APRILIA RSV mile, Use & Maintenance Book

Page: 131 / 160

131
use and maintenance RSV mille
!
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RSV mille R
!
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Place the special spark plug socket
wrench (2) completely over the spark
plug (3).
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Place the 11–13 mm open-end wrench
(4) over the hexagonal seat of the spe-
cial spark plug wrench (2).
Make sure that no dirt falls into the cylin-
der through the spark plug hole.
◆
Unscrew the spark plug and extract it
from its seat.
TO CHECK AND CLEAN THE SPARK PLUG
This vehicle is fitted with spark plugs
featuring platinum-type electrodes.
When cleaning, do not use wire brushes
and/or abrasive products. Use a jet of
compressed air only.
Key:
5) center electrode;
6) ceramic nose;
7) side electrode.
Inspect the spark plug, and make sure that
there are neither carbon deposits, nor cor-
rosion marks on the electrodes (5) and (7)
and on the ceramic nose (6); if necessary,
clean them with a jet of compressed air.
If the spark plug ceramic nose is cracked,
or if the electrodes are corroded, or there
are excessive deposits on the electrodes
of the nose, or the tip (8) of the central
electrode (5) is rounded, the spark plug
must be renewed.
When replacing a spark plug, always
check the pitch (9) and length (10) of the
thread.
The use of a spark plug with too short a
threaded portion will result in carbon
deposits building up on the internal
thread of the head. This can result in da-
mage to the engine when the appropria-
te spark plug is installed.
The use of the spark plug with too long
a threaded portion can cause the plug
to strike the piston, with consequent ir-
reparable damage.
Use only the recommended spark plug
type, see p. 148 (TECHNICAL DATA).
Failure to observe this caution will re-
sult in reduction in the service life and
performance of the engine.
Use a round wire feeler gauge (11) to
check the spark plug gap, in order to
avoid damaging the platinum coating.
◆
Using a round wire feeler gauge (11),
check the spark plug gap.
Do not try to adjust the spark plug gap in
any way.
The gap must be 0.024 – 0.028 in (0.6 –
0.7 mm) , otherwise it is necessary to re-
new the spark plug.
◆
Make sure the gasket (12) is in good
condition.
TO INSTALL THE SPARK PLUG
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With the gasket (12) in place, screw the
spark plug into the head finger tight.
◆
Tighten the spark plug with the special spark
plug wrench, approximately one-half turn af-
ter it first snugly contacts the cylinder head.
Spark plug tightening torque:
14.47 ftlb (20 Nm).
The spark plug must be properly tight-
ened, otherwise the engine may over-
heat and be seriously damaged.
Do not mix up the spark plug caps (1) po-
sition.
◆
Install the spark plug cap (1) properly, so
that it does not come off due to the vibra-
tions of the engine.
NOTE
Repeat the operations described
to remove, check and clean the other (se-
cond) spark plug of the same cylinder and
the other two spark plugs of the second
cylinder.
◆
Replace the fuel tank, see p. 116 (LIF-
TING THE FUEL TANK).