Stripped spark plug threads help please
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Stripped spark plug threads help please
2005 CBR600RR
Well, this week's adventure of finding more things wrong with this bike for the P.O. does not seem like it will be as easy to fix as the many others.
Cruising on the highway, 6th gear, 70mph, approx 7k RPM my bike turned into a lawnmower. I thought I blew it up but "luckily" it was just one cylinder not firing. I trailered it home and the coil had popped off. No big deal, I pushed it back down and started it. It launched out and sounded like a gunshot, I thought it was backfiring but it was just the coil popping up and down off the spark plug. I took out the spark plug and it was very loose and broken. Ordered more and it won't thread in at all. My guess is the previous owner over-torqued it and it got smacked by the piston shearing the threads. I'm an incredibly poor college student, I've requested a quote from a couple of shops but it will almost certainly be too expensive for me. Has anyone done a helicoil/timesert repair to these themselves? I have no idea how to drop an engine or take off a head. Even if I did I feel like it would be super challenging to properly tap a recessed hole like the one on my bike. Any advice? Should I just save up for a shop or is this doable without ruining everything as a first-timer?
Well, this week's adventure of finding more things wrong with this bike for the P.O. does not seem like it will be as easy to fix as the many others.
Cruising on the highway, 6th gear, 70mph, approx 7k RPM my bike turned into a lawnmower. I thought I blew it up but "luckily" it was just one cylinder not firing. I trailered it home and the coil had popped off. No big deal, I pushed it back down and started it. It launched out and sounded like a gunshot, I thought it was backfiring but it was just the coil popping up and down off the spark plug. I took out the spark plug and it was very loose and broken. Ordered more and it won't thread in at all. My guess is the previous owner over-torqued it and it got smacked by the piston shearing the threads. I'm an incredibly poor college student, I've requested a quote from a couple of shops but it will almost certainly be too expensive for me. Has anyone done a helicoil/timesert repair to these themselves? I have no idea how to drop an engine or take off a head. Even if I did I feel like it would be super challenging to properly tap a recessed hole like the one on my bike. Any advice? Should I just save up for a shop or is this doable without ruining everything as a first-timer?
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That's a tough situation to be in. Which cylinder is it? If it's 1 or 4 then it's probably easier than one of the inner cylinders. Are you able to look down into the cylinder to see if there is damage to the top of the piston? That would help you determine if there is likely to be other damage besides just a stripped spark plug thread. Do you have the space and tools to do the job? That can be a major impact on your decision. Naturally cost is going to play into it as well.
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That's a tough situation to be in. Which cylinder is it? If it's 1 or 4 then it's probably easier than one of the inner cylinders. Are you able to look down into the cylinder to see if there is damage to the top of the piston? That would help you determine if there is likely to be other damage besides just a stripped spark plug thread. Do you have the space and tools to do the job? That can be a major impact on your decision. Naturally cost is going to play into it as well.
I used my phone camera to take a pretty bad picture and honestly, I don't know what the inside of a cylinder should even look like. The piston looks like it has some carbon build-up on it but that's all I can tell.
I have space, I don't know what tools I'll need to do this, so maybe?
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I suppose my main concern is: To remove the cylinder head do I need to drop the entire engine? I know how to get the tank off, airbox off, radiator out of the way, plugs out; and that should bring me straight to the head. Is there any room to just get it out from there? If I have to drop the engine I'll probably need to save up and let a shop do it
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Joined: May 2011
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From: Mesa, AZ
This is caused by previous laziness. Previous owner or shop monkey didn't thread in spark-plug by hand, but just cranked it down with ratchet-wrench or power-tools. Piston didn't hit it, tip doesn't protrude far enough. You can drop in cheap USB endoscope to look around.
DO NOT use Heli-coil or other coil type repairs. These work fine for one-time use on parts that will never come apart, like crankcases or cylinder-heads. But spark-plug come and go repeatedly and will pull out the wire coil after couple of cycles. They're also not that strong and may even blow out just like before.
Get repair-kit that uses solid one-piece metal repair sleeve for longest life. Time-serts are best because bottom of insert is expanded upon installation to really grip surrounding metal. But they're pricey for one-time home use, better suited for shoppe that will use it multiple times. I've found other one-piece inserts to work just as well. Be extremely careful when drilling and tapping for inserts. Best to clamp head under drill-press so hole is straight and tapped threads perfectly concentric (don't move head when switching from drill-bit to tap).
Use old spark-plug with grease on inside to install. Add heat-resistant thread-locker on outside: https://www.ebay.com/itm/172220965517 . Torque to spec with torque-wrench. Let sit overnight and remove spark-plug.
