| Author | Message | ||
     Woolf |
Well, just picked my bike up from American HD in Ann Arbor for its first ever oil change. When I got home, I started to throw on my new Jardine pipe (love it), and noticed that the oil filter and drain plug were only hand tight. The filter was really loose, and I thought I had heard somewhere that they loosen up on their own. Is this true, or did the shop suck that much? | ||
| 12r |
Yes, the shop sucks. Oil filter should be screwed on until the gasket touches the crankcase surface, then 1/2 to 3/4 turn more. I never had one work loose in 10,000 mi. Can't recall the spec for the drain plug but it's more than hand tight  and a new o-ring doesn't go amiss. If your shop is anything like mine, routine servicing gets farmed out to the shop monkey and oil changes especially are always a freakin' disaster area. The factory manual is worth every penny. (Message edited by 12r on July 11, 2006) | ||
| Dragonbuell12r |
oil drain plug: 5/8 wrench 29-31 ft/lbs yes, the mechanic did a lousy job. i have 7k on my bike, no leaks, nothing loose.(but I'm my mechanic) (Message edited by dragonbuell12r on July 11, 2006) | ||
| Whodom |
oil drain plug: 5/8 wrench 29-31 ft/lbs I never heard of it being a problem on the XB12S's, but at least a couple of Ulysses owners have stripped the threads in the swingarm by tightening the drain plug to that recommended torque. I'd be real cautious about tightening it that much. See threads in "Big, Bad, & Dirty" for more info. | ||
| Darthane |
...I've never had an oil filter or drain plug loosen up on it's own when properly installed (ie, *I* did it). I didn't trust American even when Spiderman worked there (of course, he wasn't a mechanic). Buy the manual, do everything you're comfortable with yourself and document it. Try some things you're NOT particularly comfortable with. It's a bonding experience, and you'll learn a lot, trust me. | ||
| Wademan |
I have had more botched oil changes in my life by places than I like to count. <--- mostly cars but I think it applies across the board. They get the slow guy to do the oil changes. | ||
| Dragonbuell12r |
Whodom, That's what the manual says, I agree and set my drain plug to 20ft/lbs. It's just blocking a hole not holding up a bridge. On the other hand, hand tight is scary. | ||
| Gopher |
My peeve about oil changes is that the manual recommends 2.4L of oil but when you check it on the dipstick (after warming the bike up on a 15 min ride) it's always about 500ml down....so which is right the dipstick or the amount of oil suggested in the manual.... | ||
| Darthane |
O_o I've always put 2.5Q in mine (couple ounces in the filter, rest in the swingarm), it eats very, very little and is always within margins when I check it. | ||
| Pwnzor |
2.5 quarts puts me at the bottom of my billet dipstick. So i put in 3 quarts and its right in the middle, been workin just fine. I found out long ago that my dealer wasn't even changing the oil at all. HD svc. dept. is FIRED. As for the drain plug, I cleaned it with mineral spirits and let it dry, then put a little blue Loc-Tite on the threads, just a little, then let it dry. I was careful to leave the first 3 threads clean so it wouldn't cross-thread. Now when I screw it in, it goes in snug, and stays in. I marked the bolt against the pan so I can see if it turns back out on its own. Never has. My oil filter I tighten by hand. I have an exceptionally strong grip, but in this way I can feel just where I want it. | ||
| Tiburondriver47 |
I take my bike to Detroit Harley-Davidson, 25125 Van Dyke in Center Line. The Mech. that works on the Buells owns and rides a Buell so they get my business. For the Michigan guys the Mech's name is Kris Kleitsch. | ||
| Woolf |
tib, does your guy know how to tune one on a dyno? | ||
| Dcmortalcoil |
NOTE: The torque value for the engine oil drain plug in the Service manual is WRONG. The correct torque is 11-15ft/lbs - same as the torque value for the transmission oil plug. | ||
| Dragonbuell12r |
Dcmortalcoil, How did you find that information?? I guess I'll have to cross it out in my manual and write the new value in it's place. Thanks for the heads up. I thought that was tight. That's why I never passed 20ft/lbs when I checked it with my torque wrench. As a matter of fact, the last couple of oil changes I didn't use the torque wrench at all, I just used the yes it's tight method without cranking it to the moon. | ||
| Dcmortalcoil |
See the section relating to changing primary oil. It gives the correct torque value there. | ||
| Jackbequick |
I go for one turn on the filters instead of the normal 3/4 turn. I also had a nice looking heavy duty, marine grade, hose clamp around the filter with the clamp screw between the filter can and the crank case. If the filter turned the clamp screw will hit the cases and prevent the filter loosening any further. Had it on my mental pre-ride checklist to eyeball the clamp position before startup. Jack | ||
| Gun_for_hire |
Do not use the factory torque spec !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just checked my drain plug on my 2007 uly. It was very very upsetting to find that my drainplug Felt very strange coming out. Inspecting further I found weird looking ( pitted?) threads and some sealant like stuff on it (silver). Up until yesterday the dealer was the only one to touch the bike. They have done 3 oil changes on it. When I went to put the plug back, with a tiny little 1/4 inch ratchet, it got to the snug point and kept turning. ••••• It came back out with threads dangling off it. It was a bad feeling folks. I know for a fact that I did not overtighten it. It never came close to tight. It's obvious that the dealer stripped it, and may have even put goop on it to hide it. I fixed it with a 1/2-20 "oversized" drainplug. It came with a fiber / hard washer and I replaced that with a new rubber one. Cost: $5.95. It is not as good as a helicoil/ timesert, but it's tight and holding oil for 30 hrs so far. My bike is under extended warranty but I am a really long drive from dealer. So i fixed it myself. And what would they do with it anyway? Since they screwed up the torque anyway, I don't want then touching it. Gun for hire Florida |
