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Can I repair a stripped out spark plug hole on my Kawasaki engine without pulling the head?

Been thinking of using one of these kits.

Heli-Coil 5334-14 - Spark Plug Hole Threads | O'Reilly Auto Parts

It can be done,but you have to be very careful. I have done this dozens of times with no comebacks. Your biggest concern is no chips in the cylinder. The way I do it is; first I coat the thread cutting tool with a stickiest grease I have. I only go in about two revolutions at a time. Then I back out, clean the tap, recoat with grease and repeat the steps again. After I have cut all the threads this way I take my air nozzle and blow out the cylinder. (Forgot to say that I have the piston about 1/2" down TDC with the valves closed). Before I install the Heli-Coil I coat it with Sleeve-loc. I allow the Sleeve-loc to dry for 24 hours before breaking off the tab and installing a plug. This is what works for me, don't know if anyone else has a better way. I would like to learn something new, as this does take a bit of time. I'll be watching for more replies.

What kind of cost should I expect from a local shop doing the repair? They charge $50 a hour labor.

Depends on which way they do it. If it were in our shop I would do it my way and the cost would be about $50, but there are no warranties. Our rate is $70 an hour. If you wanted it warrantied I would pull the head, install Heli-Coil, reassemble the head, adjusted the valves and test unit. Probably $125 plus parts. Best I can tell you.

Rivets said:

Depends on which way they do it. If it were in our shop I would do it my way and the cost would be about $50, but there are no warranties. Our rate is $70 an hour. If you wanted it warrantied I would pull the head, install Heli-Coil, reassemble the head, adjusted the valves and test unit. Probably $125 plus parts. Best I can tell you.

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Spoke with a shop today and they said they'd prefer to remove the head and it would be $175 or more.
Said they'd do it without removing the head but wouldn't stand by their work this way, didn't give me a price.

As I said, don't know the labor rate in your area, but that doesn't sound out of line. I don't stand behind any that I do with out pulling the head. Maybe I'm just lucky that they never come back.

$48.50 a hour is what they charge for labor. Could I put hi-temp threadloc on it to help put off the repair as long as possible? Or would that be a bad idea that would cause me problems down the road?

I'm sure I could do the "on the motor" repair myself, but I worry about not getting all the shavings out and costing myself more in the long run. Funds are kind of tight after property taxes, income taxes, new tires on 2 vehicles and a vacation payment all in the last month or so.

Do you have any outboard motor repair shops in your area? They have to do this repair a lot. I would check with a couple of these shops and see what they would charge. To me the quote you got seems a little high. Looks like they figure 3 hours of labor. Shouldn't really take a good mechanic that long. I don't know the mechanics in your area, and I hope I'm not dissing a friend or good mechanic, just telling what I feel after reading your post. They may be doing more than you're telling us. When you post on this forum sometimes you hear things you may not like, sorry.

a good friend would do it for free :biggrin:

I really don't mind paying for it to be done, but due to the stuff listed above funds are kind of tight right now. Right now it is staying in with no problem, but I have a gut feeling it will blow one day and sooner than later.

and it did this afternoon!!!! Got a mechanic buddy coming to fix it tomorrow afternoon if I can find the kit, he said he had done it alot of times without removing the head.

If he's done it before, he know what precautions to make. As I said before, it can be done as long as the mechanic knows what he's doing. Good luck.

Installed the Helicoil this afternoon, took around a hour or so for my buddy to walk me thru it. I did it with his supervision and we will know tomorrow if it worked when the hi-temp silicone cures.

I was kind of surprised the kit said to coat the threads with hi-temp rtv silicone instead of using some loctite, but that is what the kit called for so that is what I used.

I started doing it before they had any kits, in fact I didn't know they made a kit. That's why I said to use Loc-tite. I knew you would be able to work it out. Congrats.

Rivets said:

I started doing it before they had any kits, in fact I didn't know they made a kit. That's why I said to use Loc-tite. I knew you would be able to work it out. Congrats.

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I think the tap in the kit is easier than using a standard tap, you can use a ratchet/socket and the way it goes in it seems to be self-centering, kind of idiot proofing the tapping part.

I just use the Heli-coil tap which is designed to be used with the spark plug inserts. I have a special socket for my tap so I can use a ratchet, but most times I start using a T-handle to make sure I am straight.

Ran like a champ today!

Congratulations.