new plugs

I'm putting new plugs in prior to riding tomorrow. With some valve cover seepage I have a little oil on the seats and the right rear plug has collected grime. How do I get this out?? Not being able to see in there, can I flush it with WD40 or straight gas?? Would it do harm if it disappears in the cylinder? Other options??

Thanks!

Hey Barend,

I guess there are two schools of thought on this one, "Quick and Easy" which consists of removing the side panels,spraying engine cleaner on the motor, and giving it a shot with a garden hose or I like to use "Simple Green" and sop up the watery mess with paper towels. It is a somewhat slower process but does a good job and you can control where the water goes. I did want to mention that I was able to take a wrench and get another 3/4 turn on the Valve Cover bolts which stemed the flow of oil a great deal. Now I am not saying that if the Valve Cover Gasket is shot that this will be the cure but for a little seeping it did the trick for me. I did want to say that if you use a pressure washer/ self-serve car wash be VERY Careful where you point that wand, I got stranded at a self-serve car wash one time because I washed the heck out of my engine and until it dried out, the bike wouldn't start! I try to stay away from high pressure washes now because it forces water into areas that shouldn't see any water, although I still use a garden hose to wash down body parts. Either way you go, I would do this with the old plugs STILL IN THE MOTOR!

Just my thoughts.

Earl

Barend,

DO NOT ,, I repeat... do not...let anything go down inside the cylinder where the spark plug is....

Do not let any dirt / debris go down in it... do not let water go down in it..nothing..

Leave the spark plug in the cylinder head (snugged up) and clean all you want to.... use a leaf blower to blow the water and loose debris out of that area, and "wear safety glasses".

Shine a flash light in the spark plug areas and look for anything loose and remove all of it.

You can now remove the old spark plug.. and then install a new plug.

Hint:

You can use a small piece of vacuum hose (about 4 to 5 inches long) and push one end of the hose on to the top part of the spark plug so that the plug is hanging / dangling from the hose.

Now while holding the other end of the rubber hose, you can easily place the new spark plug back in the hole and you can turn the plug with the rubber hose until you can not turn it anymore. Then just pull on the rubber hose to remove it from the plug.

By doing this you know your not cross-threading the plug into the cylinder head.

If you have compressed air (you can get it in a can at the hardware store), use it to clean all the dead bugs and grime from around the plug before you remove it. Then just follow Eck's instructions above.

RR

Well, every engine I ever owned, has some oil seepage somplace --

As long as my coffee cup is full, I usually don't worry about " seepage "

And if the wife, has a smile on her face, I really don't worry about oil seepage !!!!!

Washed the wells with brake cleaner and then blew them out with compressed air. New plugs are in and yes I gapped them according to the manual.

Thanks for the advise.

I'm just wondering.....do anyone torque the spark plugs? I did the last time I changed them and torque anything I remove. Except for the oil drain plug.....I started to but I didn't like the feel of it when I was torquing it!

Just Curious

Keith