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Ochoa0042
| Posted on Tuesday, June 16, 2009 - 09:42 pm: |
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Well it turns out that my drain plug has been cross threaded, I dont know how I did it, but its a problem I dont want to try to tighten it back in in-fear of cracking the swingarm.... How do i fix it? im no pro here (obviously) so what are my choices???
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Badbueller
| Posted on Tuesday, June 16, 2009 - 10:07 pm: |
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You should be able to re-thread the hole and either re-thread the plug or get a new one. |
Fastxb12r
| Posted on Tuesday, June 16, 2009 - 10:30 pm: |
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Re-thread the hole and replace the plug with appropriate size and thread new plug. You could chase the threads first to see if its workable on the hole and plug but that depends on how crossed it is. EDIT...If you do iether make damn sure you get any and all loose metal out of the swingarm when done. (Message edited by fastxb12r on June 16, 2009) |
Saratoga
| Posted on Tuesday, June 16, 2009 - 10:55 pm: |
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If you re-tap the hole, stick the tap in grease before cutting. The grease will catch and hold the chips. Rinse and repeat as necessary to keep the chips out of the siwingarm. -OR- Use an air compressor or vacuum cleaner set on blow, have someone hold it over the oil fill while you tap the threads... everything blows out the drain plug hole and there's no chance of chips in the swingarm that way. |
Swordsman
| Posted on Wednesday, June 17, 2009 - 01:06 am: |
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Eh, just wrap that bad boy in Teflon tape and you're good to go! ~SM |
Ochoa0042
| Posted on Wednesday, June 17, 2009 - 02:13 am: |
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can the dealer fix it? |
Gentleman_jon
| Posted on Wednesday, June 17, 2009 - 07:38 am: |
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Dealer probably will want to replace swing arm - Liability thingy. There are several ways to fix this. 1. First chase the threads with a thread chaser, NOT a tap. A thread chaser straightens the threads with out CUTTING them. 2. If that does not work, and the threads on the plug are ok, ( the plug is steel, the swing arm is aluminum), you can repair the threads in the swing arm with a Heli coil or even better with a Time Sert thread insert. Time Sert
These require drilling out the hole, and tapping with a larger tap. Then the Time Sert is installed, and the original plug screwed back in. As mentioned above, take care to avoid getting chips in the swing arm. This is not the hardest thing in the world to do, but you might want to have a more experienced technician show you how it's done. An talented and experienced machinist could do this with the swing arm on the bike, but removing it would simplify things. Removing the swing arm takes about an hour if you know what you are doing. You might be able to find a used swing arm on eBay for not much more than having a pro fix it. Do not over tighten. Good luck. |
Brumbear
| Posted on Wednesday, June 17, 2009 - 08:01 am: |
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just get an appropriate tap grease the flutes and slowly chase the threads use a starter tap as they are tapered. of course drain the oil first when finished pour oil threw again just in case any shavings got in there but the grease in the flutes should catch them you can even flush it with kerosene |
Fast1075
| Posted on Wednesday, June 17, 2009 - 01:16 pm: |
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Your whole bike is now utterly ruined...I'll give you my Blast to ride and haul off the dead 12... No wait...nevermind...it's not a Scg... |
Zatco81
| Posted on Wednesday, June 17, 2009 - 01:19 pm: |
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If you do take the swingarm off to repair you gonna polish to match the frame? |
Damnut
| Posted on Wednesday, June 17, 2009 - 01:38 pm: |
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I have an 04 swingarm that I can sell you. |
Iamarchangel
| Posted on Wednesday, June 17, 2009 - 03:40 pm: |
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Go with the first couple of posts. Take your plug to a good tool shop, have somebody help line up the the right tap for you. You'll know because the threads on the tap will fit into the threads on the plug/bolt. You can eye up the diameter. Check the threads on the plug while you're at it. There's a tapping handle that makes things easier but not always possible to use. Do the grease trick. Take your time, don't force it. (Back in the stone age, I had a similar problem. Dealer welded the plug in place and told me to lay the bike over to drain the oil. I was young but I didn't go back to that shop for over 30 years.) |
Ochoa0042
| Posted on Thursday, June 18, 2009 - 09:54 pm: |
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zacto, no, polishing the swingarm will give the bike too much bling IMO turns out that the swingarm is in alright condition, a little bit tapered in the beginning. overall its ok.. i got a new plug and finessed it into the hole.. its in there!!! thanks for the help! |
Froggy
| Posted on Thursday, June 18, 2009 - 11:22 pm: |
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You might want to get one of those quick drain things, I forgot what it is called. It basically turns the drainplug into a valve. This way you won't need to take it on and off anymore, and won't risk further damage. |
Ourdee
| Posted on Friday, June 19, 2009 - 12:23 am: |
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I've got one of those plugs on my Jeep. Undo the cap and screw on the adapter with a hose connected, wait that would mean no oil on the exhaust and just an empty oil can to drain into, makes too much sense. What did they call that thing? |
Froglosopher
| Posted on Friday, June 19, 2009 - 05:31 pm: |
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Someone here used one of these http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/384 2/305911.html?1237038321 Oh wait, that was me. |
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