spark plug is stripped out...

[Duaner]

hey there, just wondering if anyone here has had to re-thread a spark plug? I am thinking of using the heli-coil...any input?

[crazy steve]

Here you go.....

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread...elicoil+vacuum

[oldyam80sg]

I overtightened a spark plug 2 years ago and stripped the threads.I bought the perma-plug kit from an auto parts store and bought additional inserts at Amazon.The first time i used the insert it came out with the spark plug.The kit tells you to use high temp RTV so i let it dry.The plug comes out now without the insert.

[Duaner]

thanks

Thanks guys, I bought a helicoil kit and will be starting on it very soon I hope. Lots of work left since this bike hasn't been started in about 18 yrs I figure.

[Lbrown311]

Hopefully I caught you before you opened it. If you buy a thread chaser from Carqwest or Napa or O-Reily's, that is what I used just a month ago and it worked wonders. A hell of a lot cheaper than Heli-coil (which would have been second option.) Just grease the chaser and vacuum out the cylinder before firing it up. Make the best effort you can to get it all out or you will be replacing rings too.

[Duaner]

so are you saying that you just chased the threads and then did not use an insert?

[natemoen]

so are you saying that you just chased the threads and then did not use an insert?

Keep in mind a thread chaser is completely different than a tap. A thread chaser is just meant to push the old threads (if they are still there even) back into place and a tap is to cut new threads where none exist.

[oldyam80sg]

And a heli-coil is actually bigger than the original hole-it is the same size thread internally.The perma-plug insert is the way to go if you cant use the original threads.The heli-coils usually have a tang that the insertion tool hooks onto to install it.

[natemoen]

Actually the spark plug specific ones do not have the tab at the bottom. The spark plug specific Helicoils have some, for lack of a better term, teeth at the bottom facing out and after you thread the coil in you hit the install tool with a hammer and the teeth bite into the head so that it cannot unscrew itself.

[oldyam80sg]

Yes and you hit them with a hammer to seat them.I bought additional ones(different lengths) at Amazon.