Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

Well, I think I may have a nice scrap Honda Engine on my hands....While doing my yearly maintenance on all my OPE, I turned to the last remaining piece of equipment needing attention.  I removed the spark plug from the engine, and inspected the plug and all appeared to be fine.  Upon trying to reinstall the plug, I met more resistance than  usual when installing a spark plug.  I backed it out and then tried to thread it up again and made it a little further past my prior point, but then again hit more resistance than I thought I should when installing a spark plug.  Upon further inspection, I notice some metal shavings and that I had managed to strip a very nice engine with an expensive NGK spark plug.   Is my powerwasher shot?  Do I need to install a new head?  Is this something that most dealers could fix for me?  Any advice would be appreciated.  Would I be able to tap the threads?  If so, how would I clean the metal shavings out of the engine? 

Thanks.

Paul

Your local dealer should be able to install a heli coil and to remove the shavings you should remove the head.

Sherri

Don't like Heli-coils.

You can get a thread repair insert. You should remove the head, drill and tap for the insert, install the insert. Some are held in place to keep from comming out with the plug with sealant, some with little tiny pins that are driven in with a special tool. If it is an old junker, head removal is optional.

The Heli-Coils I have seen are just a glorified spring.

Sherri, does Heli-Coil have something new? Do you like them better?

if the threads arnt too badly damaged, why not just chase them with the proper size tap? ....same thing applys for chip removal of course, best way is pull the head

We use the heli coils all the time.  But like you said they look like glorified springs.  We've had success with them in many different applications that's why I suggested them.

Sherri

Thanks Sherri,

You and Chris have more experience with this stuff than i ever will.