scotty7676

I have an '08 Kaw Ultra LX that is about 1 year 1 month old (bought as a leftover). I hadn't ridden it in over 6 months and had an issue with it bogging, missing, etc. I figured my gas was bad, even though I put stabil in it and filled the tank last Oct. So I started down the path of draining the gas and replacing spark plugs. The gas part went ok, but when I went to pull the plugs, the #1 plug was stuck! And I mean wouldn't budge! The other 3 were ok, but #1 was a bugger to get out. Took lots of time using Penetrating oil and turning, backing, turning, backing, etc. After about 1 hour, I worked it out. It seemed like it had been forced in cross-threaded....these were original factory plugs.... So after getting it out, I replaced all with brand new plugs. But #1 went back in, just as hard as getting it out. Any ideas what is wrong here? Could they have cross threaded it from the factory? Usually I can eyeball it looking sideways when cross-threaded, but it seemed straight as an arrow. Since it's out of warranty, I guess I am screwed as far as getting it fixed for free, but I'd like to make sure it stays reliable as I go out in the Gulf quite often and really don't want to get stranded! Thanks for any advice.

scotty7676

Well, figured it out finally. The spark plug had backed itself out about 1/8 of an inch which caused it not to fire unless under full throttle. The problem was the bare threads had filled up with carbon not allowing another plug to fully seat. Once I figured out the #1 plug wasn't going in as far as the rest, I said screw it and torqued it down until it was the same depth as the other three. Took it out today and it ran great! Now I just hope the threads aren't messed up too bad. Guess we'll see.