SuzukiSavage.com - Print Page

SuzukiSavage.com
/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl
General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> Removing the timing plug
/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1199919171

Message started by DanGill on 01/09/08 at 14:52:50

Title: Removing the timing plug
Post by DanGill on 01/09/08 at 14:52:50

I have not been able to get the timing port plug off my '06 S40. I bought a large washer and ground the thickness to fit the slot snugly, then tried to turn it with vice grips and a crescent wrench. I bent the washer. Is there a trick to this? Cold engine? Warm engine and ice on the plug? A better tool?

Title: Re: Removing the timing plug
Post by Savage_Greg on 01/09/08 at 15:24:09

There are actually tools to do that. I do not recommend using a large screwdriver and hammer to turn it, but I have done it that way too. It will turn if you tap it that way, but you can scratch or crack the aluminum.

This is the one that I have from Ron Ayers.

http://www.ronayers.com/images/catalog/pu/motionpro29.jpg

Title: Re: Removing the timing plug
Post by rigidchop on 01/09/08 at 15:56:17

i used a metal ruler, and a crescent wrench, worked perfectly.

Title: Re: Removing the timing plug
Post by SteveRocket1 on 01/09/08 at 16:14:35

I used a new cold chisel and a crescent wrench and it came off ok, but the correct tool is best to avoid damage
Steve

Title: Re: Removing the timing plug
Post by thumperclone on 01/09/08 at 17:02:05

some threads need a slight thighting b4 loosing..correct tool is always best..

Title: Re: Removing the timing plug
Post by T Mack 1 on 01/09/08 at 17:55:58

WD-40/ CRC/ Liquid Wrench (pick one) the night before you want to work on it. Tap lightly after spraying to help work it in. Next day, clean the slot with degreaser or alcohol. Tap again , then try. Tighten tiny bit then loosen. It may be corroded so you may need to do the tighten loosen tighten loosen drill many times. Once it starts to move, don't force it too much. The back & forth method works , just need paitence.

Title: Re: Removing the timing plug
Post by verslagen1 on 01/09/08 at 20:32:49

I don't think the lubes will work there's an o-ring.

Get greg's tool if you want to get it off w/o damage.

If you don't care, then 2 big screwdrivers with a little space inbetween and a cresent wrench. I tried the washer bit, worst than a screwdriver and hammer.

Title: Re: Removing the timing plug
Post by Savage_Greg on 01/09/08 at 22:53:52

Honestly, I used a large screwdriver as a "drift punch" for years, until one day I cracked the plug in the process. Couldn't even see the crack because it was in the slot. When I was done, I put it back together (a friend's bike too) and everything seemed just fine...that is until he called me from his house to tell me about the oil leak on his way home.

After that I made one but it kept bending and would slip. So finally I bought one. Funny too, the wrench costs just about the same as a new plug...about $15.

It ain't easy learning how to be a "Handyman" :P

Title: Re: Removing the timing plug
Post by DanGill on 01/10/08 at 06:43:51

Thanks, I'll get the tool. Fortunately, the washer didn't bugger up the slot. It just didn't get the job done. I'll use some liquid wrench first, too.

Title: Re: Removing the timing plug
Post by Savage_Greg on 01/10/08 at 08:34:11

1E3B341D3336365A0 wrote:

Thanks, I'll get the tool. Fortunately, the washer didn't bugger up the slot. It just didn't get the job done. I'll use some liquid wrench first, too.

BTW - the tool has 3 different sizes on it, so if you get another bike (Heaven forbid), it'll work there too.

Title: Re: Removing the timing plug
Post by DanGill on 01/10/08 at 11:44:12

7144535169000306360 wrote:

[quote author=1E3B341D3336365A0 link=1199919171/0#8 date=1199976231]Thanks, I'll get the tool. Fortunately, the washer didn't bugger up the slot. It just didn't get the job done. I'll use some liquid wrench first, too.

Title: Re: Removing the timing plug
Post by Savage_Greg on 01/10/08 at 20:03:53

27020D240A0F0F630 wrote:

[quote author=7144535169000306360 link=1199919171/0#9 date=1199982851][quote author=1E3B341D3336365A0 link=1199919171/0#8 date=1199976231]Thanks, I'll get the tool. Fortunately, the washer didn't bugger up the slot. It just didn't get the job done. I'll use some liquid wrench first, too.

BTW - the tool has 3 different sizes on it, so if you get another bike (Heaven forbid), it'll work there too.[/quote]

Saw that. Actually, I had so much trouble turning it, that I was not sure the proper tool would do the job. Right now I'm off my feet following arthroscopic knee surgery. Back aboard soon.[/quote]

Ouch! I had arthroscopic shoulder surgery almost 2 years ago. I got that one...I "felt" your pain, so to speak. That really cramped both my riding and wrenching for well over 6 months. Take it easy on the knee, at least I didn't need a shoulder to walk. ::)

Title: Re: Removing the timing plug
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 01/12/08 at 22:46:50

I found a large washer & ground it to fit the slot, ran a long bolt thru, with a washer on each side. I had to grind on the washers to relieve them enough so they didnt interfere with the main washer going in the slot. That "Backed up" the washer near the load & at the hole, it doesnt bend.