1. MIGHT be able to repair without removing head. Have assistant hold pointy nozzle of vacuum in spark-plug hole was you tap larger threads for inserts. Also use grease on tap instead of oil so it will hang onto metal chips.
2. You can always start with removing head with engine in bike, then if it's too tight, remove engine. To remove head, follow procedures in workshop-manual. DO NOT do ANY repairs without following manual. While it's possible to remove head with engine in place, it's much easier and faster to remove engine first. That only takes about 30-minutes with power-tools and auto-jack. Or hang from ladder with ratchet-straps. Toughest part is engine-mount bolts, soak those suckers in PB-Blaster night beforehand and lift up engine so there's no load on mount bolts.
If you're going to have shop do it, scrap bike and buy another one. They'll charge you $2-3K for this job and most likely mess it up. I don't trust any shop to do this level of work, they can't even change oil properly!!! I bought my 2005 CBR600RR back in 2010 for $2k, if you look around with patience, you can find them for less now. Heck, my wife bought me 2007 CBR600RR couple months ago for my B-day for $2k as well.
DO NOT use Heli-coil or other coil type repairs. These work fine for one-time use on parts that will never come apart, like crankcases or cylinder-heads. But spark-plug come and go repeatedly and will pull out the wire coil after couple of cycles. They're also not that strong and may even blow out just like before.
Get repair-kit that uses solid one-piece metal repair sleeve for longest life. Time-serts are best because bottom of insert is expanded upon installation to really grip surrounding metal. But they're pricey for one-time home use, better suited for shoppe that will use it multiple times. I've found other one-piece inserts to work just as well. Be extremely careful when drilling and tapping for inserts. Best to clamp head under drill-press so hole is straight and tapped threads perfectly concentric (don't move head when switching from drill-bit to tap).
Use old spark-plug with grease on inside to install. Add heat-resistant thread-locker on outside: https://www.ebay.com/itm/172220965517 . Torque to spec with torque-wrench. Let sit overnight and remove spark-plug.
1. MIGHT be able to repair without removing head. Have assistant hold pointy nozzle of vacuum in spark-plug hole was you tap larger threads for inserts. Also use grease on tap instead of oil so it will hang onto metal chips.
2. You can always start with removing head with engine in bike, then if it's too tight, remove engine. To remove head, follow procedures in workshop-manual. DO NOT do ANY repairs without following manual. While it's possible to remove head with engine in place, it's much easier and faster to remove engine first. That only takes about 30-minutes with power-tools and auto-jack. Or hang from ladder with ratchet-straps. Toughest part is engine-mount bolts, soak those suckers in PB-Blaster night beforehand and lift up engine so there's no load on mount bolts.
If you're going to have shop do it, scrap bike and buy another one. They'll charge you $2-3K for this job and most likely mess it up. I don't trust any shop to do this level of work, they can't even change oil properly!!! I bought my 2005 CBR600RR back in 2010 for $2k, if you look around with patience, you can find them for less now. Heck, my wife bought me 2007 CBR600RR couple months ago for my B-day for $2k as well.
Last edited by dannoxyz; Aug 24, 2022 at 11:17 AM.
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This is caused by previous laziness. Previous owner or shop monkey didn't thread in spark-plug by hand, but just cranked it down with ratchet-wrench or power-tools. Piston didn't hit it, tip doesn't protrude far enough. You can drop in cheap USB endoscope to look around.
DO NOT use Heli-coil or other coil type repairs. These work fine for one-time use on parts that will never come apart, like crankcases or cylinder-heads. But spark-plug come and go repeatedly and will pull out the wire coil after couple of cycles. They're also not that strong and may even blow out just like before.
Get repair-kit that uses solid one-piece metal repair sleeve for longest life. Time-serts are best because bottom of insert is expanded upon installation to really grip surrounding metal. But they're pricey for one-time home use, better suited for shoppe that will use it multiple times. I've found other one-piece inserts to work just as well. Be extremely careful when drilling and tapping for inserts. Best to clamp head under drill-press so hole is straight and tapped threads perfectly concentric (don't move head when switching from drill-bit to tap).
Use old spark-plug with grease on inside to install. Add heat-resistant thread-locker on outside: https://www.ebay.com/itm/172220965517 . Torque to spec with torque-wrench. Let sit overnight and remove spark-plug.
1. MIGHT be able to repair without removing head. Have assistant hold pointy nozzle of vacuum in spark-plug hole was you tap larger threads for inserts. Also use grease on tap instead of oil so it will hang onto metal chips.
