| Author | Message | ||
     Straightshot |
I took my xb12 to the dealer Sat. and they pulled the plugs and said the rear hole was cross threaded. They tried to tap it and now say it is beyond repair and I need a new head! I have a line on a new set of heads and rockers for an 08 xb12 that I can get for the same price as one new one from the dealer. I just wondered if anyone knew if the 08s would fit on the 04. Both XB12. | ||
| Gunut75 |
Yup. The heads are the same. | ||
| Straightshot |
Excellent! Thanks! The parts dept. said they were different because of different part numbers. Is this something to be concerned about? | ||
| Hogs |
Did ya ask them WHY they Stripped the hole???? I assume it wasn`t till they got their hands on it....! | ||
| Iamarchangel |
Bit hard to figure out how it stayed in cross-threaded, but it wouldn't have been from them taking it out. (Maybe when they tried to put it back in? Who put the previous plugs in?) However, once they tried to fix it and took it to the point of no repair, they've become liable. These Buell threads are full of amateurs doing the same thing and fixing it themselves without ruining the heads. Something to think about. | ||
| Hogs |
Well that being said..Have seen Quote Buell mechaincs and other mechanics having NO ideal how to tackle that rear plug... They are good and cross threading them and then SHIT well it much have all ready been stripe so they say.... If it was me ..its their nickel to fix it now period! Or they may say in some cases they will pay the labor you gaskets and parts...LoL then tell them you will pay for the new plug  | ||
| Straightshot |
Here is my thinking! I rode it in there in a certain condition. If I can't ride it out in the same or better condition it is their responsibility. Am I correct? | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
They boned it. You are correct. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Do you know the history of the bike? Was that plug ever cross threaded? | ||
| Fast1075 |
Who put the plug in it to begin with??? | ||
| Iamarchangel |
Here is my thinking! I rode it in there in a certain condition. If I can't ride it out in the same or better condition it is their responsibility. Am I correct? Not 100% but once they try to fix it without authorization, they own it. | ||
| Johnnymceldoo |
Tapping that big of a hole in aluminum with limited room to work is not a job Id want a mechanic to do. | ||
| Harley_jethro |
It's been many years since i worked in a shop but have seen this repaired with Heli-Coils more than once. Just mu $0.02 | ||
| Mesozoic |
Definitely repairable using a 14mm x 1.25 thread repair kit. You don't need a new head! Use a shop vac to suck all the debris out after redrilling and tapping the hole for the heli-coil, though. | ||
| Slaughter |
Take the head off and repair the threads. Just not worth the effort of TRYING to prevent the chips from falling into the combustion chamber. Spark plug repairs are so common, you can get the drill, tap and inserts at any auto parts store. Helicoil, Keenserts, Timeserts ... whatever you get is going to work. | ||
| Reepicheep |
If you pull the head, aren't you supposed to also replace the base gasket? | ||
| Greg_e |
I thought these were 12mm plugs. | ||
| Starwolve |
If you pull the head, aren't you supposed to also replace the base gasket? I'm not sure if you're supposed to, but if you're taking the time to rotate the engine, and already have everything else off, it's not a bad investment for a few bucks worth of gaskets and an extra 15 minutes to do the base gaskets as well. | ||
| Greg_e |
Thing is if you pull the cylinder you are supposed to have it honed again and new rings on the piston so it does cost a few more dollars. And if you are taking it that far apart it might be worth new valve stem seals. (Message edited by Greg_E on July 27, 2011) | ||
| Iamarchangel |
People, what are you talking about? You can pull the head and leave the cylinder and piston alone. If you don't remove the cylinder, you don't need to touch the base gasket. Even if you remove the cylinder, if you don't do anything to the piston and rings, you don't need to do anything to the cylinder. Removing the head will require replacing a head gasket, two rubber gaskets and four fiber gasket/washers. I'm pretty sure you can buy those as a set. | ||
| Dhays1775 |
i had to remove the heads on my 12r recently. i went ahead and pulled the jugs and removed the base gaskets and used a silicon gasket in place. i also used a .030 head gasket in place of the stock .040. bumping compression helped it run a lot stronger. i don't recommend doing what i've done unless you're ABSOLUTELY sure you won't have contact between the piston and valves. my bike runs a lot stronger, no pinging or knocking, and burns no oil. i love what i've done, but to each their own. better safe than sorry, right? worst case, i upgrade to the 1250 stage 2 kit from nrhs. just throwing it out there... | ||
| Slaughter |
Head gasket and the other rocker gaskets (including the 4 fiber washers for the 4 screws that hold the rocker cover in place) are maybe gonna set you back $50-$60. Yeah, no need to touch the base gasket if the cylinder is not coming off. FOR SURE, if you get any metal chips down the bore by attempting to cut corners and do the Helicoil/Timesert/Keensert drill/tap/install - you're gonna be hating life. Besides, it's good to have access to the combustion chamber to clean up the interior after finishing the machining and installation operations. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Yeah, no need to touch the base gasket if the cylinder is not coming off. The problem is the head is often stuck to the cylinder head gasket, and when you pull it off, you tend to pull up the cylinder too, breaking the seal on the base gasket. If you can avoid doing that you'll probably be OK reusing the base gasket, but if there's any doubt, I'd replace it. | ||
| Greg_e |
Which then gets into the other things I mentioned. Seeing what leaking valve stem seals can do if you neglect the leak I would spend the little bit of money on new seals. And that is what you are supposed to do, what you choose to do may be different so do whatever it is you want. | ||
| Mesozoic |
We recently stripped a sparkplug hole on a UAV and used the heli-coil method without having to remove the head (it had a 2 cylinder all aluminum engine on it). We used a small camera with light to inspect the chamber for chips, sucked it all out using a shop vac, and had it back together in under an hour. Of course, you can tear the entire top end down if you really have the time. | ||
| Iamarchangel |
Frankly, I can't remember any engine teardown where the cylinder has come free with the head. Seems to that the cylinder has nearly always needed a tap with a piece of wood and a hammer to come free. Of course, others may have had different experiences. | ||
| Greg_e |
The base gaskets on mine let loose before the heads, even with a tap on the head to loosen it up. The base gaskets also came off clean where the head gaskets did not, they split in the middle and left stuff on both surfaces. | ||
| Macdiver |
Man, I'm glad I did not read this thread before I changed my plugs this week. I would not have wanted to touch them if I new it could end up being a complete engine rebuild including honing the cylinder.  | ||
| Greg_e |
Simple, just don't mess up the rear plug. And again, do whatever it is that you want, only going by what has been suggested in the manuals and engine rebuilders. Could both be stretching the truth to sell parts? Possibly |
