| Author | Message | ||
     Goodburbon |
Went outside this morning to set the suspension, and while I was at it, started checking for chaffing wires. I pulled the battery, cleaned and tightened the grounds. Saw that the temp sensor wire was starting to chafe, wrapped it up good with vinyl tape, saw that the seat was leaning on ECM wires, so I rotated the ECM and cut a mounting ear off so it would sit lower. Fired it up, all good. Put it all back together...a few pops on one cylinder and that's all she wrote. Taking it all back apart now. Fun times. | ||
| Goodburbon |
Grounds good, relays good, fuses good. I pulled the rear plug, it took the threads with it on the way out... , it's soaked. I cycled the key and it arcs like crazy. Cleaned it and there is spark. Looks like I'm going to have to rotate the engine, pull the head, re-tap and heli coil it. So much for an hour of simple preventative maintenance... | ||
| Hughlysses |
Man, that sucks, especially on a Friday. It seems like an inordinate number of Uly owners wind up with hosed plug threads like that. One thing I noticed- if I lathered on the anti-seize before installing new plugs, when I later removed them the plugs were hard to get out and there seemed to be a lot of dried out hard stuff on the threads, which was apparently the metallic dust from the anti-seize. I changed my technique, and it seems to work much better. Now I thoroughly coat the threads with anti-seize, then I take a shop rag and wipe most of it back off. That seems to leave enough anti-seize on the threads to protect them without clogging them up. YMMV | ||
| Goodburbon |
Made it to the local Napa before they closed. They do not carry and can not order the proper Helicoil kit, or drive belt. Fantastic. At least I have the F700 if the weather gets nice. Can anyone confirm that 12x1.25 is the right size? http://www.amazon.com/TIME-SERT-Metric-Thread-Repa ir-1212/dp/B001ZS2BJ4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=13809 28965&sr=8-2&keywords=time+sert+12+x+1.25 | ||
| Whisperstealth |
I Feel for you, feel your pain! I stripped my rear plug as well. Cost me $900 to have it fixed. Seeing as how you feel confident doing the work, you might consider a time sert instead of a basic heli-coil. | ||
| Goodburbon |
Yeah, I haven't had to repair threads in about 10 years. In researching I saw a lot of mention about the time serts, but the cost was a bit on the silly side, I bought a buell, not a KTM. | ||
| Uly_man |
"So much for an hour of simple preventative maintenance..." VERY sorry to hear that Guy. Are you the first owner of the bike? I know some people use anti-seize on the spark plugs but you do not need it or should you use it. It is, if that is the type you use, good for brake caliper parts but on a cylinder head it will get baked solid at those head temps. The only thing that might stop a plug coming out easy is a little carbon on the end/edge of the plug. In which case you just "ease the plug" in and out a little until it frees off. Never force it or you will damage the threads. As I recall on changing the spark plugs on my 06 bike they were a little tighter on taking them out than I thought normal. I "eased" them out and they were fine so it is possible the plugs do get a touch of carbon on the ends. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
I used timeserts on my Honda Fit. the kit worked great. Yes pricey but worth it. I used the grease on the tap method. | ||
| Steveford |
You could also try a spark plug chaser with some grease in the flutes, things may not be as bad as you think. 12 x 1.25 is the size you want. I've used a small amount of anti seize on the threads for the past 30 years and have never had a spark plug thread problem but that's just me. A little blob of dielectric grease up top completes the installation. (Message edited by SteveFord on October 05, 2013) | ||
| Goodburbon |
I'm not the original owner. The bike has 20k and I wouldn't be surprised If these were original plugs. Btw, the buell's habit of lighting the spark plugs up like the 4th of July as soon as you turn the ignition on...let's just say it was a shocking discovery. Oh, and id be surprised if it was a little carbon on the end, the old plug has aluminum fused into the threads 3/4 of the way up the threads. | ||
| Uly_man |
"Btw, the buell's habit of lighting the spark plugs up like the 4th of July as soon as you turn the ignition on...let's just say it was a shocking discovery". The 2009 bike ECM is DDFI-3 which has a "plug cleaning" prog in the ECM. It can be set a number of ways but in your case it "plug cleans" on ignition "on" which is the std setting. "the old plug has aluminum fused into the threads 3/4 of the way up the threads". That sounds a little odd. Maybe something was done before you had the bike. Some folk do do some strange things with bikes. I hope it all works out well. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Are you sure that isn't anti-seize Goodburbon? | ||
| Uly_dude |
I had to time sert my drain plug threads. Believe it or not, the DEALER stripped mine out and they wouldn't fix it, saying it was already stripped (grrrrrrrr). Anyways, it worked great, still works. After I was done with it, I sold it at a discount to a guy out here, and he loans/sells it to others who need it. Of course I can't remember who that is now. Maybe he's reading these....... | ||
| Goodburbon |
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| Griffmeister |
Yeah, a time sert would be better for the plug than a helicoil. Unless you do it with the head off where you can dress things up afterward, a helicoil can leave an exposed edge of thread that can heat up while running and cause pre ignition. Even with the engine rotated it's going to be tight. Good luck. | ||
| Uly_man |
This is NOT NORMAL and I have never seen this on a plug before. That deposit would only happen if some sort of "glue" was used and it looks very much like what happens with that white locking paste HD use on bolts on the bike, I know as I have had it myself, otherwise it would just turn out of the threads. Also, unless it is just the picture, it looks like the threads are not the same width between points A and B.  These plugs have a VERY fine thread and it is easy to "cross" them if you do not know what you are doing. It is possible that you are a victim of someones bad workmanship in the past. Good luck. | ||
| Lars1974 |
I feel for you mate. I had the same on my rear cylinder when I did a spark plug maintenance change.. Came out with half the thread, but i got it clean up and back in with a mew plug ans so far its holding fine Here are a couple of pics of my stripped plug....   Anyway, good luck and all the best from the UK Thx Lars | ||
| Sagehawk |
Had to timesert both heads on flhr several years back. Mid nineties castings suck! Anyhow, using nickel neversieze, smear and then wipe most off, I would see specks on top of piston. Would be nickel after rest would burn off. Question is, would copper, silver, or aluminum based greases be better in various services on our bikes? Old days, copper seemed to rue the day for metal based grease. I'm speaking of bolts, nuts, plugs, gaskets, etc. , not bearing or bushings. | ||
| Uly_man |
This plug looks like the head was damaged or the plug was loose as it has been leaking combustion products. The flats of the "nut" also look like the plug had a lot of force used on it. You should NEVER need to use force to fit or remove a spark plug. If you do you have a problem and need to STOP right away.  |
