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Message started by transam4life on 11/03/21 at 23:08:11

Title: Spark plug change mileage interval?
Post by transam4life on 11/03/21 at 23:08:11

I have a 2008 S40. It has 22,500 miles. It seems to start right up and run perfect. I bought the bike with 1,000 miles. If it’s not giving me problems should I bother changing the spark plug? I know in my Toyota car it says they are good until 120k, but not sure about the S40.

I have a 3 day weekend coming up so I’m going to change the oil and do the front brake pads….was wondering whether to bother with spark plug.

To be honest I’ve never checked the valves or cam chain adjuster either in all those miles either. I figured if it ain’t broken don’t fix it…haha.

Title: Re: Spark plug change mileage interval?
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 11/04/21 at 00:46:16

Before you pull it
Get it clean down in the head. You don't want dirt falling in on the piston.
You can find small chunks of gravel up there.

Title: Re: Spark plug change mileage interval?
Post by Gary_in_NJ on 11/04/21 at 05:19:14

You may regret your lack of maintenance on the valves and timing chain. With that kind of mileage, your bike is ready to show you why.

Title: Re: Spark plug change mileage interval?
Post by transam4life on 11/04/21 at 08:18:12

253A3C3B2621102010283A367D4F0 wrote:

Before you pull it
Get it clean down in the head. You don't want dirt falling in on the piston.
You can find small chunks of gravel up there.

Thanks I appreciate the tip!

Title: Re: Spark plug change mileage interval?
Post by transam4life on 11/04/21 at 09:20:29

3933373D363F3B326C6A6E5E0 wrote:

You may regret your lack of maintenance on the valves and timing chain. With that kind of mileage, your bike is ready to show you why.

Yeah I’m definitely getting a bit more nervous as the miles go up. I actually bought the modified cam chain adjuster and then just never got around to swapping it in. Part of it was I’ve been extremely busy and part of it was me being nervous that I’d mess something up and make the bike worse…just didn’t want to mess with it while it running so smooth.

Title: Re: Spark plug change mileage interval?
Post by transam4life on 11/04/21 at 09:22:11

With that said is there any mileage interval to look for with the stock plugs if it’s running fine? 25,000?

Title: Re: Spark plug change mileage interval?
Post by Gary_in_NJ on 11/04/21 at 09:24:35

According to the owners manual, every 12,000 miles. It will be worth the $3.

Title: Re: Spark plug change mileage interval?
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 11/04/21 at 10:35:09

Depends on what plug.
Get a nice one, run it

You should get on the cam chain inspection
If you have the ability to do the tensioner mods,good.
Otherwise, you can get with Verslagen .

Title: Re: Spark plug change mileage interval?
Post by transam4life on 11/04/21 at 12:08:30

The plug is the stock plug. I was asking because the plugs in my Toyota car are rated til 120,000 miles. Looks like the one for the S40 is a lot less.

So my plan is to change the oil and do the front brakes this weekend.

Then at 25,000 take to a shop and do the valve check and spark plug. I’m fairly hands on but have never attempted valves. From the shops that I have called it’s shouldn’t be much for both of those.

I do have a Verslagen adjuster already, but have been too scared to attempt putting it on that I might mess something up. What is the interval for the cam chain itself? I might try to push my luck and have mechanic do a new cam chain and adjuster at 30,000 miles. How much would a service like that run?

