I had a plug do this. I had put Champions in my Supra. I had always used ND but the Champions were cheaper so I figured "what is the difference"? Well I was driving down the road and started hearing the starange sounds as described. Pulled over and found the loose wire as described. Found the plug loose and the guts gone, eaten by the engine. Later found little bits of ground up plug embedded in the catalytic. Got a bore scope and found nothing in the cylinder head but the top mashed a bit. I went back to the store where I got them and the guy says "Oh yeah, Champions do that" !!! And then the usual "common knowledge" "don't put American plugs in Japanese engines".

My only theory is it came loose and over heated. Now the oil copnsumption is up and I suspect it finished off the already leaking valve seal. Amazingly even with the high oil consumption it still passes emmissions with flying colors. Compression in that cylinder is now down a bit, maybe 10%.

Mike

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1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra