sparkplug socket

[camos]

I have been wanting to change the spark plugs on my VR. Discovered my 18 mm deep socket would not fit in the hole. Spent most of the day browsing through the local tool shops looking for a thin walled socket without success. At the end of it all went to the dealer to see what they had with interesting results. Found out the plug socket only came with the original tool kit. Yamaha wanted... wait for the drum roll...

 

$539.00 ... Whoo-Hoo

 

On the other hand, they did have a Honda plug wrench for sale as a stand alone tool. Went out to see if it would fit and while rummaging around for a screwdriver to remove the side grill found that I had the OEM plug wrench already, just didn't know it. The Honda plug wrench did fit. Perhaps unfortunately, in my excitement I forgot to get the price of the Honda tool. It likely was not very expensive as it was zinc plated and not chromed like my POSH Royale tool.

 

Thought I would pass that along just in case anyone else really was stuck without a way to remove their plugs.

[Dano]

If your Lowes still carries Kobalt tools, they have a thin-walled 18mm deep socket that works perfectly in the 1st gen heads.

[camos]

There is no Lowes in this area of B.C. It may not be quite as convenient but I'll be trying the OEM plug wrench tomorrow and I expect it will work OK.

 

Thanks for the suggestion though.

[Yammer Dan]

Craftsman has one that will work.

[Rocket]

There is no Lowes in this area of B.C. It may not be quite as convenient but I'll be trying the OEM plug wrench tomorrow and I expect it will work OK.

 

Thanks for the suggestion though.

 

I use an cdn tire 18 mm 3/8 drive deep socket.

[SilvrT]

I got mine from Lordco.

[camos]

Lordco was my first stop, they did not carry thin walled sockets. It is quite possible one of their better quality sockets would have been thin enough to do the job but I didn't think to try them out. The Sears store here in Victoria has reduced their tool section to 4 or 5 isles, the selection is so small that I have stopped going there. Was going to stop by Canadian Tire but that would have been after stopping at the dealer.

 

Still just waking up here and have not got to trying it out but I think the tool kit wrench will work just as well as a special socket.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions, probably should have asked before I embarked on my journey.

[wes0778]

I bought the thin(est) wall socket that NAPA had and used a po-man's lathe (bench grinder and electric drill) to machine it to fit.

[Mike G in SC]

I got a 18mm socket at Autozone a few of years ago.

It's not a plug socket but it fits fine on the Royals (and Road Star).

 

BUT, just now, I installed a set of the new "E3" brand,,,,,

and they use a 16mm. Go figure. Lucky me, I had a full set of deep well sockets in my shop that I had never used.

 

Mike G in SC

[RedRider]

The plug socket is the only piece of tooling I keep out of the OEM tool kit. Everything else is generally junk. Mind you, I keep the OEM tool kit in the saddle bag where it originally was placed. But only remove it to change plugs. All my other 'good' tools are on top of it.

 

RR

[camos]

This first changing of the plugs has turned into somewhat of a saga. This morning, using the OEM socket and wrench I removed the #3 plug (right front?) with no difficulty. The #4 plug (right rear?) was difficult, I thought impossible, as I could not get the wrench on the socket once it was in place and could not put it on and then insert the socket. Only tried for about 10 min though and gave up. The 18 mm socket I had that did not fit was a six point Crafstman. Thought perhaps Craftsman were not what they used to be. Went to Canadian Tire which had two brands of sockets but none that was thinner than the one I had. Went to NAPA and found a 12 point 18 mm that was .004 thinner thanks to a caliper measurement. Went home, tried it and it worked. Did the #1 plug (left rear?) but could not get it to turn on the #2 (right front?) as the angle was too sharp for the swivel adapter. Tried the OEM socket and wrench and it work fine. While doing that discovered that putting the wrench on the socket first but letting it slide down to the middle allowed the insertion of the socket to the plug. Tried that method with the #4 plug and it worked.

 

Learned something today which is always a good thing.

 

The old plug gaps were all set at about .033 mm. The new plugs came set at .028 mm so I left them at that. All the plugs showed somewhat worn edges on the centre electrodes and were light brown on both the ceramic and the outside electrodes. Looked pretty close to #11 on the chart. I thought that was not too bad but the outside ring was not just black but had really thick soot which probably isn't so good. Took it for a spin and the engine seemed to be noticeably smoother but then that could have been just high expectation and wishful thinking. Starting with a fresh tank of gas so will know better when it hits reserve.

Edited July 11, 2011 by camos