will not be able to re-negotiate their obligations with the unions. No doubt, the unions have done their job of getting every dollar that they could for their members. The problem is, they may have just priced themselves out of a job.

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Video inspection scopes are now quite affordable.

Doctors have used fiber optic bore-scopes and endoscopes in the medical field for a longer period of time than automotive technicians have used inspection scopes in the automotive repair field. The high cost for these gadgets in the past prevented lower income fields from justifying the purchase of them.

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See the quality difference in the Heli-Coil (top) & the Calvan (bottom)

© DenLorsTools.com Summary: In this automotive repair/tool blog we cover Ford spark plugs blown out of cylinder heads, it’s still a huge problem. To date we have sold hundreds of Calvan spark plug thread insert tool kits and have had no one call back to say it was too hard or it didn’t work. The included video makes the spark plug insert repair easy to understand and answers all the questions about how this job can be done in the vehicle saving thousands of dollars. We are commonly asked if the Calvan spark plug repair kit will work after a Heli-Coil or some other thin, weak repair has failed and have blown out AGAIN. The answer is yes, Calvan inserts are much thicker than the competitor’s inserts and will work much like an over-size oil drain plug will work in a stripped out oil pan. Since the Calvan insert is not just a coil of wire like the Heli-Coil it is much stronger. And since the Calvan insert is thicker than the Heli Coil, most times it can be used when the Heli Coil is spit out.

Our customers tend to research their options to find the very best solution for this very frustrating problem, that’s why after they research Helicoil we know most will ultimately purchase the Calvan Ford Spark Plug Insert Tool Kit.

Our Automotive Tech Article on Ford spark plug blowouts, goes into much more detail about Ford spark plug problems, including the fact that when buying a rebuilt head the consumer should be aware that it may have an inferior repair insert already installed. That’s why it is our recommendation to repair the cylinder head you have with the Calvan insert tool kit, so you know that you have a strong, long lasting repair that you don’t have to worry about.

Question: How long will the Calvan spark plug repair last?

Answer: The Calvan inserts are designed to last the lifetime of the engine and are stronger than the original threads.

Question: Time Sert says “The only 100% way to know the valves are not open is to remove the valve cover and inspect the cam, making sure that it is not depressing the valves on the damaged spark plug hole.” Do I have to remove the valve cover with the Calvan Ford spark plug insert tool kit?

Answer: No. The Calvan tool kit allows the mechanic to verify valves are closed with an included cylinder leak detector. Plug the rubber stopper from the leak detector into the spark plug hole with a low amount of air from an air compressor going through the hose. The rubber cone will pop out of the spark plug hole when the valves are closed. The video shows this as well.

Question: How do I know all the aluminum metal shavings are out of the cylinder?

Answer: A borescope is used to make sure all foreign debris is removed. A video scope can be used as well, we have fairly inexpensive video based scopes that in our opinion, are better and easier to view.

Question: I’m afraid I might start drilling or tapping the hole crooked, am I going to damage my head beyond repair?

Answer: With the Time Sert, the tap has a small pilot at the end of the tap. With the Calvan specialty tool kit (since it is made specifically for Ford 4.6, 5.4 and 6.8 Triton engines) has a guide that fits into the spark plug well to perfectly guide the drill and the tap making the repair centered even in hard to access areas.

Question: Will my spark plug be properly grounded through the engine, since the insert will have JB weld on the threads?

Answer: I’ve only had one person ask this. The answer is yes. JB weld or Loctite with some other brand inserts is being used on the threads, but there is a large enough percentage of metal to metal contact that provides ground, to allow proper firing of the spark plug.

Update 12/01/2011

Time Sert 51459 Inserts in the image below. Notice they are more than just a thin coil of wire.

The Calvan 38900 is for spark plug ports on Ford Triton SOHC 4.6, 5.4 and 6.8 Liter 2 valve engines – 1998-2004. The Time Sert repair kits are made for much more than just the above application. DOHC is not a problem with the Time-Sert 5553. Time Sert makes a kit that will work on most vehicles. This fact has saved our customers a lot of money. Time-Sert’s comprehensive coverage doesn’t stop at “spark plugs”. They make kits for head bolts, main bolts, drain plugs and the list goes on. The Time-Sert inserts are bushing type and NOT just a coil of wire like the Heli Coils are. We have sold tons of the Time Sert kits with no problems reported as well. Still have questions on your application? Feel free to give us a call.

Linking: Please reference this car repair article when quoting, linking to this page is welcomed and appreciated. If you are new to linking a page. 1. Left click the link; to highlight 2. Right click, select copy 3. Right click and paste to car forums, auto repair blogs, car repair web sites etc. Thanks! Disclaimer: Automobile repair tips are designed for informational purposes only, without warranty of any kind, in no event shall the author of this site be liable for any consequential, incidental or direct damages sustained in the course of using the repair information in this article. All rights reserved by DenLors Auto (Automotive specialty tools /Car mechanics Tools). Keep us in mind for auto tool needs, shop supplies and mechanics equipment. 

Related Links and Products

Ford Spark Plug Blow Out Problems How to Repair Original article

Calvan 38900 Insert Kit – Product in this blog for sale 

Calvan 389-100 DLT Inserts – Additional inserts sold separately

Expedition Cylinder Head Removal w/Body Off NOT required with the 38900 DLT see what you’re missing

This Bearly Used Grizzly Grinder was for sale recently – Classified Site

Back in the early eighties when I first started working on front wheel drive cars, the Goodyear shop that I worked at got one of these Grizzly Grinders (sold by Bear). It was the newest best way at the time, to sort of machine rotors on the vehicle when doing a brake job. Actually it didn’t really machine the brake rotors, it would grind them. The Grizzly Grinder only worked on front wheel drive vehicles, since there was no built in motor to spin the rotors. The Grizzly Grinder was bolted on where the caliper goes, the grinding discs were adjusted and then you would run the car in drive trying to maintain around 35 miles per hour! Metal would fly and you’d better be sure you’ve got it adjusted right or the rotors would be ground unevenly in a hurry. This was definitely a job you didn’t want the customer to watch.

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This picture shows some side dash bolts with trim removed.

© DenLorsTools.com Summary: Common cause of 2002-2005 (Third Generation) Ford Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer low airflow issues covered. Broken recirculate doors can affect airflow from the blower fan if the main air inlet door has fallen. A Ford Explorer that has a full charge of refrigerant and is cooling, but is not quite cool enough may have a broken fresh air door, preventing proper recirculation. The fresh air door is also called a recirculate door, max air door or main air inlet door.

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Some of our most requested tools lately has been specialty tools for aligning cams and cranks for timing chain alignment. In the past changing a timing chain or timing belt only required basic tools to get the job done. The camshaft and crankshaft sprockets only went on one way due to the design that used a key-way which only allowed the pulley to go on one way. Alignment marks for the cam and crank were aligned per directions from the service manual. Now many engines have no key-way and the pulleys are pressed on. Since the key-way is not used in increasing number of vehicles, specialty automotive tools are required to properly Align the cam and crank.

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When working under the hood, one of the most frustrating things is to knock removed nuts and bolts off their precarious perch, to fall somewhere into the great abyss we call….the engine compartment. All mechanics have done it, we knock bolts off the air cleaner, the battery, the inner fender etc. And when we hear the nudged bolt hit the floor safely, it is a sweet sound. Because if it reaches the floor, we know we won’t have to waste our time searching for it somewhere on the sub-frame by the rack-n-pinion, or wedged between the inner fender and the the power brake booster.

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