Stripped oil drain threads

[patrick_777]

Originally Posted by 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.

This is a great point. My torque wrench, I almost found out the hard way, has a inch-pound gauge instead of a foot-pound gauge -- which means I have to multiply everything by twelve and figure out how to set up the wrench first. Not a terribly hard thing to do, but when you're neck deep in chain oil and lawn clippings (it was a little windy yesterday), you're not really in the mood to multiply 47 by 12 in your head, subtract that from 600 and divide everything by 2, just to get the right number to twist the handle to.

Also, are those certified in any way? It seems like it could be wildly inaccurate.

[Badbob]

You can have them calibrated. It might cost more for this than you payed for the wrench. What you get is how far of the torque wrench is. I worked in places that calibrated their wrenches on a regular basis for 20 years and never saw one that was dead on. The click stick wrenches are new to me. I got my first one about two years ago. I still have my old ones.

I got bit buy the inch pounds once but realized some thing was wrong and figured it out before I did any damage.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by Badbob

I got bit buy the inch pounds once but realized some thing was wrong and figured it out before I did any damage.

I wonder if the spec. for the drain plug isn't really 20 inch pounds?
20 ft/lbs sounds like a lot.......as evidenced by the results that started this thread.

[primal]

Originally Posted by Easy Rider

I wonder if the spec. for the drain plug isn't really 20 inch pounds?
20 ft/lbs sounds like a lot.......as evidenced by the results that started this thread.

Copied directly from the service manual I downloaded from this forum:

"Oil drain plug: 28 N-m (2.8 kg-m, 20.0 Ib-ft)"

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by primal

Copied directly from the service manual I downloaded from this forum:

"Oil drain plug: 28 N-m (2.8 kg-m, 20.0 Ib-ft)"

OK. So, the next time you change the oil, what are you going to do?
I use the "snug it down until it feels tight" method. :roll:

[primal]

DEFINITELY going to use the "snug it down until it feels tight" method.

I've got a replacement cap, o-ring, plug, and gasket (washer) on the way. My replacement universal rubber plug seems to be holding out, though. Took the bike for its first ride today, totaling 16 miles (and checked for leaks 4-5 times during the ride). I've yet to see so much as a drop of oil so far. I will be relieved to get the cap replaced, though, because I feel hesitant to really push the bike for fear of blowing out the plug. It ran perfectly at 20-30 mph, though (all country roads anyway, so I never got the chance to get it out of 3rd).

[primal]

I got my parts in the mail today and bolted the new oil strainer cap on. I'm really paranoid now about stripping the threads, so I'm hoping I tightened the oil drain plug enough. I'm not going to worry about it unless it starts leaking oil.