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Stripped Oil Pan Drain Bolt hole...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Detman101
  • Start date Start date
D

Detman101

Guest
Well, went to change the oil this saturday and I forgot to put a crush washer on the bolt after throwing out the old one.
Tightened the bolt down and it still leaked oil drops. So I tightened it some more thinking it needed it and then the bolt gave instead of stopping! :x 8O

Twisted it more thinking that it might have slipped threads somehow (yeah right!) and the leak increased.

Ran in the house like a nutcase scrambling for the oil drain pan so we don't get kicked out of our apartment for soiling the parking lot and then ran out to the bike to catch the rest of the oil.

I removed the drin bolt and let the freshly input oil drain out and looked at the bolt. Hey! There are little slivers of metal in the thread...

:evil: :x :(

Aw darn, looks like I'm screwed.

Currently the GS sits wrapped up until I either get a new oil pan or a buell xb12 Ulysses....whichever comes first.

Any suggestions?
 
Napa sells new drain plugs that are the next size larger for a couple of bucks that will cut threads into the oil pan. Works rather well for a while. I heard someone drilled out there replacement plug and put a small bolt in the center that can be removed. That way the drain plug is actually inside a steel bolt and has much less chance of stripping again and the main plug is epoxied into the oil pan. Hope this helps.
 
Ahhh... stripped bolts... gotta love 'em.

I have the same problem (well that and every other bolt on my bike is stripped 8O )

Whenever I change my oil, I use about 1/4 of a roll of threadsafe tape on the bold, and at the base, a very healthy portion of 3M high temp gasket maker (the black stuff).

I let it sit overnight to set (it says 24 hours, but I'm in AZ :D ) Put in the new oil in the morning, start it, check the level, and add oil if needed. I usually take one quick trip around the block and then check again for leaks.

You just need to be carefull each time you change your oil to completely clean up the oil pan where the gasket maker makes contnact. You don't want any of that stuff inside, and you want a clean surface for the new stuff to adhere to.

Good luck! :D :D 8O :D
 
I ran my 81 1100E with a rubber stopper (auto parts stores sell them as an emergancy item) for about 12k miles!!

But, the best thing to do is have it heli-coiled. Very easy to pull the pan, bring it to a machine shop and have it heli-coiled. After you do, it's twice as solid as it ever was. I may even do that to my 83, even though it's not stripped.
 
What is heli-coiled?
And how would it make this mushy Japanese Aluminum any stronger?
 
I just picked up a '77 GS 750 this last weekend that hadn't been run in a year for $400. After changing oil I found out that the oil plug hole was stripped. The original hole is a 14mm with 1.25 thread. So I tried a 14mm bolt from the hardware store with a 1.5 thread. That still didn't have any bite so I tried a 9/16 - 18 thread bolt and it was able to take hold. Now I have a very slight leak (mainly because I'm afraid to tighten it much more) I'm using a copper washer. Next oil change I will try using some gasket material.

Anyway its alot better and by the way, with some new spark plugs and a new battery the bike runs like a champ. :P The old couple I bought it from didn't know what they had. This thing is clean and has 21,500 miles.

[/quote]
 
Okay, if I use that 9/16 - 18 thread bolt with a crush washer/gasket
will I be able to get the bolt back out and avoid leaks as well?

And also, what size is that rubber plug that was mentioned before?
I saw a few in Autozone but nothing looked like it would fit the GS's oil hole. They were the ones where you screw the bolt and the rubber plug gets bigger/fatter in the hole till it's stoppered.

Everyone?
 
I saw a few in Autozone but nothing looked like it would fit the GS's oil hole. They were the ones where you screw the bolt and the rubber plug gets bigger/fatter in the hole till it's stoppered.
Click to expand...

I never found one of them to fit the GS drain hole.

What is heli-coiled?
And how would it make this mushy Japanese Aluminum any stronger?
Click to expand...

A heli-coil is when they actually drill out the hole larger, then they re-thread it to the bigger size, then they insert a coil to fit the threads that is the same internal diameter of the original bolt. The coil is a hardened steel coil, so now the threads become hardened steel rather than the recycled beer cans our motors are made of. You'll never strip it again.

A oil pan gasket is pretty cheap (you can make one also for just a few bucks), and the machine shop will probably do a heli-coil for less than $20. You can even do it yourself, but you'll have to buy the heli-coil set, which for that size might be around $70. So worth it to do it right. You'll have to for a long term fix anyway.
 