2. You can always start with removing head with engine in bike, then if it's too tight, remove engine. To remove head, follow procedures in workshop-manual. DO NOT do ANY repairs without following manual. While it's possible to remove head with engine in place, it's much easier and faster to remove engine first. That only takes about 30-minutes with power-tools and auto-jack. Or hang from ladder with ratchet-straps. Toughest part is engine-mount bolts, soak those suckers in PB-Blaster night beforehand and lift up engine so there's no load on mount bolts.
If you're going to have shop do it, scrap bike and buy another one. They'll charge you $2-3K for this job and most likely mess it up. I don't trust any shop to do this level of work, they can't even change oil properly!!! I bought my 2005 CBR600RR back in 2010 for $2k, if you look around with patience, you can find them for less now. Heck, my wife bought me 2007 CBR600RR couple months ago for my B-day for $2k as well.
DO NOT use Heli-coil or other coil type repairs. These work fine for one-time use on parts that will never come apart, like crankcases or cylinder-heads. But spark-plug come and go repeatedly and will pull out the wire coil after couple of cycles. They're also not that strong and may even blow out just like before.
Get repair-kit that uses solid one-piece metal repair sleeve for longest life. Time-serts are best because bottom of insert is expanded upon installation to really grip surrounding metal. But they're pricey for one-time home use, better suited for shoppe that will use it multiple times. I've found other one-piece inserts to work just as well. Be extremely careful when drilling and tapping for inserts. Best to clamp head under drill-press so hole is straight and tapped threads perfectly concentric (don't move head when switching from drill-bit to tap).
Use old spark-plug with grease on inside to install. Add heat-resistant thread-locker on outside: https://www.ebay.com/itm/172220965517 . Torque to spec with torque-wrench. Let sit overnight and remove spark-plug.
1. MIGHT be able to repair without removing head. Have assistant hold pointy nozzle of vacuum in spark-plug hole was you tap larger threads for inserts. Also use grease on tap instead of oil so it will hang onto metal chips.
2. You can always start with removing head with engine in bike, then if it's too tight, remove engine. To remove head, follow procedures in workshop-manual. DO NOT do ANY repairs without following manual. While it's possible to remove head with engine in place, it's much easier and faster to remove engine first. That only takes about 30-minutes with power-tools and auto-jack. Or hang from ladder with ratchet-straps. Toughest part is engine-mount bolts, soak those suckers in PB-Blaster night beforehand and lift up engine so there's no load on mount bolts.
If you're going to have shop do it, scrap bike and buy another one. They'll charge you $2-3K for this job and most likely mess it up. I don't trust any shop to do this level of work, they can't even change oil properly!!! I bought my 2005 CBR600RR back in 2010 for $2k, if you look around with patience, you can find them for less now. Heck, my wife bought me 2007 CBR600RR couple months ago for my B-day for $2k as well.
$150 if I bring the head to them already off the bike. LOL yeah right.
Gonna try to do it myself, can't afford another bike and I might as well learn how to do this sort of harder repair work. For sake of learning I'm going to drop the engine out even if I don't need to and figure it out from there. The scariest part is setting the timing
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Joined: May 2018
Posts: 918
Likes: 219
From: Winchester, VA
Yeah got a quote for $1400 bucks
$150 if I bring the head to them already off the bike. LOL yeah right.
Gonna try to do it myself, can't afford another bike and I might as well learn how to do this sort of harder repair work. For sake of learning I'm going to drop the engine out even if I don't need to and figure it out from there. The scariest part is setting the timing
$150 if I bring the head to them already off the bike. LOL yeah right.
Gonna try to do it myself, can't afford another bike and I might as well learn how to do this sort of harder repair work. For sake of learning I'm going to drop the engine out even if I don't need to and figure it out from there. The scariest part is setting the timing
Senior Member
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 1,988
Likes: 439
From: Mesa, AZ
Yeah got a quote for $1400 bucks
$150 if I bring the head to them already off the bike. LOL yeah right.
Gonna try to do it myself, can't afford another bike and I might as well learn how to do this sort of harder repair work. For sake of learning I'm going to drop the engine out even if I don't need to and figure it out from there. The scariest part is setting the timing
$150 if I bring the head to them already off the bike. LOL yeah right.
Gonna try to do it myself, can't afford another bike and I might as well learn how to do this sort of harder repair work. For sake of learning I'm going to drop the engine out even if I don't need to and figure it out from there. The scariest part is setting the timing
While I was at it, I stripped frame completely and painted it black. Matches much better and looks less like Fischer-Price toy! That was 35-yrs ago! I still have that bike today!
Take your time, get official workshop-manual and read it in sections many, many times until it's familiar to you. Collect required tools for job; torque-wrench extremely important. If you get stuck, post questions here. Everyone's gone through something like this before, so you're in good hands!
