What's the best way to get a spark plug out of the engine after it's been broken off. The part that broke off was the threaded part. So there's no way I can unscrew it. I don't know what to do :dunno:
They must make some kind of special tool right?
-Timothy
EZ out? go to a hardware store and ask for it.
Wow, never seen that happen before... I made an compression tester adapter out of an old spark plug, and that thing was a Buddha Loves You to get apart.
Did it break at the top of the threads? Are there any of the metal or ceramic insulator sticking out? What about the electrode?
IF you can your best bet is to take a flat blade screwdriver and a hammer and slowly tap on an edge to get it to rotate out of the socket.
bummer...
Damn Timothy, I think your bike must be jinxed, you have had one problem after another. Is the side that it broke one the same side that you laid it down on? I agree with the easy out, you can take a small drill bit and drill the metal in a little ways(don't drill all the way through, or you will have little metal bits inside and have to take the head off) and then use the easy out to grab hold of it and back it out. Good luck :thumb:
Can you take a pic and post it on the board. So that way we can have an more of an idea of what your looking at? If I have this straight you are looking at just the very bottom part of the spark plug along with just the porcelien threads stuck into the metal threads. so the spark plug is smooth where the threads were right?
Sure, I can take a picture, but I don't know how to post it. Not to mention I can't take it tonight. Looks like I'll have to wait until tomorrow. :x
-Timothy
Okay what you will have to do is find someplace to host it, if you want you can email it to me and I can post it for you tommorow night (okay techically tonight since it is past midnight my time) :roll: .
Damn man.... that's a first for me... Never had a plug come apart...Almost makes me think it was crossthreaded in there or something to be that hard to come loose that it sheared of the section that the socket grabs...
A big easy out is the only thing I can think of to try. Maybe even solicit some professional help...
Yeah easiest way is to go get a big easy out. You might even be able to borrow one from Auto Zone or Advanced APs which ever has a tool loaner program.
I remember a years ago I was driving my mother's car one day (chev caprice). As I was going up a hill there were two loud *BANG*s and it suddenly got REALLY noisy. :o
After pulling over to see what the hell was wrong, I discovered what was left of two spark plugs just hanging there by the wires! :? Her plugs were SO old that they just rotted and eventually blew right out of the engine...leaving the base (the threaded bit) sill in the engine.
Anyway, if I recall correctly the mechanic used an easy out-like tool to get them out so I would imagine that should work for you. Yours probably aren't nearly as corroded as hers were. :?
Good luck! :cheers:
John
You already have a hole for the easy-out. Is there something else you can wedge in there to spin it out? The threads are all that's left, so the crush washer is no longer exerting pressure...
After I worked on a Kawasaki Police Special, I took it outside to run it and as soon as I hit the starter button I sent the #1 spark plug into orbit. The threads had just plain worn out.
Cross-threaded? Does the sparkplug look like it's perpendicular to the sparkplug hole surface?
So now 2 sparkies have broken off in this head... I believe you should take off the head and tap in and put an insert in it... Dont mess around... anything you do other than that will only postpone the inevitable and potentially do more damage... like if pieces end up in the chamber and you run it... it will gouge out the walls etc.
Cool.
Srinath.
Quote from: seshadri_srinathI believe you should take off the head and tap in and put an insert in it.
I assume you're talking about a HeliCoil, Srinath. (Are there any other brands?)
My '92 Pontiac LeMans coughed up plug #1 last year, just like JohnNS described. Afterwards, I remembered having seen the plug kinda vibrating when the hood was up and the engine was running.
Duh! :guns: ME
Eventually the threads in the
block wore out, and out came the plug. The shop installed a HeliCoil insert, and she's been running fine ever since.
broke a new one off in the head? how tight are you cranking? you should damn near strip out the threads in the head before breaking a plug
A half turn is a bit much for a plug once it snugs tho isn't it??? I maybe do an eight to a quarter turn (have'nt had a plug come out on me yet)...
Did it turn in freely by hand til it hit the washer?
if not by torque specs, i generaly use about 10-15 degrees from snug
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.
you dont need to go to Bike specific shops for plugs, any autopart store can get them if they dont carry them.
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?
The header pipes actually get red??
Yep, Idle at 4-5k for about a minute after riding around the block...Why is this bad?
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. :thumb:
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...
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.
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.
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...]
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. :roll: 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. :thumb:
Hopefully next time it won't be such a pain.
Pic of broken plug:
(http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b68/phaedrusGS/broken-splug.jpg)
Pic of the tool we used to remove the broken spark plug:
(http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b68/phaedrusGS/ezout-tool.jpg)
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.
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:
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.
Quote from: nisus1Glad 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.