Spark plug change gone wrong :(

[52184]

While the suggestions for lubrication and temperature changes may help, the OP should be very cautious about—or avoid entirely—any attempt at screwing the socket and sparkplug back into the hole. There is no guarantee at this point that the sparkplug will not crossthread. Were this my bike, and given that the top of the socket is easily accessible, I’d still opt for tack-welding on a nut or bolt as an attachment point for a puller and extract the socket that way.

Good luck,
DG

 

[David13]

Any socket will work, if it's thin enough. Or one can be ground down to fit in there.
I helped another guy with his bike, a 2009 and told him he needed a thin walled socket. He thought he had one, til it got stuck in there something fierce. It took a couple hours of wiggling it to get it out.
He then ground three sockets down so that it wouldn't happen again.
However, the last time I changed my plugs, I grabbed the wrong socket, one that wasn't ground down. I was able to get it unstuck fast, as I just turned it back in when I realized the error.

The bad thing about the "special tool" is that you cannot torque it. It comes in the tool kit with the bike, I believe, but it's one of those old fashioned long thin metal tube ones, with two holes and a cross rod for leverage. No way to attach a torque wrench to it.

It's been a week or so. I wonder if op just ended up getting a new bike. Sometimes that's the easier way.
dc

 

[RadioFlyer]

To use a ratchet or a torque wrench with the BMW toolkit socket I drilled a hole in a socket head screw and assembled as follows. I did this for my oilhead but the socket works equally well on the F twins.

 

[Omega Man]

To use a ratchet or a torque wrench with the BMW toolkit socket I drilled a hole in a socket head screw and assembled as follows. I did this for my oilhead but the socket works equally well on the F twins.
View attachment 65099
View attachment 65100

Nice job!
OM

 

[pglaves]

To use a ratchet or a torque wrench with the BMW toolkit socket I drilled a hole in a socket head screw and assembled as follows. I did this for my oilhead but the socket works equally well on the F twins.
View attachment 65099
View attachment 65100

THAT is pure genius.

 

[RadioFlyer]

THAT is pure genius.

Coming from you that is high praise indeed. Thank you.

I have enjoyed your articles immensely and always try to catch your act at the rallys.

Mike

 

[wyman.winn]

i sure would like to know the ultimate outcome of this.....

 

[morfic]

Spark plug change gone wrong

To use a ratchet or a torque wrench with the BMW toolkit socket I drilled a hole in a socket head screw and assembled as follows. I did this for my oilhead but the socket works equally well on the F twins.
View attachment 65099
View attachment 65100

I will have to do that before I switch my F700GS to other plugs. Ingenious fix.

i sure would like to know the ultimate outcome of this.....

I would very much like to know if he was able to walk away from this (hopefully) with only a huge scare and a lesson learned or not.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[vancamp_b]

Same thing happened to me. It seemed pretty well stuck. Got pissed off, used a 4 foot long pipe on the ratchet handle and reversed. Surprisingly, the socket came out with no apparent damage. I then purchased the BMW spark plug wrench. Bike works fine, learned my lesson. Good luck!

 

[BC1100S]

To use a ratchet or a torque wrench with the BMW toolkit socket I drilled a hole in a socket head screw and assembled as follows.

I like to learn something every day. Thanks for this!

 

[willhawks]

Am I seeing a pattern here?

Is BMW using exceptionally tight clearances to discourage us from any DIY projects?

Just as the spark plug access is far more difficult than it needs to be, in September I replaced the low beam lights in my 09 RT. It was ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS in terms of difficulty, and once again, it was a case of obscenely tight access points. It probably took me 1.5 hours to change the left bulb and 3 hours to change the right bulb. What happens if someone is out in the middle of no where; (even if he brought spare bulbs). and it's getting dark? It is my suspicion that while BMW would never admit it, they are saying to the DIY crowd, "We woun't tell you that you can't work on your own motorcycle, we'll just make it so miserable that you will end up taking it to the dealer".

I had the opportunity to have one of the first 1000 MOA members for a friend. He told me that one of the driving forces behind the founding of the club was to have owners band together to help avoid going to the dealer. It seems now, more than ever that we need to be mindful of these situations and use our collective brainpower to outsmart the factory. There is no excuse for building machines which make what should be simple tasks ridiculously difficult. Bulbs, plugs and filters should be easily accessible because they are wear items which require service on a regular basis.

(GEEEEEEZZZZZZZ, if I continue on this rant, they're gonna make me wear a tin foil hat and go to Conspiracy Nuts Anonymous).

