Like the title says, I am new to motorcycles and a proud new owner of a 2007 GS500. I got this bike just last week and have been happily ordering new parts and trying to service and cean her up before I get my license. I finally got the tools, oil, and filter delivered and decided to do an oil change today. After reading a lot of how to guides, to make sure I didn't mess anything up, I took my torque wrench and..I am still in disbelief this happend.. I stipped the oil drain plug. I am mortified and I almost cried. I have been so happy this past week because I have been THIS close to finally riding her and then I go and mess it all up. Being a little disoriented after I realize what happened (when trying to put the bike back in the garage before messing more up) I knocked her over and broke the brake lever! I can't believe my luck. So my question is: what do I do from here?

I hate the thought of doing the fix that involves carving out the oil drain hole and putting in a bigger plug. I also am afraid of just using one of those easy fix/temporary rubber plugs. Is there a better way? I tried looking for a bottom pan replacement and came up empty. Please help! I am freaking out right now. And I don't think I can sleep until I figure it out..

Thanks in advance

Dustin

Personally? I'd find a used oil pan on ebay that looked to be in good shape and buy it. Make sure it is from a later model GS500 though (04+) since the pans are different than the older ones. And if you do get a new pan, buy an OEM gasket as well - almost guaranteed to rip apart the original when pulling the old pan off.

What happened with the torque wrench? Wrong setting, cheap quality tool, etc?

Thank you for the quick reply!

Good to know about the 2004 or later part. I'll look unto that.

I actually borrowed the torque wrench from a friend but I trust that he would buy good quality tools and keep it calibrated. I mean that COULD be the problem but I'm sure it was something on my end. I set it to 16 foot pounds. Pulled it until my bike started to move. Was worried that something wasn't working so I set it to 10 foot pounds to at least watch the wrench click. It didn't click and just kept going. A lot easier to turn by that point. I may have misread the torque wrench but I was very slow and intentional setting it.

The funny part is that I was originally using the torque wrench because I was afraid of stripping the oil filter screws since I read it is easy to do that to those.

So when searching eBay should I just search "Suzuki GS oil pan" and keep an eye on the year? Also, do you think it is worth checking like a salvage yard at all?

Search for "gs500f oil pan" first. If you notice in my signature, I don't own a GS500.... so I don't pay that much attention to how different the pans would look. But I know they function very differently. If you can't find a proper pan on ebay by searching for a GS500F, then try searching for GS500 pans....making sure to spot the correct ones.

I wouldn't think a bike yard would be willing to sell just the pan if the bike is outside. Leaving the engine exposed could ruin the rest of the engine parts and make them worthless. You could try posting on this forums "for sale / wtb" section though.

Oh yeah - I'd get a brake lever on ebay too.

That is sad to hear.  I was absolutely paranoid the first time I changed the oil, and it is quite ironic that you did this with a torque wrench because you wanted to avoid it.  It sounds like it was a click-type wrench, and those seem to be fairly large in my limited experience (I would never use mine, as it is easily twice as long as a wrench for that sized bolt or a smaller socket driver.  The click type can go out of calibration if you leave them set to a non-zero torque when you are not using them, and also if you use them to loosen bolts.  It is also a wise idea to not use them to apply torques near the top (or bottom in this case) of their range, especially if it has a large range of settings and a large handle.

I would guilt that friend into helping you fix the bike.  I also did a quick search and it seems it is possible to fix and re-calibrate a click-style torque wrench at home, depending on the brand.  This guy found out the hard way, as did you, that his wrench no longer clicked:  http://www.instructables.com/id/Fixing-and-Calibrating-a-Clicky-style-Torque-Wrenc/

They do make beam-style wrenches (cheaper IIRC) that are dead-simple (beam repeatably bends a to a certain angle under the same applied torque) and very safe as long as you can read the deflection gauge.  I am looking for a low-torque rated beam style wrench for dealing with some of these worrisome bolts.

Good luck with finding a pan.

Some interesting engineering-y facts about torque:

When tightening nuts onto bolts (not the case with the plug) the torque rating is not about "tightness" of the nut; it is an indirect measurement of how much you are stretching the bolt.

It is technically only correct to specify torque with US units as lb-ft, and never as ft-lb, which is the unit for energy or work (a force applied over a distance).  Torque is the vector product of force and distance, while energy is the scalar product.

Its a soft material, its probably been stripped by cross threading, not overloading.

A quick look on ebay only yields one 04+ oil pan (you can easily tell the difference because the Fs have the oil cooler connections)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Suzuki-GS-500-07-oil-pan-sump-with-plug-in-great-condition-/271909011654?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item3f4f0a40c6&vxp=mtr

For the price of that though, I'd grab a new oil pan gasket (make sure you get one for the 04+, see this thread: http://www.gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=64859.0 ), then remove your oil pan and drill and tap it for the next size bigger. Or pull the oil pan and take it to a garage, they can helicoil or timesert.

Thanks for the info, Doktorokiu! That was really informative and a fun read. Like I said, I'm sure it was something on my end being new and all.. BUT with the wrench on a lower setting and receiving the wrench not set on the lowest setting.. Maybe it was the wrench! Either way, I definitely felt like I should not have been tightening it that tight but kept going since I was waiting for the click. So lesson learned. Trust my gut.

I'm definitely going to ask my buddy to help me with drill and tapping it.

