Modern Vespa

had a look and its near enough impossible without having to take half the metal shell off ???!!??? :/

In the Wiki

ET4: Easy Spark Plug Change

Like this:


Obvious huh?
Details here...
ET4: Easy Spark Plug Change

Small fingers and a lot of swearing seemed to work for the AA man last time...

Huskyteer thats sounds exactly right there is no chance in hell i can do wat it says on the pics i dont have the tools nor the patience

My fingers will not fit in there either. Oh, I can get the spark plug out, but I can never get it properly angled in place to get it back in. Very frustrating.

It turns out the dropping the engine as demonstrated in the article is really the easier and faster way...and it's not that hard to do after all.

The Tools?
The spark plug tool should be in your ET tool kit. Other than that, you just need something to remove the lower bolt on the shock. If you're going to do you own simple maintenance, get the tool(s) you need. It's much cheaper than paying someone else to do it, you learn something about your scooter, and even in the short run, the job can be done is less time than it takes to fret about it.

The patience?
I'm not a good authority on that. But I get by. 8)

Will this work with the LX 150.

Paul

I don't have the smallest hands in the world (generally a large glove) but I have a method that works well enough that removing the suspension and jacking up the body seems like too much work. It helps that I do it several times a day, but anyone could do it.

For the entire job, when you need to use your fingers, it is often easiest to stand on the right side, facing away from the scoot, with your hand slightly behind you in the engine compartment. This is a much more natural position for your hand. If you don't have a lift, you can put a small stool or milk crate beside the bike and sit there.

First remove the small hose that is in your way, that runs to the intake manifold. Stick a pick or very small screwdriver in the crimp and pry it open a bit. The hose should slide off easily. Then remove the plug cap. You can pry it with two screwdrivers, but make sure you're prying evenly from both sides. There is a small lip around the edge that makes this possible. Once off the plug, it can be tight, very tight on an LX. The best direction to angle the cap as you remove it is diagonally, in an upward/front direction. The rubber on the base will give so you'll have enough room.

Then remove the plastic cover. There is a tab at the top, and slots at the bottom. Unhook the tab and slide the cover up and off. Now place the socket on the plug. You'll want this type, with a hex on the other end, not just a ratchet interface:



It may help you to use the "facing away from the bike" method to get the socket on. Once it is, use an open ended wrench on the socket's hex section to loosen the plug. There isn't enough room for a ratchet. Once it's a few turns loose, remove the socket. No more than a few turns, or the socket will not come off. If there is no room to remove the socket, screw it back in a bit and try again. With the socket off, face away from the bike, reach back for the end of the plug itself, and twist it off. Be careful. If the plug or socket fall in the plastic housing, you'll need a strong magnet to lift them out.

Installation is the reverse of removal You can use wire cutters to re-crimp the hose clamp if you don't have a crimp tool, just be careful not to cut through. Also, you can replace the clamp with a screw-type to make it easier next time.

It's a lot easier than my description sounds, I just tried not to leave out any details.[/i]

Good advice there Drew, thanks.

Yes it will.

Wow A lot of work .. Use the supplied spark plug socket in the tool kit, it has a thin wall.. Take the inspection cover off the front right behind the floor board.. stand on the left of the scoot.. and it helps to have it off the center stand.. reach in through the inspection hole, and through the engine cavity unplug spark plug wire, pull up the plastic removable shroud, revome plug, reinstall new one.. Easy as cupcake.. Same on ET2, ET4 LX, and S models

You could always drill a 3 inch hole through the right side to get the spark plug out, and then get a chrome cap to pop in when finished doing your own tune-up.

NO, No and NO!

I've actually seen that.