Title: Re: Removing the timing plug
Post by Savage_Greg on 01/13/08 at 06:01:18

I made this tool a long time ago, but it still was able to bend on some really tight plugs. I used some scraps of aluminum that I had laying around.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b277/gmdinusa/Tool01web.jpg

Title: Re: Removing the timing plug
Post by DanGill on 01/25/08 at 06:08:20

I got the MotionPro wrench, and the large blade was too thick to fit into the slot. I ground the sides of it down a bit, but it still seemed like it wasn't going into the slot all the way. I ended up using a hammer and large screwdriver to drift the plug loose, then turned it out with the next smaller blade. When I re-checked the valves I was able to use the medium blade to open the plug and re-seat it.

It seems like none of the blades really fits well. But it'll do.

Title: Re: Removing the timing plug
Post by Savage_Rob on 01/25/08 at 09:57:51

6C49466F414444280 wrote:

Hmm, I got the MotionPro wrench and it worked just fine on mine.

Title: Re: Removing the timing plug
Post by Savage_Greg on 01/25/08 at 10:32:45

5C79765F717474180 wrote:

Sorry that you were disappointed, but I guess that with any aftermarket tool you are gonna get a little bit of incompatibility...sort of a "Jack of All, and Master of None". The difference would be the getting the Suzuki special tool, but it'll come with a special price.

I just took this photo while working on Nervkiler's bike the other day. The middle one worked just fine, which is a contrast to the tool marks left by someone's previous attempts to remove the plug with some other tool.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b277/gmdinusa/Timing_Plug_Tool_1.jpg

Title: Re: Removing the timing plug
Post by vroom1776 on 01/25/08 at 11:11:31

I made a tool with some angle iron and a grinder. pic in adjsuting your valves.

V

Title: Re: Removing the timing plug
Post by Savage_Greg on 01/26/08 at 06:42:47

72766B6B6935333332040 wrote:

I made a tool with some angle iron and a grinder. pic in adjsuting your valves.

V

Whatever works is what I say.

Just be forewarned by someone that's done it. You can crack that plug if using a screw driver and hammer. The aluminum in the bottom of that slot is thinner than the rest of the plug.

Title: Re: Removing the timing plug
Post by DanGill on 01/27/08 at 14:26:32

5B6E797B432A292C1C0 wrote:

[quote author=5C79765F717474180 link=1199919171/0#14 date=1201270100]I got the MotionPro wrench, and the large blade was too thick to fit into the slot. I ground the sides of it down a bit, but it still seemed like it wasn't going into the slot all the way. I ended up using a hammer and large screwdriver to drift the plug loose, then turned it out with the next smaller blade. When I re-checked the valves I was able to use the medium blade to open the plug and re-seat it.

It seems like none of the blades really fits well. But it'll do.

Title: Re: Removing the timing plug
Post by Savage_Greg on 01/27/08 at 14:44:50

I guess that what you gotta realize is that you bought an aftermarket tool that is designed to fit hundreds, if not thousands of bikes over a few decades.

Be kinda hard to have one blade for each particular bike, and either way, you still have 2 spare blades.
:P

Title: Re: Removing the timing plug
Post by Rockin_John on 01/27/08 at 19:21:44

Surely I'm not the only person here to own slot-head sockets?

IIRC their original purpose was for some kind of auto suspension
adjustment or something like that. They were available in a few
sizes (thickness).

http://catoosatrading.com/images/slothead_socket

Got them back in the 70s because of the same kind of slotted covers on the old Norton. Don't know what happened to the whitworth wrenches and sockets. My brother probably kept those since he kept his Norton a lot longer.

Guess it wouldn't take a lot of welding and grinding to take some flat bar and sockets and DIY some slot-head sockets.

Title: Re: Removing the timing plug
Post by DanGill on 01/28/08 at 05:37:38

566374764E272421110 wrote:

Yeah, I got that. Haven't these manufacturers ever heard of standardization? ;D

Title: Re: Removing the timing plug
Post by KwakNut on 01/28/08 at 06:42:37

426768416F6A6A060 wrote:

[quote author=566374764E272421110 link=1199919171/15#20 date=1201473890]I guess that what you gotta realize is that you bought an aftermarket tool that is designed to fit hundreds, if not thousands of bikes over a few decades.

Be kinda hard to have one blade for each particular bike, and either way, you still have 2 spare blades.
:P

Yeah, I got that. Haven't these manufacturers ever heard of standardization? ;D
[/quote]Just be thankful that Mr Whitworth came up with the idea of standardising threads - rather than have every thread for every machine made anywhere in the world all turned to custom size and pitch.
But some of them still haven't learned with timing plugs - better ones just have a standard size hex key hole in the middle.

Title: Re: Removing the timing plug
Post by Savage_Greg on 01/28/08 at 06:48:28

7C59567F515454380 wrote:

Yeah, I got that. Haven't these manufacturers ever heard of standardization? ;D
[/quote]
Yeah, that's it. Maybe they could just start making all bikes identical. Same everything. Just can't have everything the way you want, I guess.

Anyway, now that you have the wrench, whenever you decide to buy a different bike, take the wrench with you and find one that fits :)

Title: Re: Removing the timing plug
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 01/28/08 at 07:38:10

You could just give the old man who used the shotgun on the lug nut a call. I am sure he would gladly come "Help" you out... if you can stand his kinda help.

As for standardization, we have seen people all perform identically, as if standardized & synchronized for years. When it comes to screwing UP & screwing US, those in Washington DC operate flawlessy in unison.