Home Forum Ask A Member Stripped Spark Plug Hole?

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  • #183944
    Yellowstone
    Participant

      Thanks! So, I tried to take off the bolts today, carefully, and one broke off. Fortunately, or maybe not, only the head did. Meaning the screw is still solidly into that hole. The bolts I did get out, lots of rust was coming out. So I am going to try it with the head on when I get the helicoil kit. Grease up the tool to catch the shavings. I see some guy in a youtube video “rinsed” out the inside of the head gasket to get any shavings. I couldn’t tell what he was using but it looked brownish liquid from a huge syringe. I hesitate to do that but was thinking I could tilt the motor down and try and vacuum anything out with the shop vac. I should have the spark plug specific kit and red silicone by tomorrow so more to come Wednesday probably if I get it as I also saw online you probably want to wait at least 24 hours before starting the motor afterward.

      I also started casually digging into my next project last night. I have a pair of 56 7.5 Fleetwins, one I got for $15 and the other for free. They each are missing little parts like the fill/vent screws for gear case, high and low speed knobs, etc. One has broken hood bumpers. Just some examples. But overall they seem solid and compression is around 70/70 on each after testing many times. Not great but “good enough” someone told me. I took the first flywheel off last night and it almost instantly popped. Hardly torqued on at all but looks like newer coils. The second one too, but interestingly that one blue and one ivory coils I can see through the port. That one, the flywheel has been a bear to get off. I can’t turn the center puller knob any further and hesitate to do so. Been doing lots of tap, tap, taping on the puller knob and trying again but doesn’t seem to help. Anyway, planning to pull the parts from both to make one and get a tank to go with it. But, if both motors are mechanically sound with newer coils, points, etc., I am reluctant to “part” one out and may see if I can trade one to another AOMCI member who would be interested in parting with another motor in similar shape.

      #183948
      lindy46
      Participant

        US Member

        You’ll need to remove the head to get the broken bolt out. Spray with PB Blaster and let soak before trying to remove the broken bolt.

        #184205
        Yellowstone
        Participant

          So update. Mission accomplished or so I thought. I applied the red silicone and threaded the spark plug specific insert in, the narrowest one since the head wall is so thin. Anyway, the insert still seems loose but when I thread in and tighten the plug, it’s snug. I had also made some adjustments to the carb needles. Tightened them and then backed them out the respective amounts. I got it going OK again but when I try to throttle it up fast, it sounds like the top piston is knocking. So I backed it down. Any thoughts on this? I’ve slowly been adjusting the carb needles but can’t seem to get rid of that knocking. At one point, the connection on the top plug (the one with the stripped hole I had replaced) came undone when I knocked it off. I haven’t put the hoods back on yet. I started it without realizing and it seemed to run fine on one piston before I realized what I had done. Weird. Any suggestions appreciated.

          • This reply was modified 4 years, 7 months ago by Yellowstone.
          #184207
          The Boat House
          Participant

            .

            #184216
            fleetwin
            Participant

              US Member - 2 Years

              You have done all this work, silly to take short cuts now…Find a decent used head, and a new head gasket…Once the head is off, use a propane torch and vise grips to remove the broken stud….
              The piston is probably hitting the plug/insert….
              Let me know if you can’t find a decent low priced head, I’m sure I have one somewhere…
              And yes, I agree, the 20ft pound plug torque is a bit excessive….

              #184289
              Yellowstone
              Participant

                Thanks. Yes. I will likely order that new head for $10 that still looks available with $5 shipping. I had already ordered the new gasket for it and was going to look for a head before I decided to buy the helicoil spark plug rethread kit. I think I drilled the hole at a slight angle and a little of the insert sticks out. I guess I have the spark plug tool and some extra inserts though if I ever want to use it in some other application. But it would have been cheaper too to just go the harder route. One thing I’ve realized with this hobby is … be patient, take your time, do it the right way.

                I also think I damaged the low speed needle enough where it affects it running. So, this is when I first started working on the motor and someone said, use the needle to dig the old packing out when cleaning the carb. Well, I bent the tip slightly and gingerly worked it back to “almost perfect” by rolling it over a board with some light pressure. But I think there is a groove in it too from my monkeying with it. I may have a solution for that. I bought this little JW last week for not much and have disassembled most of it to see what I can do with it. The carb concerns me as it appears someone twisted the high speed needle in so hard that a “ring of the carb pulled out with the needle when I finally unstuck it. The low speed needle is great though. So thinking that I should probably take the good needle from that and get a whole new carb (saving what I can from the old one) for the new JW. I see you can buy a used carb for them online for about $30.

                That’s IF I feel like it’s worth investing in. The coils looked and tested good but the points and condensers (red paper on top), were nasty. So I pulled everything off the armature plate (and the plate off the motor) and cleaned it like crazy with carb cleaner and a wire brush. It turned over and had decent compression before I started disassembling. The head actually had some water in it because it had been sitting outside from who I bought it from. So I pulled the plugs, sprayed compressed air in and then WD-40 and started moving the pistons by turning the flywheel clockwise. The gas in the tank and carb reeks. It’s almost like paint thinner but the tank inside is clean from what I can see. Need to get to the lower end yet to do some investigative work before I make a decision.

                johnson-3-hp

                • This reply was modified 4 years, 7 months ago by Mumbles.
                #184617
                Yellowstone
                Participant

                  Thanks guys. I finally got this issue resolved and the new cover installed. It fires up on the first pull, which is a great feeling. I put the new low speed needle in the carb and I used a new float and readjusted it some. I can’t get it to idle on the lowest range of SLOW. It dies but suspect I need to fine tune the needles some. And there is still a slight dribble of gas. It looks like it’s coming from the line actually so going to replace. But otherwise, it runs great and I feel much relieved. Thanks for all your help!

                  #184620
                  fleetwin
                  Participant

                    US Member - 2 Years

                    Great…And yes, this hobby can be frustrating, just like most other things….Don’t beat yourself up, sometimes things go wrong even when we do “the right thing the right way” also. The other JW seems like a good parts motor, but you will probably end up reviving it someday also. It is tough for us to slap the “donor motor” label on engines, we have the driving urge to resurrect all of them.
                    Where is the gas dripping from, the fuel line or the carb throat? Needless to say, any fuel leak should be fixed promptly, you don’t want the thing to go up in flames…
                    The best way to adjust the needles is on a boat running in the water…..It is important to dial in the high speed needle first, then dial in the low speed afterwards….Make sure the compression nuts are relatively tight so the needles don’t “drift”, and to avoid air/fuel leaks..

                    #184711
                    Yellowstone
                    Participant

                      Sorry for the late reply. It dribbles off the muffler and high speed dial. But I think it’s coming from the fuel shutoff assembly. So I’m thinking of replacing that using the part from the other JW, which btw, also has a fuel filter atop. I noticed that my original JW does not have one and verified in the parts catalog I downloaded that it should. The fuel line going to the carb is also “stuck” on there. I never did remove it when cleaning and rebuilding the carb because the bolt screwing it in was so worn and rounded. It wouldn’t come out. I had verified fuel flowed freely through it though. So that could be an issue too. Now that I have another fuel line to replace it, I am going to go to town on getting that thing out of there even if I wreck it.

                      #184715
                      crosbyman
                      Participant

                        Canada Member - 2 Years

                        new JW carb fuel inlet nipple made with a automotive brake line male fitting and tubing ………… reverses and flanged held in place with a dab of JB weld 🙂

                        carburator-001

                        Joining AOMCI has priviledges 🙂

                        • This reply was modified 4 years, 7 months ago by Mumbles.
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