Fellas, I need your help. Trying to replace the spark plugs on my 954rr. And I went through the top to make it easier on myself. While trying to take out the 4 bolts that hold the air funnel down, I stripped 2 of them. It was as if they have thread lock on them or something. Has anybody run into this problem or knows how to get these bolts out. They seem like they are made of a soft medal. The hole is too deep down to try and use a bolt extractor. I just paid $60 bucks for sparkplugs, and now this![:@]You guys are doing a great job by the way.

 

When you say "air funnels" do you mean velocity stacks? the four tubular things below the air filter that hold the lower air filter housing down? I just did mysparkplugs and didnt have a problem I just made sure I used the right screw driver so I wouldnt stip one of the screws.

 

yeah, the velocity stacks. I thought I had the right screw driver. I tried 2 bolts before I switched to a different one. And now those 2 bolts are stripped. I don't think the bolts were ever removed before. Cause the other 2 sort of "popped" as if the the threadlock glue had been broken.

 

Okay, funny because i ran into the same problem about a month ago and it was a Bit.. to get the screws off. I ended up putting too much pressure on one of the corners and broke a peice off the throttle body. Now that hurt because it was no longer a cheap fix. LOL

You are going to need a extender for the Screw extractorso that you can reach down in there to get the bolts screwed out. I know that Lowes and Home Depot has one that is shaped just like a regular drill bit is and can be placed into any extender. After you are able to extract the bolts, i would recommend that you replace them with Hex bolts so that you never have to go through that again. I stripped one and ended up breaking the corner and then a week later i had to remove it again and ended up stripping two more. Very upsetting though. i would also recommend that you blow all the contents of the shaven metal out of the throttle body before you do anything so that you can avoid any peices of metal falling into your engine.

let me know if you have any more questions.

 

Not sure what else i can add, but the factory screws are a size #2 head if that will help you get the right screwdriver.

 

Thanks guys, I will get right on it. Hopefully I can get them out and do the plugs. Cause I hear going from the front is a bit**!

 

Have you tried a flat head screwdriver?

 

Yeah, that was the next thing I tried. Because the cross section is not twisted (cause of the soft medal) the screwdriver won't fit down there flush enough. If I get them out I will definitely replace them with a hex or torx bolt.

 

do you have an impact screw driver? Im not sure if thats the right name, but you fit it down in there and then smack it with a hammer and it just breaks them loose. You might be able to rent one from auto zone. It came in handy when i was doing the transmission on my buddys car.

But on second thought casasadam said he broke off a corner just from putting pressure on it, so.... impact driver might not be the way to go.

 

I have one of those tools I took from work, you hammer the top and it spins to break the bolt? never used it but i guess one of these years ill try it. Also couldnt figure out why the bike designers didnt use torxs heads? good luck wit that bolt, sometimes you need to step back and think bout the situation then go back at it, it always works for me when im gettin fed up with things ie allen head bolts.