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Safety, Maintenance and Conscientious Riding |
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Rollin' eZine Volume 1, Number 11 March 2001 =============
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by Ray 'Ratchet' Palubin Rev up those engines, or can you? Do you know whether or not your engine is healthy? Before you start out on this up and coming riding season you will want to spend some time inspecting your spark plugs. I know some of you are saying to yourself, “my engine runs fine, why should I mess with something that works.” That Old Spark is Gone Do you remember when the last time was that you changed out the spark plugs? I recommend that you do it at the beginning of every season. Spark plugs are relatively inexpensive when compared with the huge part they play in the smooth operation of the engine. One that is corroded or arching due to a cracked porcelain insulator will cause the cylinder to be misfiring or not firing at all. That translates into poor engine performance and poor fuel economy. It also causes the engine to run rough due to the imbalance that occurs from one cylinder not firing properly. That condition is also not good for your engine. If it is allowed to run that way for long periods of time it will result in major engine problems. Lets Do It Before you
change your spark plugs, start the engine and let it warm up. Listen to
the sound and you can compare it to how it will sound after replacing the
plugs. After running the engine and hearing it run, s hut it off and let
it cool before replacing the plugs. Begin by pulling off the spark plug wires, one at a time, and, mark each spark plug wire with a piece of masking tape. Write the number of the cylinder that the wire goes with on the tape and wrap the tape around the plug wire before removing the wire from the spark plug. That will ensure that you replace the plug wires in their proper order. Once you get to the spark plugs you will need a ratchet, a plug socket that fits your motorcycle’s plug size, and probably an extension. Remember “lefty loose rightly tightly” so that you don’t end up tightening the plug instead of loosening the plug. Most Japanese motorcycles use an aluminum cylinder head so the aluminum threads in the head are much softer than the steal threads of the spark plug. Also, most spark plugs come with a compression washer that can cause you to misjudge just how tight the plug really is when you tighten the plug. Another thing to remember is that plugs are made from steel and the head is aluminum. Whenever you mix dissimilar metals you have a good chance of corrosion occurring between the two metals. Corrosion on the threads between the spark plug and the head could cause you to strip the threads out when you try to remove the plug the next time. To avoid this problem use a little anti seize compound on the threads before you screw the plug back into the cylinder head. Don’t let the anti seize compound get on or around the electrode. You can buy anti seize compound from most auto part stores. Now that's pretty foul
Gap 'em Dano Once all of the plugs are out and inspected, replace them with new ones. Always check the gap of each plug when you remove it from its box. The factory will usually set the gap for your plug, but if someone dropped the box before you bought it the gap could be wrong. Also, spark plug manufacturers make plugs for many different applications and their setting may be different than what you find on the engine sticker or in your manual. If there is an engine sticker with critical engine information on the bike always go with those settings first.
If your bike doesn’t have a sticker then use the settings in the manual. Now that you have all of that done all that is left is to screw each of the plugs into the cylinder and to torque them to the proper torque specification. You can find the torque specifications for almost everything on your motorcycle in your shop manual. Replace the spark plug wires and start the engine to ensure it is running properly. If the engine starts backfiring and is running badly You screwed up the numbering of the plug wires. Don’t panic. Just look in your manual for the engine’s firing order and place the plug wires back in their correct positions. All should be well after you have corrected the firing order. Well, as you have seen, the spark plugs contain a wealth of information on how your engine is running. That’s it for this month, go change your spark plugs and I’ll touch base with you again next month. Take care, and happy and safe cycling, |
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There's
A Real Spark Here
Spark Plug Sockets
If you see a black oily substance on the spark plug’s electrode
it is usually a good indicator that your engine is using oil. If the
amount of oil is excessive then you probably have had other indicators
that the engine is using oil such as a blue cloud that follows you around
when you ride. In fact, smoke of any kind is a good indicator of what your
engine is doing.
If you should find a powdery black substance covering the electrode of the
spark plug it is a good indicator that the cylinder that the plug came out
of is getting too much gas. Once again a good indicator of a carburetor
not being set correctly (flooding) is a black cloud coming out of the
exhaust pipe when you accelerate quickly.
This next example applies to those of you that have water-cooled engines. Wet electrodes are an indication of antifreeze or water entering
the cylinder. Water in the cylinder can mean a head gasket that is blown
out and is allowing antifreeze or water to enter the cylinder. Water in
the cylinder has other symptoms as well such as hard starting, over
heating, and constantly having to put water in the radiator, etc… A
constant mist coming from the exhaust pipes well after the motorcycle has
warmed up could be an indication that water or antifreeze is entering the
combustion chamber.
Spark
plug gapping tool