[s-cars] 20v I5 Implosion

[QSHIPQ at aol.com]

Most likely an improperly torqued plug procedure, and this is a common occurence.  First, do a helicoil into the spark plug hole that is gone.  This can be done with head on car, btdt many times over the years.  Replace coil cap, if end of coil pack is cracked, you will need to replace coil pack , but usually the end cap will protect coil from damage

The oil is pretty common to be found in the spark plug hole, every one I've done has oil bathed in the hole, brown pieces parts of the coil pack cap smattered about adding to the look of extreme carnage.  Usually this oil is from a compromised inner cam cover seal, but can also be just crap from non combustion.  Fix what's broken first.

Going after the dealer 11months post incident may or may get you some satisfaction.  I recommend that every S car owner ck his spark plug torque at 6months maximum, especially if the car is tweeked, these heads have some pretty massive heat cycles that can back out plugs.  The procedure I use with the highest level of success is to tighten all plugs down to 22ft/lb spec, then go back thru them again, loosen them a half turn and tighten to spec again.  This procedure tends to load the sealing washers better than just clamping them down and calling it good.

You are hardly alone in this happening.  You might want to call the dealer that did the service first to see if there is any potential claim (good luck, but I've actually seen it, a guy towed his car in, and towed it right back to the dealer - they even removed the head for damage inspection gratis).

HTH

Scott Justusson
QSHIPQ Performance Tuning
Chicago