Speaking of which, i I really like your advice Edchen. I think I will just get a new gasket as well. Sounds like the cheaper option and I suppose it's worth doing that first. And if it leaks or I mess that up, just continue with the oil pan search which is where I was anyway.

This is awesome. I'm feeling a ton better about this today.

Now any pointers for tap and driling? Is that trustworthy permanent fix? Also, how does that compare to a timesert or helicoil?

Quote from: sellandd on August 06, 2015, 03:09:53 PM
Thanks for the info, Doktorokiu! That was really informative and a fun read. Like I said, I'm sure it was something on my end being new and all.. BUT with the wrench on a lower setting and receiving the wrench not set on the lowest setting.. Maybe it was the wrench! Either way, I definitely felt like I should not have been tightening it that tight but kept going since I was waiting for the click. So lesson learned. Trust my gut.

I'm definitely going to ask my buddy to help me with drill and tapping it.

Speaking of which, i I really like your advice Edchen. I think I will just get a new gasket as well. Sounds like the cheaper option and I suppose it's worth doing that first. And if it leaks or I mess that up, just continue with the oil pan search which is where I was anyway.

This is awesome. I'm feeling a ton better about this today.

Now any pointers for tap and driling? Is that trustworthy permanent fix? Also, how does that compare to a timesert or helicoil?

No problem.  I'm slowly becoming more mechanically inclined as I do more work on my own GS500, and sharing knowledge is how I've learned what I know.  I'd bet that since you received it on a higher setting your friend did not store it zeroed out.  If it is an older wrench that could easily make it go out of calibration.  Not using the edges of your range is a good idea in general with calibrated tools, especially since there is going to be a lot of competition to advertise a larger range than your competitor's product.

Good luck on the plug drilling/tapping.  I have no experience there, so that's the best help I can offer

Remember that a torque wrench accuracy is best when used at its highest torque setting. At very low settings it can be out 50%. I have three torque wrenches for that reason.

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

I've never tapped anything that big, but it's probably the same idea. I would suggest using a drill press if available. You should be able to drill from the inside and keep it pretty parallel. Of course, make sure to buy the matching drill with the tap, you might need to do some research on what side drill to use based on the current M14 (i think) thread. Take your time, use some sort of cutting oil (even motor oil would be fine), and back out the tap a turn every couple forward turn to get the chips out.

I think think there's more than enough meat on the oil pan to get a very strong seal, it should be stronger than the original, but still way overkill for a drain plug, don't need to tighten it too much still.

The biggest benefit of a time-sert or helicoil is that you can use the same bolt as is OEM.

If you are going down that road just buy a M14x1.5 helicoil kit and follow the instructions in it, you DONT need any lube when cutting threads in soft alloy. Use a brand new plug, the threads in the original will probably be clogged maybe even damaged and remember its not the tightness of the bolt that forms the seal its the copper `crush` washer so again, use a new one, they DONT need huge amounts of torque to seal effectively. Depending on the length of the insert in the kit you may need to cut it down from the top, NOT the bottom end with the tang, you cant fit a say.....12 mm long helicoil in a piece with a hole depth of say 8mm and the insert MUST be at least 1/2 a turn below the outside surface.

http://www.amazon.com/Helicoil-Thread-Repair-M14X1-5-Insertion/dp/B00LJ3SFZO/ref=sr_1_5?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1439145712&sr=1-5&keywords=m14x1.5+helicoil

Given that you are obviously not familiar with helicoils and consequently run the chance of making a total balls of the whole thing I would go with the original suggestion and find a good used pan and fit that.....or find someone who knows what they are doing and get them to do it for you.

Quote from: DoktoroKiu on August 06, 2015, 08:11:39 AM
That is sad to hear.  I was absolutely paranoid the first time I changed the oil, and it is quite ironic that you did this with a torque wrench because you wanted to avoid it.  It sounds like it was a click-type wrench, and those seem to be fairly large in my limited experience (I would never use mine, as it is easily twice as long as a wrench for that sized bolt or a smaller socket driver.  The click type can go out of calibration if you leave them set to a non-zero torque when you are not using them, and also if you use them to loosen bolts.  It is also a wise idea to not use them to apply torques near the top (or bottom in this case) of their range, especially if it has a large range of settings and a large handle.

I would guilt that friend into helping you fix the bike.  I also did a quick search and it seems it is possible to fix and re-calibrate a click-style torque wrench at home, depending on the brand.  This guy found out the hard way, as did you, that his wrench no longer clicked:  http://www.instructables.com/id/Fixing-and-Calibrating-a-Clicky-style-Torque-Wrenc/

Instructables.com is freaking awesome - check out the ones on how to convert a bike to electric

Just happen to check, this one is from an 09 for only $40 shipped.
http://m.ebay.com/itm/2009-Suzuki-GS500F-GS500-oil-pan-B249-/171888005737?nav=SEARCH

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm......
http://fumoto.com.au/sizes.php

take it to someone and get a tap down it.  Ive tapped spark plug threads.  Plenty o grease to catch the swarf.

"Swarf".....one of my favorite words!


Cookie

Quote from: fakejimmymorgan on August 13, 2015, 04:49:16 AM
take it to someone and get a tap down it.  Ive tapped spark plug threads.  Plenty o grease to catch the swarf.

Have you tried to get it off with a bolt extractor socket?

http://www.harborfreight.com/9-pc-38-in-drive-metric-bolt-extractor-socket-set-67894.html