Drain the oil before changing the stator?

[mrbill5491]

I was worried I'd have a hard time with the Phillips head bolts, so just to see if I could, I tried loosening them with a little socket wrench and a Phillips bit.

Success!

Looks like PO had taken the cover off the crank case once before, the Phillips bolts all had a bit of wear on the heads, but the came off with a good twist.

Still haven't gotten the stator in the mail yet, but I'm in Canada and it's coming from California.

Maybe I'll use the mean time to refurbish the Phillips bolts with some stainless Allen bolts, and check around town for the new gasket.

Uh yeah those aren't Phillip head bolts, those are Japanese JIS heads and only JIS screwdrivers will fit properly. Though I would replace everyone of those those suckers with SS allen head bolts. Z1 Enterprises has complete SS allen head bolt kits for a really decent price. I got one for my bike and switched out anything that was JIS plus some lol.

[Wingsconsin]

Easy enough to do on the center stand, in the middle of the garage. Just put a 2x4 under the left foot of the stand.
The amount of oil that drips will depend on how long you wait after tipping the bike. It won't be more than a spoonful.


Note the new stator gasket.


The bike is remarkably stable, so no worries there.

.

This works just fine and the bike is remarkably stable - I replaced my stator cover gasket doing this with a full case of new oil too and lost less than a spoonful I bet...It will drip some so put down some papers or a catch pan .. but the bike is solid ...I replaced those screws (JIS) with SS Allen heads I got at the Ace Hardware in town ..BUT be carefull as there are 3 different lengths on that stator cover and a WRONG size may damage the case as the fasteners bottom out in the hole...

Look up the correct size on a parts fiche and 'map' them to the correct holes ...

[bwringer]

Steve, that Yamaha badge cracks me up...




I've replaced a few 850 stators on the centerstand without farting around with angling the bike, and you don't really lose that much oil -- maybe a cup or so.

No idea about the 400, but one perfectly viable option is simply to put some foil over the pipes (so they don't get all oily and stink when you start the bike), stick a drain pan under there to catch the drippings, and dump in a little extra oil when you're done.

And yes, you'll need a new stator gasket (Murphy's law, ya know) -- make SURE it's the correct thickness. There are some cheeseball paper-thin gaskets floating around fleaBay.

And please -- replace those stupid JIS screws with stainless socket head screws. Make sure you use a dab of antiseize on each.

[Steve]

Steve, that Yamaha badge cracks me up.

Me, too, and it was still on there when we sold the bike last year.

No need to change it, you might remember that it was, indeed, a "special" 850.

.

[fyarl666]

Uh yeah those aren't Phillip head bolts, those are Japanese JIS heads and only JIS screwdrivers will fit properly.

Strangely enough, I had a Phillips socket bit that did the job perfectly. Waddeya know!

[mrbill5491]

Strangely enough, I had a Phillips socket bit that did the job perfectly. Waddeya know!

Still, it will eventually bugger it up.

[Steve]

Uh yeah those aren't Phillip head bolts, those are Japanese JIS heads and only JIS screwdrivers will fit properly.

Strangely enough, I had a Phillips socket bit that did the job perfectly. Waddeya know!

Note that he said "fit properly".

He didn't say that they were the only thing that would work.

I have found that a #3 Phillips driver usually does the job just fine.

.

[fyarl666]

Note that he said "fit properly".

He didn't say that they were the only thing that would work.

I have found that a #3 Phillips driver usually does the job just fine.

.

Either way, I still plan on replacing them. They just seem like a sloppy idea.