Help! broke sparkplug off in my head

[VintgeRiderVintageGuy]

I was swapping my plug with a new one in my 02 YZ250F and the d@mn compression washer on the plug kept dropping down about a 1/16th, preventing it from sealing (when moving kickstarter thru stroke, it never had full compression). I took it in/out a couple times, tried a different plug, tried locktiting it down flush, no joy.

So then I really screwed up, got impatient and just cranked down on the racket. I got sort of lucky, the plug busted at the threads (instead of trashing the head). But now how do I get the remainder of the plug out without removing the head? I'm also worried about chunks of metal falling down in the cylinder. Arrgghhhhhhh!!!!!

 

[MONKEYMOUSE]

Seriously I would take the head off. Its better to be safe than have to spend a good $400 of repairing the cly. because a pice of metal broke off. But try notching the top of the plugin some sort of way where you could try and use a scruew driver to back it out. Or and easy out. But you MUST take the head off if you use the easy out ( requires drilling, there for metal shaveings!). Good luck!

 

[A-RustyDemon]

:scream:Man-O-Man in all my days I've never snapped a plug like that.. broke the top off... yes. But the body from the threads NO!! VintageGuy you must be some bulky SOB to accomplish that :). But yeah I agree with Monkey on this one yank the head.:thumb:

 

[jboomer]

kudos to the head for not stripping! Mine feels like I could nearly finger tighten the plug and strip the threads from the head!

 

[marcusgunby]

How about a easy out?

 

[SndyRds]

I too would remove the head. You might also use some heat to aid removal.

 

[LJW]

I have removed broken plug shells by TIG welding a rod or long bolt inside the threaded tube. I assume the porcelain insulator came out with the hex shaped body? Easy-Outs generate a lot of expansion when used in thin cross sections, resulting in deformed threads in the head. As mentioned above, heat is your friend! Bad news is the head still has to be removed.
If you want a hand, I live about 2 hours north of you. You pull the head, do the driving and buy the pizza. LOL

 

[Ol'89r]

VintageRider.

I just happen to have a YZ250 head in the shop with the same problem. Definitly remove the head. This guy didn't and got peices of porcelain in his top end. Caused damage to the head and piston.

LJW. The TIG welding method works very good, but with the YZ250f head, the spark plug is down in a deep hole and there is not enough room to get your tig torch in there. With the head removed, it could be done from the inside out.

Just my $ .02

Ol'89r

 

[LJW]

Originally posted by Ol'89r

LJW. The TIG welding method works very good, but with the YZ250f head, the spark plug is down in a deep hole and there is not enough room to get your tig torch in there. With the head removed, it could be done from the inside out.

Just my $ .02

Ol'89r [/B]

Ol'89r,
Working from the inside is the hot set-up. The heat created by welding causes the aluminum head to expand, aiding removal.
Any ideas why people are having this problem with the YZ250f ?

 

[jpm200]

When I snapped a plug I just jammed a large screw driver down the hole and backed the plug out. It should come easily because there is no tension on the thread. (and I always grease the threads on installation.)

 

[Ol'89r]

Originally posted by LJW



Ol'89r,
Any ideas why people are having this problem with the YZ250f ?

LJW. I think part of the problem is the fact that there is not enough room down in the plug area for anything but the plug. If people get anything down there that doesn't belong like dirt, grit, etc., and then try to screw the plug in anyway, somthin's gotta give.

Also, it is very hard to see down there so, it's a good idea to take the time to pull the tank all of the way off and use a small mirror or whatever it takes to inspect the plug hole. A little anti-seize compound on the plug threads can't hurt and make sure the plug washer is in its proper place.

A little tip. When installing your sparkplug, take a short piece of fuel line or rubber hose just big enough to slip over the porcelain part of the plug. Push the plug into the hose and hold onto the hose to thread the plug into the plug hole. If the plug won't screw at least 3/4 of the way into the hole, back it out and inspect it. NEVER force it in with the plug wrench.

This works good when taking plug readings also because you can hold the hot plug by the hose instead of the porcelain.


Ok, now we are up to $ .04