| Author | Message | ||
     Moedank |
what gives? is the dam thing stripped or something? the primary is fine. but the engine drain plug, i have caught it twice leaking oil, in which i have to tighten the hell out of it without trying to strip it. the first time i changed my oil, i noticed about 1000 miles later (i ride alot) that there was oil residue on the left side of the swingarm and the left side of my rear wheel had spots on it. these turned out to be oil spots. so i check underneath the bike and see the engine oil drain plug all nasty lookin. i tighten it up. today, i changed the oil again at 2500 miles. when i put the engine drain plug back in, i didnt use a whole lot of strength to tighten it. i go for a 30 mile ride. when i get to my destination, i check the engine oil drain plug just to make me feel ok. what the hell? its leaking again. jesus. ok so whats the deal? are you supposed to tighten this puppy down with 50 ft. lbs of torque or what? it has a dam rubber o-seal for cryin out loud...that should be enough. my primary is not leaking and i barely put any force in tightening that down...strip it out and your screwed. any suggestions or comments? anyone else havin this problem? i think maybe the threads in the swing arm or on the drain plug itself might be jacked up. not sure yet. | ||
| Starter |
Sound as though you've checked the o-ring. I noticed mine had some sealant on it when I first changed the oil out. Maybe try a little sealant to take up the thread. | ||
| Moedank |
yes...i can see dried up sealant on both the primary and engine drain plugs. what is this sealant? and why is it needed? i've never had to use sealant on my drain plug for my sportster. and its never had a leaking problem. ever. | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
I suspect your O-Ring is letting oil past. Its cheap, take the plug to Napa and get a new O-ring to put on it. I have not had any leakage on mine nor do I use any type of sealant. I pull it snug but don't muscle it. | ||
| M1combat |
Yeah, don't muscle it... Maybe try a few wraps of teflon tape? | ||
| Darthane |
What they said. You only need a couple ft/lbs on the thing. Get some new o-rings and change them with the oil. They're dirt-cheap and what really keeps them from leaking, NOT the torque. | ||
| Chainsaw |
Get a new O-Ring and use teflon tape. Tighten plug to 29-31 ft-pounds. | ||
| Xb9er |
What Darthane said about the O-ring stopping the leaks...but that assumes the drain plug is within the torque range recommended. The O-ring should be replaced at every oil change. A few bucks will get you a lifetime supply of them. Do not play human torque indicator. Get a good torque wrench and use it. Mike. | ||
| M1combat |
Yeah, it's pretty hard to calibrate the human torque indicator so I try not to use them... | ||
| Darthane |
Chainsaw, is that the torque value from the service manual? I've never torqued mine nearly that much and it never leaks. Just curious. | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
interesting the drain plug for the oil is 29-31 ftlbs and the drainplug for the primary is 11-15 ftlbs per the manual. | ||
| Darthane |
11-15 is what I use for both. -=shrugs=- Just a little snugged. Let the o-ring do it's job. Maybe because the oil is under pressure? (Message edited by darthane on August 19, 2004) | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
That is what I set it at also. Or there abouts. Snug it down to just as it gets tight, then 1/4 turn tighter. So what time you going to make it up to Bikenight Darthane? | ||
| Fullpower |
confirm: 29 to 31 ft lbs for OIL drain plug. 14 to 21 ft lbs for transmission drain plug. values listed in factory service manual part no 99490-04y, and tested in field with satisfactory results. you may wish to obtain a high quality torque wrench to use for motorcycle service work. many of the fasteners you will be dealing with are threaded into aluminum, and non professionals have a very strong tendency to excessively tighten critical fasteners when "guessing" at torque values. this may not cause immediate catastrophic failure, but can result in "stretched" threads, and some fluid leakage, and after a sufficient number of iterations complete removal of the aluminum threads, and the resultant nuisance of oversize fasteners, etc. | ||
| Darthane |
No bikenight for me tonight. I WILL make it one of these days. I've got a friend in need of some emotional support tonight, so we're grilling and busting out the brewskies.  A bunch of the other guys from the area should be there, though. Look for Spiderman and BlackBelt. | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
Ran into both of them as well as Phonemanjustin. FP...TWO torque wrenches as some of the fasteners are in INCHpound and others are in FOOTpounds... | ||
| Fullpower |
dont like inch pounds. |
