changing oil and spark plug in '08 st.tropez

naptime · Post by **naptime** » Mon Apr 28, 2014 6:44 pm

howdy! been a while!

so in the next day or so, I'm changing the oil, filter, and spark plug on my 08 st.tropez.

I didn't ride her a lot last year, due to my cheating on her with a motorcycle.

but, i sold that, and came back to my first love.

just about to hit 8 thousand miles. and while I've done an oil and filter change each summer, since she was new, I have yet to swap out the spark plug.

so, my question is...

is there anything i need to know?

i know the plug is behind the cover panel at the front of the engine. already have that pulled. i couldn't tell if it's going to be easy to get in there with a socket or not.

grease? any need for any sort of grease or lubricant on anything like the threads or the plug boot?

seems that on my car i remember using a like a dielectric grease on the plug boots.

should a plug be torqued, tight, hand tight, etc?

i'm not even sure i need to change the plug, but last summer i started getting some odd behavior from the bike. she would hesitate when starting, as if it were a dead battery. sometimes it might take 2-3 tries before it would start. once started though, she would run just fine. and i never had to jump it or kick start.

but it would act like a dead battery. for a few tries.

also maybe important to note that it didn't matter if it was morning noon or night. first start of the day or 10th start. just randomly would act like a dead battery for a minute. (though all lights, horn, and blinkers would work just fine)

i have NOT had the battery tested (because it always ultimately started) so i figured the battery must be good. bike has always been topped off with fuel, and stabil added, every winter. and battery has always been disconnected and hooked up to battery tender jr all winter. every spring, the bike has gotten a good thorough wash, a 2 amp trickle charge on the full size battery charger, and an oil and filter change.

this year, i got to thinking it might be the spark plug that was causing me issues last year. so i went ahead and ordered a plug when i ordered the filter and oil.

anyway, now i'm just babbling.. if anyone can think of something i should know, i'd appreciate it. thanks!

kmrcstintn · Post by **kmrcstintn** » Mon Apr 28, 2014 7:11 pm

OK...break it down a bit

1) I haven't changed my plug yet; I will put a light coat of antisieze compound on the threads & a light coat of spark plug boot grease on the outside of the plkug prior to installing; antisieze prevents corrosion and makes removal easier (especially helpful fr those who own 2-stroke scooters that remove plugs often to check for fouling/running condition) and boot grease locks out moisture and condensation; be careful with the hard spark plug boot because it contains a resistor that might loosen up if handled carelessly (my original boot had a loose connection and caused misfiring issues)

2) I lightly lubricate the gasket and threads on the oil filter prior to installation; I also lighty lubricate the threads on the drain plugs prior to reinstallation (engine oil on filter & engine drain plugs and gear oil on the rear hub drain plug;

3) I switched stabilizer in my gas last year and noticed a major improvement when starting my scoot; used to used StaBil Marine or Lucas Ethanol stabilizer/treatment and starting was sometimes difficult; switched to Starbrite Startron and she fires right up...even the dreaded first start after long storage

4) I would have the battery load tested to determine recharge & storage capacities...I'm doing it with the used motorcycle I bought last September when it goes in for a comprehensive maintenance trip next month; keep it on a battery tender during storage and occasionally during riding season to bring battery back to maximum storage capacity...often I'll plug mine in on days where I have multiple stops & shorter riding distances

hop you have good success with your maintenance and many miles of fun riding...

naptime · Post by **naptime** » Mon Apr 28, 2014 7:16 pm

thanks for the tips!

I'll pop over and have the battery checked out while it's dismantled..

you mentioned gear oil. I never even considered changing the gear oil.

8 thousand miles, and 6 years, maybe i should drain and change that too?

Syd · Post by **Syd** » Mon Apr 28, 2014 7:23 pm

After 8,000 miles the plug is probably still good, but plugs are cheap. You shouldn't need any dielectric grease and the tightness should be hand tight plus an 1/8 to a 1/2 turn. If you've done plugs in your cars or lawnmowers before it's going to be about the same.

PeteH · Post by **PeteH** » Mon Apr 28, 2014 8:34 pm

If you buy a NGK plug, there's a little diagram on the box. For a new plug with a fresh crush washer, it's finger-tight plus 1/2 turn. For reinstallation of an already-crushed plug, it's about 1/8 turn.

If you've only removed the front cover in the footwell, you can do the spark plug change - it's not necessary to remove further shrouding. The only thing is, it's a bit of a tricky reach with your fingertips when installing the new plug. But that's good - the trick is to start the plug into its threads with your fingers, gently making sure it's going in straight and not cross-threaded, then you can use the spark plug wrench (in your Buddy's yellow tool kit) to spin the plug down until it seats against the head, then turn it the additional 1/2 (or 1/8) turn using the screwdriver for leverage.

Here's another suggestion: where most automotive oil filters have a gasket that presents a flat face to the engine, the Buddy/PGO/Piaggio filter has donut-shaped gasket that requires more torque than a car filter might. Get yourself a torque wrench, preferably a small one in the range of 0-20 lb/ft, rather than the typical 0-100 lb/ft., and torque the filter properly to 12-14 lb/ft. Once it's on there, make a reference mark by drawing a scratch on the filter housing and a corresponding mark on the engine case. When pre-flighting your scoot for the next few rides, make sure the filter hasn't loosened itself. It's a tight fit to get a torque wrench and socket onto the filter on a Buddy 150, but it can be done. Consider a shallow-depth socket for the filter if your wrench is too bulky.

kmrcstintn · Post by **kmrcstintn** » Mon Apr 28, 2014 11:49 pm

I believe gear oil replacement is recommended every 4000 miles per owners manual; might read as kilometers, but most owners in U.S. use miles as their standard measurement for maintenance purposes...example: initial service calls for 300km which is about 186 miles; my shop told me to bring it in between 300-400 miles which is @ twice as much as the metric-English conversion; so basically, we substitue the word 'miles' in place of 'kilometers'; anyhoo...back to gear oil changes...

the additives and base oils in today's gear lubes are designed to last much longer than 4000 miles, but the tiny amount (90-100mL) doesn't allow a lot of oil for metal shavings & contaminants to be suspended in, so I figure more frequent changes allow the crap to be drained out more often;

on a side note, I bought & installed the Prima magnetic drain plug kit on the engine & rear hub and they do a decent job pulling iron/steel shavings out of the oil

naptime · Post by **naptime** » Tue Apr 29, 2014 12:49 am

I'm thinking I must have changed the gear oil two summers back.

i know I installed the pima magnetic bolt. and i have three different gear oils in my garage.

one was for my rear differential on my old s-10 pickup.
another was for my rear differential on my honda motorcycle.
i'm pretty certain the third must have been for my buddy.

naptime · Post by **naptime** » Tue Apr 29, 2014 1:09 am

definitely changed gear oil two years ago, at my 4k mark.

was just browsing the site and found mike's thread in the tech library for changing oil.

that's what I followed when i did it. oil, filter, and gear.