www.zxrworld.co.uk

ok so like a fucking retard my brain could not decide to go clockwise or anti-clockwise with my oil drain bolt last night...so i went the wrong way (anti clockwise) for about half a turn (with a breaker bar if this makes a difference), then brain kicked into gear and i drained the oil fine by turning it clockwise.

refilled it fine, but i noticed that the bolt went in, tightened then let go slightly, it appears to keep doing this tightening then loosening...so i think i have either knackered the drain plug, or the drain plug thread.

ill buy a new drain plug and washer tomorrow, but whats my options if i have stupidly done the latter? i will try to get under the bike to make sure that i have not cracked any metal around the sump plug, if i have just messed up the threads a little can i use a slightly oversised plug? or would PTFE tape/sealant be the best option.

its only a small leak, maybe 5-10ml a day...but its not something i can ignore really.

cheers

as to why i went the wrong way, i thought that it had seized up, so when i couldnt turn it normally i used the breaker bar, thats when i realised i was going the wrong way...and please dont give me any "if you cant do a simple job" bullshit...not really in the mood, and saying stuff like that is unlikely to reverse time to the point just before i made my mistake...

Err, don't take the risk of botching up the sump plug - trust me you don't want hot oil dumping on your rear tyre at over 100mph and that was from just re-using the crush washer

A botch to get you home is to drill a hole through the bolt and shove a toggle bolt through then get it repaired.

No two ways about it - sump off time , then decide on timesert/helicoil , machine shop for pillar drill and cut a new thread to a bigger size or new/used sump pan.

Another botch I have seen was for the hole to be welded up ( they must have owned a welder ) and I assumed they drained the oil from the cooler lines

Your neck, look after it.

MM!

ill buy a new plug and washer today and see if thats the problem, will redrain oil over weekend and fit new plug, see if its any tighter, i might have just mashed the drain plug slightly, not the thread it locks into.

its not in any danger of falling out, its still fairly solid, i mean, i cant turn it by hand and even with the spanner its fairly well in there, so i dont reckon it will work its way out any time soon so i have no hesitation riding it for the moment, but ill sort it by the weekend.

whats your opinion of some gasket sealant applied to the threads, or superglue/semi-locking compound etc...? and is that gonna cause me more hastle in the long run, or will the locking compound still break ok and not damage anything when it comes to a new oil change?

Bolt is Steel , thread is aluminium alloy - gues which one fails first ?

Most likely you have some original thread left but can't get the bolt to torque - Alloy heats quicker than Steel so opens up faster - crush washer is alloy for a reason.

As I said before - your neck.

so that a no then

if you went anti clockwise that is correct

if you remember this saying you should allways be safe left for loosey right for tighty

not much help now but may help someone in the future

sounds like a sump off jobbie there

Sealant / glue won't make any difference, it won't make a seal as the traces of oil in the threads will stop it. You will always get some running out of the sump before it seals so it's a non-starter. As said, the sump has to come off to be repaired. It could easily fail while you're moving and dump a load on the tyre, no matter how secure you think it is. I wouldn't ride it like that.

It's an easy job to take the sump off, I don't think the engine even needs to come out. It just unbolts then you need a new gasket when you replace. You need to find a workshop who will put some weld on the mullered hole for you then retap it. Can't imagine they'll charge you much for such a piddling job, have a ring round.

sump comes off easy with engine still in frame......................

ok ill get it looked at soon...however, the 2" of snow is preventing me from moving at the moment