Matt Klinger

Hey guys,

So I tried to change my spark plugs and I guess I learned about damaged threads because that's certainly the issue I'm experiencing now where I can not screw in my spark plugs all the way and I suppose they must not be aligned properly either. I don't know how costly it would be for a shop to fix it but I am sure it would cost over $500 since they might want to remove the heads off the engine? My shop told me it would start at $105 just for the hour it would at least take to work on it, and then it only goes up from there. I am pretty sold on the backtap repair method but I have a hard time imagining there is enough clearance in the engine bay to use the tools I've seen, so what tool would you guys recommend I use, and what procedure?

Also, for future reference, how can I tell I am screwing in a spark plug correctly? Do the threads get damaged when the spark plug is screwed in or is it when it is screwed out?

What scares me the most is I am having to drive the car in this condition where the idle is rough and, the other day, the engine started misfiring on the interstate when I started it up coming out of a gas station. Am I going to destroy my engine at this rate?

Thanks for reading.

edit: This might post may seem a bit worse than it actually is, most of the spark plugs seemed to screw in enough of the way to not give me alert but the #4 and I think #3 hole were raising concerns for me because the #4 did not screw in all the way (I later hit it with the socket wrench and it screwed in pretty deep so I must have crossthreaded it there?) and #3 seemed to have difficulty turning. Regardless, I'd like to go through and try to rethread each hole if that seems like a good idea, because in most of the holes the spark plugs didn't feel like they easily screwed in there. They made several turns but I think it could be smoother.

Crf450r420

iTrader: (1)

Start with a spark plug thread chaser. They cost like $15 to $20. Put grease or wax on it to catch and metal.