HELP! spark plug broke off in engine

[Blueknyt]

if not by torque specs, i generaly use about 10-15 degrees from snug

[The Buddha]

Theoretically you should put a different type insert other than a helicoil... I belive its called time-sert or key-insert... or some like that. Its actually similar to the helicoil but its not a spring steel coil, but more of a short pipe with threads inside and out.. No idea what the diff is...
And 1/4 or 1/2 turn after finger tight should only crush the washer... not break the plug or eat threads... You sure the plugs weren't defective... I doubt you'd break 2 plugs in a row... Bad plug gets my vote...
Cool.
Srinath.

[ViD381]

[Blueknyt]

you dont need to go to Bike specific shops for plugs, any autopart store can get them if they dont carry them.

[ViD381]

I picked up some autolights at advanced auto. Bought two of them for $3.02. The bike runs well with them. But I noticed tonight when i had the bike idling that the left side of the manifold was a lot redder in color than the right side. I turned up the choke so that the rpms were at 5k, and after about ten seconds the right side seemed to kick in because the right manifold got bright red, and the bike had a smoother sound. So does that mean that the right side is getting a better spark?

[Jared]

The header pipes actually get red??

[ViD381]

Yep, Idle at 4-5k for about a minute after riding around the block...Why is this bad?

[yamahonkawazuki]

way i do is turn (by hand)until finger tight, and then 1/16-1/8 more, gently, ive only broken 1 plug, (in my mower), i used my breaker bar, and i guess i drove it a little to far. if you get another one on there, go  eeeeeeeasy on it.

[Jared]

It's idling off choke at 4 or 5k rpms???

Rpms hang there after you come off the throttle? It sounds like your mix is too lean...

[ViD381]

[The Buddha]

OK either way you look at it... red headers = Bad... Very bad... people have them glow red before the motor siezes up. The front fender starts to melt from the heat before the motor seizes... Check your oil supply lines, oil pump etc... you have some issue there... fix it before the motor seizes up.
Cool.
Srinath.

[JamesG]

Go buy REAL bike sparkplugs (NKGs or nippondenso), not cheap ass lawnmower plugs.  That might even solve your inconsistant running problem but I doubt it. Sounds more like you also have carb problems. Either an intake leak or clogged jets are making it run to extremely lean.
I would take the carbs off and have them overhauled by a good shop.

[Kerry]

Here's the beginning of an article I ran across at http://www.motocross.com/motoprof/moto/mcycle/carbsysnc/carbsyn.htm

Carburetor Synchronization
By Doug Jenks
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The purpose of carburetor synchronization is to adjust all the carburetors so they have the same air flow through all of the carburetors. If the carburetors are out of synchronization, they will receive different amounts of fuel and air. This will allow each cylinder to have different loads which can overheat the dominate cylinder(s) causing different colors to appear on the header pipes.[/color] Carburetor synchronization means adjusting all of the slides or butterflies to the same height at all times.

[...more...]

[Phaedrus]

I changed my plugs today, what a big pain in the ass that ended up being. To make a long story short, the right side cam out without too much difficulty - it required me warming the engine, spraying it with some PB Blast, quite a bit of muscle and about 20 minutes. That was the easy one.

The left side one was worse. It seemed in there so TIGHT that it wouldn't budge. The supplied spark plug socket was unable to get it out. I tried using another one, and that didn't work. I tried wrenches, vice grips, banging on a crecent wrench with a mallet, just about everything I could think of. It was in there TIGHT. So tight, the bike would literally move a couple of inches because of the force applied.    So I went and bought a longer drive and a new splark plug socket. The longer drive gave me better leverage so after more PB Blast and muscle, it finally come off...However...

...the threads BROKE, and some stayed in the engine head.  :x  At this point I was like  :nana: and since I am a n00b, I was pretty much lost.  :dunno:

I asked my brother (what are big brothers for right?) so he come over and looked at it. Fought with it for a few then we went and bought an "EZ OUT" style tool. It worked like a charm!!  :mrgreen:

The engine head threads luckily were not damaged and nothing crumbled so no little metal pieces got into the engine, whew. So I put some anti seize compound on the new spark plug (NGK's) and put them in finger tight and then 1/4 turn according to the manual.  

Hopefully next time it won't be such a pain.

Pic of broken plug:



Pic of the tool we used to remove the broken spark plug:

[nisus1]

Glad it worked for you... you guys were throwing me off at first by calling them "EZ outs".  I know them as extractor bits.  Anway, i broke an extractor bit off in my block.  How's that for fun?  Try drilling one of those out.  Looks like i'll have to take it to a machine shop.  Atleast it was just a header bolt and not one of the plugs.

[Phaedrus]

Yeah, at the parts store they are called "extracter bits", but everyone else on here identified them as "EZ Outs" so I did too. I am thinking the EZ Out in a brand name or something. Kinda like Jello...it is all gelatin, really, but everyone calls even the generic stuff Jello  :lol:

[The Buddha]

Talk about bringing up old threads ... (no pun intended ... )
BTW that bike in the original post later was picked up by moi ... and most of its issues Ironed out. Its sparkies were fine, and I swapped it for Champions  :lol: ... the headers glowing was a rejet away ... done that and simply was beaut ... Like I have said before  :guns:  :guns:  :guns:  NGK ... Total sheite ...
Cool.
Srinath.

[The Buddha]

Glad it worked for you... you guys were throwing me off at first by calling them "EZ outs".  I know them as extractor bits.  Anway, i broke an extractor bit off in my block.  How's that for fun?  Try drilling one of those out.  Looks like i'll have to take it to a machine shop.  Atleast it was just a header bolt and not one of the plugs.

OK yours is a slightly different solution ... I did this on the other GS. Now drifter8844's. The best tool I found was a tool made by sears called bolt extractors (I use the mini ones) They are a strange and stubby looking tool that have a flared end ... set it in a drill and set it in reverse ... and make sure you're drilling the bolt and not the head ... Left handed drills may work, but too much chance of breaking them off ... In mine ... 2 of the header bolts were busted ... welding to a nut and unscrewing didn't work ... so I center punched it and took off the front end and went to work ... the main problem is putting the right kind of steady pressure on the drill ... I had to use my chest ... painful ... and one bolt went like nothing ... the other one was super super super hard ... like WTF ... finally got it out and I tapped and helicoiled out to a standard size ... Just to make sure the threads were on and good ... it was fine but no sense leaving a job 90% done right ...
Cool.
Srinath.