Stripped oil drain threads

[primal]

Hey everyone, I wish my first post here didn't have to be in this section. :sad:

Yesterday I decided that I was going to do an oil change on the Suzuki GZ250 I just bought. Having the service manual by my side I though, "This is gonna be a piece of cake." Well, all went smoothly until I went to replace the oil drain plug. Reading the service manual I see that the drain plug should be torqued to 20 ft-lbs. Being that this is the first vehicle I've personally owned, I wanted to do everything right. Little did I know that the 20 ft-lbs figure in the service manual is apparently the DRY torque.

Can you guess what happened next?

I stripped the threads in the crankcase. Cursing myself, I ran to my computer to see just how much damage I've done. Well, I don't think its all doom and gloom, but in my searches I couldn't find any specific solutions. I went to the local auto parts store and bought a universal drain plug for stripped threads in the crankcase. Its one of those with essentially a bolt running through a rubber plug. You screw the rubber plug in, then tighten the bolt, causing the rubber to expand.

So, my question is, have any of you ever had this problem and tried this solution? If not, what did you do? I really don't trust this little rubber plug.

Now, I was looking through the parts diagram on bikebandit.com, and unless I'm mistaken, the oil drain plug bolts into the "oil strainer cap" (look at the oil pump microfiche). Is this correct? If so, that means rather than trying to tap a new drain hole, I just just replace the entire cap, correct?

Any help would be great!

[5th_bike]

Well from what I remember the oil drain bolt does not screw in the crankcase directly, but in a little roud plate which is attached to the crackcase with three smaller bolts.

(Edit: yes it is the oil strainer cap Looking it up, you can find it at the online parts stores as "Cap, Oil Strainer" under the header "Oil Pump". It cost about $14 and I would also get a new O-ring with it.

Now, don't overtighten those small bolts !

PS I thought it was 17 lbs/ft of torque for the oil drain plug - so far, so good.

[primal]

Thanks for confirming that the oil strainer cap is where the oil drain plug goes. I'd much rather replace the cap than try to fix the current one. As for those little bolts... well, I'll probably just snug it up by hand rather than try to torque it.

[primal]

Oh, by the way, do you or any one else have any tips for replacing the cap? I was considering laying the bike on its side since getting to the oil drain plug was hard enough.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by primal

Oh, by the way, do you or any one else have any tips for replacing the cap? I was considering laying the bike on its side since getting to the oil drain plug was hard enough.

Shouldn't be a problem.......since there won't be any oil in it (or very little).
Do keep an eye on what might leak out of the gas cap though.
Might be best if the tank was mostly empty.

Good luck.

[primal]

Yes, I'd planned on draining the tank before laying it on its side.

Thanks for the help!

[jonathan180iq]

Or maybe just take the tank off. It takes all of 2 minutes.

[primal]

Can I take the tank off without worrying about the gas coming out? I haven't examined how its set up yet, so excuse my ignorance.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by primal

Can I take the tank off without worrying about the gas coming out?

As long as the petcock is NOT set to PRIme, you should have minimal leakage but............

If the tank is 1/2 full or less AND you don't try to turn the bike completely upside down, there shouldn't be any leakage at all.
Even if the tank is over half full, the leakage should be minimal as the cap is supposed to prevent exactly that.
You just need to be aware that there might be some leakage.

No need to make the project any more difficult than it needs to be...........along with the potential for breaking something ELSE !!

[Badbob]

Are you sure your torque wrench is working correctly? I'm always concerned about this.

Are you sure you are setting it correctly if its a click stick? I've seen people break bolts because they were not setting the wrench correctly. It doesn't hurt to double check this.