 

[jandhumphreyme]

It's not a conspiracy. The spark plug for instance requires a "thin wall" socket, available at any automotive store for $5.00 to $10.00. I cannot comment on changing the headlight bulb. I've read other threads here where people have removed the housing simplifying the process, instead of wrist wrestling that bulb in there. At least you RT guys got a real light, my R '11's light is no more powerful than an old Ray-O-Vac.

As far as DIY. As more regulations are legislated on manufacturers, noise, emissions, and safety, and the corresponding liabilities for the reliability of these systems increases, this action gives manufacturers the necessary ammunition to successfully argue and get permission to shift to proprietary technologies and limit access to that technology to only "qualified" or "certified" technicians, removing the independent repair shop and DIY person from the equation. WE are our own worst enemies in this regard.

 

[akbeemer]

The BMW boxers are among the easiest bikes around to work on. Compared to most other engine configurations, routine maintenance procedures are simple and access is uncomplicated. It is, of course, helpful if one uses the correct reference guide, tools and procedures. Not knowing that a thin walled socket is needed to remove the spark plugs is not an engineering flaw.

 

[wyman.winn]

i am not understanding the problems here...i have done ALL of my maintenance and headlight bulb changes without issue....AND have worked on GSs and early RTs as well without issue...i purchased thin wall 12" long spark plug wrenches in both 14mm and 5/8" that work flawlessly on many motors not just BMWs...and, while I will agree about the headlight issue, i simply remove the headlight assembly to deal with it...only about a 30min job to remove AND replace (once one has done it)...

maintenance on my 13RT is a labor of love and it happens every 6000miles...full service (oil/filter, air filter, FD & GB change, spark plugs, TB sync and tires)...and it has happened 18 times in 104,000miles...AND i can do the work including all parts and tires for way less than the labor rate at the dealership...

get in tune with your bike...both of you will be better for it in the long run...

 

[wyman.winn]

The BMW boxers are among the easiest bikes around to work on. Compared to most other engine configurations, routine maintenance procedures are simple and access is uncomplicated. It is, of course, helpful if one uses the correct reference guide, tools and procedures. Not knowing that a thin walled socket is needed to remove the spark plugs is not an engineering flaw.

yup...

 

[screennametbd]

The BMW boxers are among the easiest bikes around to work on. Compared to most other engine configurations, routine maintenance procedures are simple and access is uncomplicated. It is, of course, helpful if one uses the correct reference guide, tools and procedures. Not knowing that a thin walled socket is needed to remove the spark plugs is not an engineering flaw.

You've obviously never owned an Evolution series Harley... both the 80" big twins and the Sportsters were about the easiest-to-repair bikes I've ever seen. Perhaps because of this, they required relatively few repairs, mostly just replacing burned-out stators (something Boxer owners are apparently learning to live with; I cannot fathom why BMW abandoned the external, air-cooled, belt-driven alternator in favor of a souped-up magneto buried in the second-hottest part of the engine) and leaking gaskets.

But, my R1200GS, despite having the servo brakes and lacking a final drive drain plug, does land well toward the "easy" end of the maintenance/repair scale. Far, far easier to take care of than some bikes I've owned (e.g., KLR650, which had no reason to be as annoying to work on as it was) or excluded from consideration after reading routine maintenance procedures (check out valve adjustment on a CB500X sometime). And requiring a thin-wall socket for spark plug removal is no sin, long as it's documented.

One small gripe on this topic, though--I bought my GS used, and it had few tools in the kit. In particular, no plug wrench. I ordered one from my dealer, and found that what I got was... useless. It was a stamped tube with a hole in it, like any tool-kit plug wrench, but (a) it didn't fit in the head, and (b) it didn't fit over the plug anyway. Luckily, I found a Snap-On thin-wall plug socket in my tool collection. And the "plug wrench" did fit nicely into the end of the front axle (like a giant Allen-head), so I kept it. I assume the parts guy entered the wrong number. I have no idea what it was intended to be used for...

 

[pappy35]

This thread had me all worked up worrying about how to manufacture a cost-effective solution.

I bought this at Autozone a week ago for $7 plus tax. Works like a charm with a 12" extension.

Has the OP posted whether he got this worked out and how?

 

[willhawks]

Stuck socket

The ideas about freezing the socket and lubing the outside where it is stuck sound like good advice. That having been said, I would suggest contacting Tom Cutter, Paul Glaves and Mat Parkerhouse. I am sure that between the 3 of them, they can bail you out.

Best,

3hawks

 

[The_Veg]

What ever happened with this?

 

[pglaves]

I have a "turned down" deep socket. But if all else fails just use the el cheapo tool from the tool kit.