Cleaning used plugs !

[bigredhead]

How do you guys go about cleaning used plugs . or do you simply toss them ?

My red is going thru them like a whore in vegas, and if i can find a good way of cleaning oil fouled plugs, i'd be in heaven.

[86250RZ]

The only way to efficiently clean spark plugs is with a spark plug bead blaster. You should be able to find them at a local parts store, its just a small tool that hooks up to an air compressor and you slide the threaded end of the plug into the rubber boot and it blast the plug clean as new, but I would only reccomend it for emergency purposes because once a plug is fouled it will normally never perform as good as new for very long if ever. If you are fouling plugs as much as you say it sounds to me like your rings are gone and you need a rebuild. JMO

[bigredhead]

Yeah .. i know.. and agree.

It smokes, but only a little bit on startup, nothing major, compared to what i've seen around !! LOL.. my friend has a 200 M that could double up as a mosquito killer.

I need to find a feeler gauge smalll enough to check my valve clearance, and i also have a carb rebuild kit on order, and will have the engine rebuilt regardless eventually, but i'd like to get a few more KM's out of it before i have it redone.

[trikerider2oo7]

i just take a lighter and burn the oil off them and wipe it off with a rag

[hotroddal]

I sand blast them i thinkthat works the best, or you dont have a sanblaster just use a wire wheel that also works great, or just use a piece of sand paper to the end that works alright also, these tips have always worked excellent for me

[skippy]

harbor freight tools has one for around $10... a spark plug cleaner.. and it works well

[bonkers_200s]

i usually dip it in a bit of gas, and set it on fire, after the fuel burns off, take a peice of crocus cloth and give a little clean, and then a shot of carb. or contact cleaner

[smokinp]

wire wheel for me...

[hondawilly]

i have never chaged plugs in my wheeler i cleaned them with a wire wheel or a rag

[skullatc]

I burn all the carbon off until the plug is bright red, then scrape all of it out with a small wire brush, let it cool, then throw it back in. The ol' 185s used to foul 'em alot and i did it all the time. Worked for me! :D

[TimSr]

Sorry, guys, but of all the methods mentioned on here, only sand or bead blasting will accomplish anything functional. When a plug fails or fouls, it is because the white ceramic insulater around the center electrode is coated with a semiconductor (carbon or oil) and current begins to travel across the isulator instead of jumping the spark gap. You cannot clean the ceramic insulator with a wire brush, and youd have to make it glow to get it hot enough to burn everything off (unless its only gas fouled) and heat like that will destroy a plug. Cleaning the metal part of a plug looks nice, but it doesnt do anything.

Ill add that JC Whitney sells a little 12v plug blaster that works pretty good, and sells for about $10. The air compressor blaster works a lot better, but the 12v can be a lifesaver, stashed under the seat of my hauler van.

[bigredhead]

Now that's an informative post.. thanks Tim !

[bonkers_200s]

Definatly correct, but a bic lighter works wonders on a plug


throws his lighter at Tims head

lol :P

[twgranger]

I have never had any luck claning plugs. Everytime i tried cleanig one my z would only run for about 10min now i just toss them and buy new.

[corndawg]

acetone is good for 2 stroke plugs

[kryppy]

How do you guys go about cleaning used plugs . or do you simply toss them ?

My red is going thru them like a whore in vegas, and if i can find a good way of cleaning oil fouled plugs, i'd be in heaven.





Since I switched to Champions from WalMart that isn't a problem for me!!
Flipping the bike into a 10 foot deep canal sure cleaned my plug well!Almost fell over when I pulled it and it loooked new after all day!! Should have taken a pic.


Here is the king of plugs!!