Changing plugs , now I'm sick

[KXCam22]

A trick to use it to coat the easy out in grease. That way if the easy out creates any metal chips they stick to the grease. I once drilled, tapped and installed a helicoil in a plug hole without disassembly so it can be done. Shop vac, grease on the cutting pieces etc. You can also epoxy a small supermagnet on a coathanger and fish around. That should work since all the inner parts are non magnetic and any broken plug parts ARE magnetic. Even a blob of grease on a stick works to retrieve metal bits. I would expect that since the plug threads sheared off that there is no stray material in the cyclinder. Picture when a bolt shears, it is a twisting motion that make 2 parts with no shrapnel. Take your time and you should be able to fix this yourself. Hope this helps. Cam.

 

[Lawson2479]

Thanks guys for all the suggestions. Had to make a few stops but I got a #4 extractor. Of course it was made for a drill so I had to drive it into a 8mm socket to be able to reach it with an extension. slowly turned until it grabbed and it gently backed out. Use the shop vac to clean any debris, installed new plug (though now a little paranoid about tightening).
Now I'm ready to go to the lake.

 

[jaybro72]

awesome!!!!!!!!!

 

[DieselCamel]

Glad it worked out

 

[octavio3311]

Great news.

 

[ToddW850]

That's GREAT news!

 

[itsdgm]

Glad to hear that. Hopefully you're out having a great time on the water!!!

 

[Gym]

Nice one @Lawson2479. Just to clarify...How long had the old plugs been in and were the threads on the old plugs coated with anti seize? When I install new plugs I use the small socket wrench Yamaha supplies with the boat because I can't deliver too much torque with it. I'm famous for snapping bolts so I've learned the hard way.

 

[PEARCE]

I had to deal with this the first time that I changed the plugs on my boat. I used an ez out as well and everything worked out fine. I wasn't even using a torque wrench and my plug sheered clean off at the top of the threads. These NGK plugs that we use are very fragile.

 

[4x15mph]

I like the link that @itsdgm refers to above. I would also use anti-seize when putting plugs back in.

 

[Lspeedss]

Awesome..So glad to see DYI ingenuity saved a trip to a dealer or repair shop again. I hate having to take any of my work to another guy..
Again not to take anything away from the thousands of awesome mechanics out there, but:
Proper tools and knowledge makes the repair guys their money..well earned..but we can get tools and as demonstrated right here..we have a lot of collective knowledge. Great job.. move this to a repairs tips section..

 

[txav8r]

Great news that you got it out! You didn't say, and several have asked. If you haven't been using anti-seize, you probably have some rust deposits on the threads. Use anti-seize and plenty of it. If @PEARCE hadn't said he broke one without a torque wrench, I would have told you to leave the torque wrench in the tool box and go finger (hand) tight with just the socket and extension without the wrench, and then between a 1/4 and a 1/2 turn with the handle on it and absolutely no more. And that is with anti-seize on the threads liberally. Those plugs are worse than fragile! Anyway, alls well that ends well right? Glad you got it vacuumed out and back in good order!

 

[Boat Crazy]

Fantastic news!

 

[itsdgm]

A trick to use it to coat the easy out in grease. That way if the easy out creates any metal chips they stick to the grease. I once drilled, tapped and installed a helicoil in a plug hole without disassembly so it can be done. Shop vac, grease on the cutting pieces etc. You can also epoxy a small supermagnet on a coathanger and fish around. That should work since all the inner parts are non magnetic and any broken plug parts ARE magnetic. Even a blob of grease on a stick works to retrieve metal bits. I would expect that since the plug threads sheared off that there is no stray material in the cyclinder. Picture when a bolt shears, it is a twisting motion that make 2 parts with no shrapnel. Take your time and you should be able to fix this yourself. Hope this helps. Cam.

@KXCam22 using grease is such a great tip. Never thought of that. Thanks for posting.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

I have done that in the past, use a round ez out with the reverse threads on it so it won't scrape any metal off the piece as it extracts it.
If you have the piston at top dead center the valves will be closed.
Then pour some auto transmission fluid in the plug opening once the insert is removed.
Use a suction tube attached to a wet vac or your oil extractor to remove the trans fluid, any small particles will come out suspended in the fluid. cranking the engine with the plug out a few times should clear any leftover fluid etc.

 

[KXCam22]

Will the auto trans fluid grab steel shavings? I have used gasoline to float out aluminum shavings but never had to extract steel ones. Cam.

PS one other handy material other than grease is the sticky wax used for toilet bowl rings. I always keep a spare in my shop. I have used it to trap metal and glue washers to nuts that must be installed blind.

 

[SCSTWG]

Great news. You saved yourself a couple hundred dollars and your boat isn't sitting at the dealer for a couple of weeks. God work.

 

[Julian]

Can you post a photo or link the the easy out that you bought? Glad it all worked out!

Added this thread to the site FAQ.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

Here is a picture I took of the parts I put together a few years ago that I actually used to remove a broken plug , the ezout had a square end so I adapted an extension to fit on the back, then I used a socket and a breaker bar with another socket and a long hex nut to connect the two sockets, They usually unscrew very easily.

 

[Lawson2479]

Hey guys, I always use the high temp copper looking anti-seize with a nice thick coat on the threads. Growing up I did the finger tight then 1/4 to 1/2 turn. I think I started with the torque wrench when I bought this boat. Never had an issue before and did not with any of the remaining plugs or the replacement for the one. That one plug just felt funny, like it just didn't seem to tighten until all of a sudden it had sheared. Greasing the ez out is a great idea but hopefully I won't do it again. The extractor I used was the same as Jeff's and also had to mod it to make it work. It is the trick for this particular job. I guess I got pretty tore up when that plug sheared. all I could see was a trip to the dealership and then being at there mercy for time and cost. I should have known you guys would be all the help and support I would need to tackle this job by myself, without worry. Thanks again for being there when I needed you guys most.