It was a blue ET owned by a guy in L.A.

this thread reminds me of an incident last year

i stopped to help a couple on the way home from a ride out
he was on a gts250 , she was on her et4
turns out the small screw cap had come of top of the plug on the et4
after the guy (who had hands like shovels) lost what small temper he had trying to remove the plug i stepped up to have a go
got the plug out of its thread but dropped it down into the cowlings
this was the first time i ever saw anybody lift an et4 to chest hight and shake it whist swearing quite a lot
at this point i stood well back along with his rather distressed wife
however the plug did drop out along with several other bits and about 1/2 a gallon of fuel
plug replaced and of they went

ps.we are still good friends to this day

this method is of course not advised but it does seem to work

has to be one of my funniest scary scooter moments

Heh, good story. Sure it wasn't yellow in Orange County?

Ia a Galaxy far far away. I started this thread, but never finished it. I can't think of a way to explain how to find the sparkplug hole to put the new plug back in. It takes patience and you need to pay attention to the angle when you pull the old plug out. It gets easier every time you do it. I wear size xxxl gloves and could do it without dropping the engine. I checked my plug quite a few times after having the 187cc kit put on. If anyone wants to finish this thread have at it.

Tim

Tools needed for ET4 sparkplug change:

1) 13mm Socket
2) Sparkplug gauge
3) Sparkplug: Champion-RG 6YC(This is the one in the owners manual), NGK-CR8EB, or Denso-IU24 See Sparkplugs.com
4) The sparkplug spanner socket from the tool kit under the seat.
5) 13mm Flat ratchet box-end wrench.
6) Phillips head screwdriver.
7) Work light.



No need to drop the engine but you will need a little bit of patience

1) Remove Hatch "A" (under the front of the seat) by undoing the fastening screw.
2) Remove the helmet compartment under the seat.
3) Remove the right rear side cover. (One phillips head screw under the right rear floormat)
4) You will now be able to see "B" looking in the engine compartment from the top. Before you try to remove the cover "B" you will need to remove the plug cap wire.



5) With your worklight in the engine compartment look up from the bottom of the scoot and pull off the plug cap wire. This is very tight but can be done with the scoot on its center stand.
6) Next you need to pull up on "B" to remove the cover below.



7) You'll now have access to the sparkplug (very tight) slide the spanner socket over the sparkplug. now use the 13mm Flat ratchet box-end wrench and slide it over the spanner socket and turn it counter clockwise to loosen the plug. You can now remove the flat ratchet box-end wrench and add the 13mm socket which gives you just enough length on the spanner socket to remove the sparkplug by hand.

You are now 1/2 way done and ready to install the new plug .

8 ) Make sure the gap is set on your new plug 0.031 - 0.035 in (0.8 - 0.9 mm)
9) Installing the new plug was difficult but not impossible. Place your new plug in the Spanner socket. You will have a window the size of cover "B" and a hole for the sparkplug the size of a dime which you will not be able to see

Heh... assuming the situation is the same on the LX as the ET, getting the plug back in without dropping the back of the tranny for better access is indeed the tough nut to crack!

I've managed to do it on my LX (and I have fairly large hands), but I'd be at a loss to try to explain how I did it to someone else. It requires a great deal of patience and an ability to visualize in one's mind's eye the angle at which you are holding the plug between two fingers while your hand is painfully contorted and totally out of sight!

The most critical thing is not to lose patience and try to use the wrench to tighten the plug until you are sure you've got it started correctly and in at least several turns with your fingers. Otherwise, you'll cross-thread it for sure.

Next time, I'll definitely drop the back end of the engine assembly... it's probably easier and safer.

long on advise (thank goodness) short on memory. That would be a yellow 250!

The ET I remember was owned by a Vespa tech.

He had also removed the kick starter and installed a 'frame slider' on the shaft.

He also had a blue plastic elephant mounted inside the instrument panel that lit up when the ignition was on.

I believe he t-boned a car that made a left turn in front of him on it and got really banged up.

This is all like 2002, maybe 2003.....

Someone must remember it, I can't for the life of me remember his name, really nice guy.

I haven't seen the yellow one.

Jimc's just being funny. There is no yellow ET with a hole in it.