Kewl, well it's time to find a machine shop then!
I should be back on the road by next week prayerfully.
While I have the exhaust off to get at the oil pan I'll clean it up and repaint it again...
 
Okay, if I use that 9/16 - 18 thread bolt with a crush washer/gasket
will I be able to get the bolt back out and avoid leaks as well?
Click to expand...

As long as you get it started straight and use a gasket of some sort then it will seal. It will create its own threads so it will come back out.
I cut mine about 5/16" long (from 1"). But first make a pass or two before you cut it because it will get started easier. Mine went in with reasonable force and then screwed easy after several passes just like a regular bolt.
 
I did this very thing about a month ago. I believe that a previous owner had damaged the threads as when I put the plug back in it just kept turning. I went to auto zone and got the 14mm 1st over oil drain plug and put it in, must have got it started a little crooked because I could never get the drip to stop. So I pulled the pan and got a heli-coil kit from auto zone, about $39 iirc, it comes with the tap and several repair coils, and a sheet of gasket material and in about 2 hours total time had the pan pulled the drain hole repaired, a new gasket traced and cut and the pan back on the bike. Not a tough job at all.
 
okay this is an easy fix believe it or not

okay this is an easy fix believe it or not

Fixing the drain plug is easy, wish i had done this when it happened to me. Yeah mine stripped too and i used the over size selftapping one for some 14 years when it finally went. I went down to the local bike dealer and asked them about it, the guy said yeah take the oil pan off ( this way you can clean out any shavings too) and bring it in and he would install a steel sleeve into the drain hole. This worked absolutely great. the sleeve seals off the old threads and you get a new steel plug ( or find one that fits the new drain sleeve, i did at NAPA) and steel threads, no more leaks or seeps like the other way. your not going to strip this out. the oil pan is easy to take off, just need a new oil pan gasket ( make sure its the right thickness, a thin one will seep) and there ya go, all fixed no more problem. Takes about an afternoon to do. Total cost was about $40.
 
oil drain plug stripped

oil drain plug stripped

I have an 86' GS550L with a stripped oil drain plug also and was wondering, do I have to pull the header pipes to take the oil pan off? It looks kinda crowded down there but I didnt look closely at it! Thanks! Jake
 
Jake, yeah the header pipes need to be loosen and they will or should drop enough out of the way to get to the pan. Sounds like your going to have the steel insert installed, good chioce. The self tapping plugs are just band aids, this is a permanent fix and no more worries about stripping it again. Oh, one thing i forgot to mention about the steel insert. once installed, take a look an see if your pan has some slots next to the insert. once the insert is install, it will have a shoulder slightly blocking the slots. take a dremel tool and lightly grind down the insert shoulders even to the bottom of the pan, this lets the oil completely drain out then.
 
oil pan drain plug

oil pan drain plug

Hi, Thanks for the reply. I went to Advanced Auto and bought a rubber expandable plug (temporary) and it doesnt seem to leak but I will be fixing it the right way over winter. Thanks Again! Jake
 
Ever notice how problems run in the group? One person has one then 3-4 others have the same thing happen shortly there after? :roll: My bike had been sitting out almost 10 years when I got it and now that I have it running I've been having all kinds of little issues pop up. Fixing one problem triggers another. Lately it has been seals and leaks. I had the gear shaft seal go (there's a thread for that problem LOL) and some leaking around the drain plug, so I ordered a shaft seal and new drain plug and crush washer and a couple other gaskets. When I got to the drain plug it came out funny (spun a lot before dropping). When I went to put the new plug in I noticed it was WAY smaller than the one that was in there. Long story short... the threads in the pan are stripped and it looks like someone has done the oversize plug, probably more than once judging by the size of the plug now. So... I jumped on E-bay and snagged a good used pan from a guy I've bought lots of parts from. It was only $15 and will be here Monday. And yes you do have to pull the exhaust to get at the pan. I've already had to do that once to get the bike on a jack when I was doing some other work a couple weeks ago. It's pretty easy. There are two nuts on each trumpet to take off and the header bolts, that's all. Might need a couple extra hands to set the whole thing on the ground. Then it's just 12 bolts in the pan. I think I'll take the old pan and do some sort of coil/sleeve fix and keep it around just in case.
 
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