Quick release spark plug...

Any suggestions?

try to find a product called time serts if done right you can doit with the head still on the engine i have done it myself on more than one occasion.

great clip...nice trick...can you do all four.....





Tims right....

they make a cheaper solution but it is get what you pay for...you need a thread repair kit (heli coil kit)for that size spark plug

this i a clip i googled but it shows the basic idea

www.popularmechanics.com/cars/how-to/repair/4212608

if you are going to do it don't be tempted to use helicoils like they say in that write up they will come out and also they don't deal well with high cylinder head temps and high compression pressures. pay a few bucks more and use the timeserts or equivilent you'll be happy you did.

Also, buy a torque wrench. :blush:

Thanks for the help guys...btw...I do have a torque wrench and I just bought the bike for $250, so I expected some problems.

I've used helicoils before, just didn't know you could use them for spark plugs (or any other high compression application).

A buddy of mine has a head off of a KZ650, I was thinking of using that...but I'll give the timeserts a try.

Thanks a bunch!

Ive had a helicoil in #1 plug hole for a long time.No issues with it.If u follow the instructions they work fine.Only issue I have heard about is if u screw them in too far so that one of the coil tips protrudes into the combustion chamber,it can get hot and act like a glow plug on a diesel and cause predetonation.bj

i've had heli coils in a few engines with no problem...they were there when i got the bikes,,,lasted the time i had the bike....one engine the coil came out with the plug and went back in with the new plug :blush:

but theyt never messed up and are around 20 for the kit as oppossed to 75-100 for timserts...

But...Tim (timebomb)is a true mechanic so i said nothing...i do think they are good enough for a stock comp motor....

timebomb33 wrote:

if you are going to do it don't be tempted to use helicoils like they say in that write up they will come out and also they don't deal well with high cylinder head temps and high compression pressures. pay a few bucks more and use the timeserts or equivilent you'll be happy you did.

I'm being completely sincere when I ask this question. Not ballbusting and not knocking timeserts. Do you have any personal experience with a heli-coil actually coming out? I have been fortunate in that I have never had to use one for a spark plug, so I claim no experience. I don't understand why a helicoil would not deal with heat. Standard helicoils are steel, and the aluminum heads are good enough to deal with combustion temps. I do realize that galvanic corrosion can occur between the steel and aluminum. Is this the issue? Would the timeserts not have the same issue?

Do the plugs not seal against the top surface of the head? I have heard the recommendation to use timeserts before, but no real explanation of what makes the helicoils unusable.

I have personally machined many aluminum parts for NASA that require the installation of helicoils per MILSPEC. Granted, these parts were not part of an internal combustion engine, but you can believe me that NASA flight parts are very closely examined. They would not specify helicoils by accident. By the same token, you can also believe that if I had substituted a timesert in place of a helicoil, that the part would be rejected due to the fact that the threaded insert did not carry the proper certification. One thing that the military does specify the use of Super Koropon primer for all threaded insert installation. I believe that this primer mitigates any chance of galvanic corrosion.

Sorry for the lengthy post, but I honestly am ignorant of the problems associated with the use of helicoils to repair stripped spark plug threads. I am hoping that you have had some personal experience with the failings of a helicoil in this application. I'm sure that the timesert is actually a stronger option to a helicoil and if a helicoil would work, then a timesert certainly would as well.

testarossa wrote:

timebomb33 wrote:

if you are going to do it don't be tempted to use helicoils like they say in that write up they will come out and also they don't deal well with high cylinder head temps and high compression pressures. pay a few bucks more and use the timeserts or equivilent you'll be happy you did.

I'm being completely sincere when I ask this question. Not ballbusting and not knocking timeserts. Do you have any personal experience with a heli-coil actually coming out? I have been fortunate in that I have never had to use one for a spark plug, so I claim no experience. I don't understand why a helicoil would not deal with heat. Standard helicoils are steel, and the aluminum heads are good enough to deal with combustion temps. I do realize that galvanic corrosion can occur between the steel and aluminum. Is this the issue? Would the timeserts not have the same issue?

Do the plugs not seal against the top surface of the head? I have heard the recommendation to use timeserts before, but no real explanation of what makes the helicoils unusable.

I have personally machined many aluminum parts for NASA that require the installation of helicoils per MILSPEC. Granted, these parts were not part of an internal combustion engine, but you can believe me that NASA flight parts are very closely examined. They would not specify helicoils by accident. By the same token, you can also believe that if I had substituted a timesert in place of a helicoil, that the part would be rejected due to the fact that the threaded insert did not carry the proper certification. One thing that the military does specify the use of Super Koropon primer for all threaded insert installation. I believe that this primer mitigates any chance of galvanic corrosion.

Sorry for the lengthy post, but I honestly am ignorant of the problems associated with the use of helicoils to repair stripped spark plug threads. I am hoping that you have had some personal experience with the failings of a helicoil in this application. I'm sure that the timesert is actually a stronger option to a helicoil and if a helicoil would work, then a timesert certainly would as well.

I have used both over the years. Heli-coils will come out, good for a quick fix however. As Tim said the timeserts, are a longer term fix. One is colied threads and the other is a sleeve. Yes a timesert kit costs more, it is about the same price as having the shop, fix one cylinder. There is a reason, one costs more then the other..........Both will work for ya!

So you have actually had a helicoil back out on it's own on an engine that you have worked on?

Certain applications for NASA do require an insert similar to a timesert. I have actually used these. Threaded, key locked, inserts: www.carrlane.com/Catalog/index.cfm/27825...070F1A3C3B285356445C

I'm specifically interested in someone who has had actual evidence of a helicoil unscrewing itself. Not anecdotal evidence.

There are a couple of issues you might want to consider: you will need to drill and tap the hole to use the helicoil or the timesert, so you will get chips in the cylinder you will need to get out. Also the helicoils have a portion of the coil that you normally break off after you thread the coil into the hole, so you will need to get it out so it doesn't drop into the cylinder. I agree that the timesert is the best way to go for your head and I have had the helicoils come out; I usually loctite them in. Green loctite would work. Really the head should come off for the repair.