Purely an accident, but I thought I'd post the question to see what kind of answers I get...

Shutting down the KLX for the winter (probably my first mistake) I was removing the spark plug to spray some fogging oil into the cylinder. In the process, I didn't clean the crevasse of doom that the spark plug sits in, so who knows how much dirt/particulate I flushed into the cylinder - but I'm certain some was introduced.

Thoughts? Heckles? Remedies? Thanks.

 

If you didn't spray oil in yet I'd leave the plug out and crank the engine.

 

First off I'd say wait a while and see what ideas people come up with before trying one or another. I wouldn't crank the engine, or do anything irreversible until you have looked at some options and tried every option that you want to.

OK
My idea is to get a small diameter piece of hose that will fit down into the spark plug hole. Not a tight fit, you don't want it to be too big of a diameter, you want air to come into the cylinder around the hose and go out of the cylinder, with any dirt, through the hose. Tape the hose to a shop vac hose and seal up that connection with duct tape, or whatever, so you are getting suction through the small hose. Now you have a vacuum that you can put down in the cylinder and swish it around to pick up debris. I'm sure you won't get it all but should help.
Good luck

 

Turn the bike upside down and shake it vigorously.

Seriously though, how much debris do you think fell in? I think Dan's idea sounds like a good one.

 

I agree with Dan. Don't turn the motor over yet. Vacuum it out. See if you can find an inspection camera to look in there. Compressed air also comes to mind, but there could be risk of blowing pieces into a bad place.

Safest method ... pull the head off. And while you're there, install a big bore kit!

 

Dan - Great idea - I think I'll try it and let you know how it goes. Thanks. Any other thoughts out there?

I haven't cranked it yet at all - it's just sitting there (already fogged... the fogging oil was the vector).

I'm not sure how much crap went into the cylinder. I'm thinking it was probably small particulates, but slightly bigger than what the oil is meant to handle. It wasn't caked in mud or road cinders, but general dust and dirt.

After fogging and thinking about what I may have flushed into the cylinder, I put the plug back in, and during the reinstall I could feel grit on the threads. That's when it hit me.

After the plug was safely back in, I took the fogger and sprayed it into the plug cravasse and a good bit of dirt and grit flowed out of the small drain hole.

This means that some of that has gone into my cylinder, but not all of it (thankfully).

Lesson learned... flush the plug crevasse before removing the plug.

What's the best Big Bore installation thread? Scanning IDRIDR's now...

 

Don't listen to me, but if its just dust, and a little oily grime, just fire that bitch up, it'll burn up and get thrown out of the exhaust. if any rocks then definitely don't start it.

 

in 90% Confident there aren't rocks. I just don't know. I just..... don't know.

 

You might flush with water first... push water in through small hose to dissolve and let it overflow for a while. Then vacuum. Repeat.

 

It's simple risk assessment. I don't gamble and my life will not be affected at all if my KLX becomes unusable. Having said that, I am still not a gambler and would wish my KLX to survive my stupidity. Here's what I'd do.

Leave the plug out - hand turn it to TDC on the compression stroke. Then flush the combustion chamber with a few gallons of gas, using an air compressor and siphon attachment, through the spark plug hole, watching carefully for what flows back out the hole as I'm flushing. I would then turn the engine over by hand many, many, many,many times while listening for trouble. Then oil the cylinder - use the spray stuff you already have or a tablespoon of motor oil down the plug hole. I would then turn the engine over with the starter many times over several sessions during a day while listening very carefully for trouble.

If no trouble, put the spark plug in and fire it up to idle. If no trouble after 5 minutes of idle, jab the throttle to full a few times. If no trouble, drive it and listen. Drive it and listen over and over until you have confidence there is not a small pebble in there just waiting to hang open a valve, while trying to get past it, and trash your engine.

If there is trouble before firing up the engine - take the head off, check for damage if trouble was heard while on the starter, clean out the trash, put it together and, hopefully, enjoy the bike.
If there is trouble during the running of the engine, damage has been done - Take off the head and enjoy what you find - then order the BB kit.

How long you spend at each phase of this is based on your risk assessment. Are you a gambler?