Uh so I was changin the oil to put the GS away for winter and went to tighten the oil drain plug and it didnt tighten, it just kept turning.  So what are my options now?  By the way, for future reference what should it be torqued at?  Any help welcome, Thanks.

opps

Yea it was a big oops, hopefully someone has gone through this experience before and had it come out ok with out spending to many dollars.

If the threads on the block are stripped you may have to go with a helicoil and I imagine that would be quite a pain.

I've heard JB Weld or Marine Tech (I think that's what it's called) can be tapped.  You may be able to fill the hole to redrill and tap for your drain plug.

You might be able to rig it and use some teflon tape to help it tighten the plug.  I can't say how well or how long that would work for if it would work at all

If you have to drill I'd recommend flushing oil or something through new hole because you'll have the chips from the drill and tap.  Our block is aluminum right?  A magnet would be totally useless

Quote from: sprint_9for future reference what should it be torqued at?

Haynes says "20 to 25 Nm".

A Helicoil would be a much better option than tapping epoxy. Thats the right way to do it. I shudder to think of how tough it's gonna be to get all the shavings out.

Can't you remove the sump pan and coil it on a bench?

I'll tap it with a 3/8th pipe thread tap and put a 3/8 brass blind plug in it. Be careful... the tap and the plug are tapered. Did it before on a EX500. helicoil might leak a little... and possibly suffer for grip area... You might want to seld it up and start a new hole in a different spot... more to the right side so you drain it on the side stand...
Cool.
Srinath.

OR do what I did and just drop 34 bucks at Ron Ayers for a new oil pan.  

It was the easiest and quickest option for me.


Jake

Quote from: Kerry

Quote from: sprint_9for future reference what should it be torqued at?

Haynes says "20 to 25 Nm".

What is that in ft. lbs. ?

Thanks for all the replies everyone.  I think I will either try srinaths brass plug method, helicoil, or drill out and tap for a larger bolt.  I think for the time being it will sit for a while, I hadnt planned on riding again this year anyhow so it should be good sitting over the winter.  I guess I just added another project to my restoration this winter, oh well.  Thanks again.

whenever I tighten things like drainplugs, valve cover bolts, tranny pan bolts, etc, the rule of thumb I use is this:  tighten it using one hand on whatever tool you're using until you reach the point where it no longer turns easily.  then give the bolt another 1/4 to 1/2 turn.  tighter is not usually better.....

Yea I use that method too but it never got tight, I dont know what the heck happend, it just ran up to the pan then kept spining. Just the kind of luck Ive been having lately.

Quote from: sprint_9

Quote from: Kerry

Quote from: sprint_9for future reference what should it be torqued at?

Haynes says "20 to 25 Nm".

What is that in ft. lbs. ?

According to Clymer, 14.5 to 18 ft-lbs.

when i stripped mine i think it must have been crossthreaded from the last time i changed my oil.  When i backed it out to drain the oil i knew something was wrong, mainly because of the chunks of thread that fell out onto my drain pan.

jake

My GS came with a stripped drain plug hole.  I used the same method srinath suggested.  I bought the tap, used it once on the soft aluminum, and took it back when I was finished (it cost like $15) with no problems.  I did take off the pan to tap it and cleaned it thoroughly afterward so I didn't have to worry about shavings in the oil.  A friend of mine had this happen to his tl1000r.  He did the same, but couldn't take off the oil pan because it and the crankcase are one piece   .  Good luck, and once you get that new plug in, don't overtighten.  The taper of the plug will make the seal, not the butting of gasket to the oil pan.  

Matt

Quote from: Kerry

Quote from: sprint_9

Quote from: Kerry

Quote from: sprint_9for future reference what should it be torqued at?

Haynes says "20 to 25 Nm".

What is that in ft. lbs. ?

According to Clymer, 14.5 to 18 ft-lbs.

Ah yes, I think I know why it is stripped now, It was way tighter than that when I took it off then I tried to overtighten it when I got out the torque wrench.

kinda like Srinaths idea, but i think i wll go a step further. tap the treads for pipe, and use an elblow to bring the pipe either out the front or to one side for easyer access on draining.

Yea and you'd have like threads on the other and cap it, so you'll only have that to deal with... the pan threads you coould locktite it so it stays put... no sense torturing your pan some more ... My friends EX I did this on... the pipe thread sat in so deep and snug... it looked like it belonged there... and that has that weird V thing in front to protect it from catching on a big bump/step/loading it onto a truck....
Cool.
Srinath.

Thats not a bad idea, I might have to try something like that.