Bit of time on my hands so have decided to strip the bike (2013 pp)for a deep clean and good check over. While i was at it i thought i would change the plugs, new plugs ordered, after taking the tank off the top cylinder is easy to get to as is the front cylinder and the secondary plug on the front cylinder is easy but the secondary plug on the vertical cylinder looks like a right pig for access, my 14mm long reach socket wont go past the rubber o ring down the spark plug tube, so i need a new socket for the job, looking online i came across this one it appears to be 18mm wide, mine is 20mm wide, so should go past the o ring and also it has the option to put a spanner on the top, so this will allow me to slip the socket over the secondary plug and undo it with a spanner. Has anyone changed the plugs on a twin spark and will this work ? and how did you do it ? Link to what i think i should buy https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EWK-Spar...211492&hash=item25f53ddb39:g:rggAAOSwWwVa6rpH
That should work .. I used this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142797044969 It’s doable , I used a spanner on the hex I think , or a wobbly extension .. needed a grab tool to get it back in and a piece of hose to get the it started on the thread https://www.ducatiforum.co.uk/threads/so-what-have-you-done-today.494/page-2913#post-1456333
Perfect, thank you, hard to explain if you have not done it yourself, why Ducati put the secondary plug there is beyond me.
It’s a mare of a job. Even the “special” factory socket doesn’t help a great deal. I’ve found a bi-hex ring spanner/open spanner combo to be most useful and hope the plug frees up easily enough to remove by hand. Pain in the arse of a job...
For the 3 accessible ones, I used this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...4df-15aac5223b10&pf_rd_r=CYKKZ8TDKY3W5A5JWKYW For the bastard plug, my notes: Remove: - You have to take a normal slightly angled box end wrench and grind it down so it is thin (Photos attached). Use the front left plug to determine how much is enough to grind. You want it loose, not touching the alu head at all, for the full swing. Note full swing isn’t very far on the left rear plug. Once this is done you can reach in from the side and get it loose. Tiny turns at a time - I found that removing the plastic wire tray above the spark plug was required and gave ample access from the top and made it a LOT easier. - I used a short section of fuel line hose and pushed it down onto the plug when removing. Made it just a little easier to help turn it from the top. Not a game changer, but it helped. Install: - Primarily access from the top with one finger while reaching in from the side with another finger was enough to get it started and worked in. - to tighten, Use #of turns method to “torque” in place. I marked it with a sharpie then turned it a set distance. Picked that distance by doing the same thing on front left plug that you can see (mark it, torque it, see how far you turned it). Or use mfgr # of turns in lieu of torque amount. Edit: - Desmotimes book said torque 20Nm (180in-lb) - NGK says ½ to 2/3 turn or ~100 in-lbs
Cheers for the reply very useful, still waiting on bits to arrive so will post up how I get on. Now taking off the front mudguard,should be undo 4 bolts and remove, right, nope not on a multistrada
Right, my solution to the pesky plug removal, take a 14mm long socket , grind two flats to opposing sides to take a 17mm spanner, grind the flats where accessibility is easy, drop the socket over the plug and undo with spanner , really easy.
New plugs finally arrived ,turned out to be fairly straight forward, attached the plug to some tubing and fed it down from above while guiding it into the plug threads and then when turning the tube take the weight of the plug with you fingers from below, plug turns freely until it reaches the crush washer then feed the socket on and tighten up, no way of getting a torque wrench on there so tighten to feel.
Just a normal long reach 14mm socket, posted a pic further up the thread, worked a treat, obviously grind the socket where there is most room to get the spanner on .
Torque settings were difficult to find, I thought 20nm was to much so went with NGK's speck of 10nm. https://www.ngk.com/product.aspx?zpid=9899 click on the spec section.