Title: Re: Spark plug change mileage interval?
Post by Hiko on 11/04/21 at 12:41:30

One of the good things abput a bike like ours is it is a simple machine that can be worked on by almost anybody and for a lot of us is a big part of the fun of owning one. Plenty of advice on here and changing your tensioner and spark plug and adjusting valves is probably best done by you than anybody else. Not to mention the dollars saved

Title: Re: Spark plug change mileage interval?
Post by badwolf on 11/04/21 at 12:55:01

You have 22k miles on the stock cam chain, follower and adjuster?
And it has not destroyed the clutch side yet?
That might be a record!!!
Most seem to go by 19k!
The cam chain can go 80+k, BUT THE ADJUSTER WON'T!
The way the adjuster works it puts stress on the chain when it cools down and bends the follower till the plunger falls out of the tensioner body, making a mess of things inside the right side case. (EXPENSIVE)
Many bikes have been tossed rather than fix that.
Changing the chain now is only half of a fix, the follower needs to be changed too. The cheaper way would be to change just the follower, but labor at a shop would still be high.
The best thing to do now is to install a modified tensioner assy. from Versy. It's easy to do with simple hand tools and a new gasket.

Title: Re: Spark plug change mileage interval?
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 11/04/21 at 14:09:53

You Might get lucky.. Might not. Others have suffered catastrophic failure in the range youre in. There is no knowing how far the tensioner is out. It's nearly always death for the motor if it pukes its guts into the crankcase. You can go look, it's not hard. It requires paying attention.
Before you move anything inside there you should mark the oil pump gear, because it is easy to install wrong. It just doesn't work that way.
Otherwise, start with cardboard. Draw the outline of the clutch cover and put a slot where each bolt goes. Some have an oil seal washer, so, which hole matters.
The right tools are necessary. You need the right socket for the clutch basket. Stopping the gears from turning is something people do differently. Some use a penny, I use leather. Of course if you don't have a place, that is a problem.
If you can post pictures, and you are patient, you can get through this.

If you hire the valve adjustment, just make sure you get to watch, or next time you still won't know how. That is what I did.

Title: Re: Spark plug change mileage interval?
Post by badwolf on 11/04/21 at 14:29:36

Why would you take the clutch apart to change the tensioner?

Are we talking about the same thing?

Title: Re: Spark plug change mileage interval?
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 11/04/21 at 14:51:14

Eaux Schitt!! I'm sorry,, I was doing the chain, too.. Dooh!
Yeah, dude, I totally got off track. Yeah, you can do the tensioner, it's NOT even hard.
Thanks, Wolf.

Title: Re: Spark plug change mileage interval?
Post by Gary_in_NJ on 11/04/21 at 19:17:50

22,000 miles. No valve inspection. No eyes on the cam chain. As the miles pile up, the valves get tighter…get em tight enough and one valve (likely an exhaust because they tighten faster) will break. As the cam chain starts to slap it starts to wear faster. So putting off a CCT could cost you a chain…or a lot more.

Tick, tick, tick…

This is a classic example of being penny wise, and dollar foolish.

Title: Re: Spark plug change mileage interval?
Post by SoC on 11/04/21 at 22:13:20

To be honest, I get where Transamforlife is coming from about the cam chain and replacement. I put it off for similar reasons and the fear of doing it. That resulted in my basically not riding my bike for an entire summer. I was pressed for time in shop and not knowing for sure what it involved intimidated me. Once I felt I had the time and pulled the side cover, the internals of job was about an hour. Sure it took a little longer to remove other stuff and put it back but the job itself was pretty simple and straight forward. Knocked it out in an afternoon.

The one thing I will say though is make a cardboard template of the side cover, with holes to hold the bolts as you remove them so you get them right in putting them back. I was intimidated by job also, but once done it was way easy.

I actually bought my 2nd S40 to have a bike to ride while I was putting off doing the cam chain adjuster job for 3 months. When removed it was stretched exactly at 18mm, mileage was about 19k. If it is loose, you listen carefully and hear it. You need to listen to bike, and it seems weird to say it but is surprising how few actually do it, without your helmet on. That's how I realized it needed done "now". Started bike to just ride it into shop without my helmet on. Determined I would not ride bike again until replaced. Almost 3 months later bought my 2nd bike as I had not ridden the other since that day and summer had passed by.

Title: Re: Spark plug change mileage interval?
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 11/05/21 at 21:49:31

The tensioner can be replaced without removing the chain.
My post was a mistake. Bad wolf corrected me.