Stuck oil plug -- I mean REALY stuck

[zookey]

So Gogzilla, or Hurcules, or King Kong or (in my neck of the woods) Paul Bunyan, put the drain plug in the 1100 my husband just bought. So now I ask you guys -- the experts --- How do you get these things out once the head has morphed from a hex head to just about a round plug????????

Is there a way to get this thing outa the bike or are we now looking to buy a new oil pan??

Any help will be definately appreciated.

Good news is he figured out how to get the carbs out to clean the floats and the float pins........ OMG was that a dirty mess........ and there are two "ears" that are broke on the carbs. Oh yea the good news, he didn't need to replace the boots as they look as if someone had replaced them not to long ago.

So is there any hope for this bike? I am thinking we are in a bit of a predicament!

[psycoreefer]

is it the oil drain plug thats stuck or the bolt that holds the oil filter housing on? Either way the first thing to try would be one of the many "removes anything" sockets sold at almost every homedepot / menards / sears / tool store of your choice. I've never had any luck with them but a friend swears by them.

If that doesn't work what I usually do is use drill bit and drill a hole, not to deep and way off to one edge of the now round bolts head. Now take a punch, or a screwdriver if you want to ruin it, and stick it in the hole and beat it with a hammer. You need to make sure that your "pounding" it in the right direction to loosen the bolt.

The ears in the carbs can be re-attached with JB-weld. Its proven to be fuel proof.

[psycoreefer]

reading my last post it doesn't make a lot of sense to me. If you need a better description of the "pound it loose" method let me know and I'll try and put up a picture or something.

[dbeardslee]

Zookey - Go to sears hardware. They make these special little sockets, specifically for getting bolts out with the heads all eaten up. They're like easy-outs for bolt heads, but you don't have to drill. They have kind of spiral cut teeth on the inside that fit down over the top of the bolt head. I don't know the proper name for the tool, however. Maybe someone else knows the name. A small pipe wrench might work if you have enough bolt head to grab onto.

[bikerphil]

stuck plug

Couple things you could try.... 1. Tapping an 18mm 12pt. socket on the bolt (1mm smaller). 2. Mabye the old hammer and chisel to try to spin the bolt counter clockwise trick. I assume you mean the oil pan and not the filter housing.

[Ken Talbot]

I had a stuck oil filter bolt on one of our fleet when we first got it too. Ended up welding a larger nut onto what was left of the rounded off one. Then, hit it with an air imp[act wrench and off it came!

[zookey]

Clarifying my first post.

Okay, let me clarify a couple of things:

1. The oil plug -- the one in the oil pan underneath the bike -- is the one that is stuck tight.
So tight in fact that my husband broke the end off a breaker bar trying to break it loose.

2. The drain plug was hexed before my husband got to it. He tryed everything from a proper sized wrench to a socket to a "Gator Grip". He can't budge it at all. It is almost as if it is welded into the oil pan.


First off I want to thank those of you who have answered so quickly.

@psycoreefer --> "Removes Anything" socket? Like a Gator Grip as seen on TV or like dbeardslee was referring to? And I totally understood the drill hole off center and punch or screwdriver it out. And about the ears on the carbs...... they weren't there when the bowls were removed. Someone before us broke them off and didn't fix them. Can ears be fashioned out of JB Weld?

@ dbeardslee --> Do you mean these??? http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/p_10151_1...061224x0000001 They are worth a try... but this thing is stuck hard. He already broke a breaker bar off trying to break this thing loose.

@ Bikerphil --> He is trying the tapping smaller socket on and also spending some time just tapping with a hammer to loosen it up right now...........

Thanks again guys! I appreciate all your help. Sorry I should have been clearer in my first post.

[zookey]

Ken,

Thanks for the idea. I am sure he will be trying to weld a nut on later tonight or early tomorrow to try that.

Just one question. How do you manage to work under a bike with only what 6-8 inches of clearance??? (this is my question not my husbands)

Thanks again for all the help and suggestions.

[psycoreefer]

The "removes anything" type are like dbeardslee was describing, its a special socket. I've seen a design with cam's that lock down and also the design with spirals that cut into the bolt. Neither has ever worked for me but its worth a try.

If it were me and I had a welder I'd just weld a large nut on to the stub and be done with it. I would have suggested that but most folks don't have a welder in their garage.

Working under a bike sucks... one option if you have engine/crash/case guards, you know the ones everyone puts their highway pegs on is to put a piece of cardboard or something on the floor and then lean the bike over gently until the guards are supporting it on the ground. Help gain some space. Otherwise you could buy a bike jack or hang it from the ceiling....




If the posts are missing then I'm not sure what you could do. You could try to make some but I think it would be very difficult to get them the right height and spacing so the floats didn't stick. Probably going to need new carb bodys. I like to watch e-bay and they usually go for between 50 and 200 for a set of four, depending on how clean they are and if they've been rebuilt or not.

[zookey]

Everyone doesn't have a welder???

Which kind of welder would be best?

Oxyacetylene, Wire feed, or the one that makes my electricity meter fly off the post (Arc Welder)?? We have all three, I don't know if the oxyacetylene is actually a welder but the guys can weld with it.

So far there is still no go on getting the drain plug out.

As far as the carb "ears": they are broke off right at the holes for the pin. If I just form up the JB weld solid and then redrill the hole...... Think that would work?? If it fails then we will probably ebay a set. Thanks again!

Can I ask -- Why would an impact socket and wrench be able to budge this drain plug when my husband broke the breaker bar trying to remove it? Sorry for the questions but my husband is getting irritated with the situation and my questions for the night.

Thanks all!!

Edit: hey the link in you sig doesn't work..... should it take me to the project bike??

[bikerphil]

if still no luck

Take the oil pan off the bike, drill out the plug from inside/outside until the bolt colapses. This HAS to work. Good luck.

[psycoreefer]

I'd use the wire feed but thats all i have access to. I don't have any experience welding with ARC or "brazing" with a torch. Just take it easy so you don't get it to hot, ya know let it cool in between.

I suppose you could try building up the posts with JB weld and then drilling out the holes, can't really make things worse then they are right? I mean if they are broken now then your not going to make them worse then broken, I'd give it a shot.

An impact wrench will sometimes take off bolts that are stuck because of the "impact" part of the equation. It shocks the bolt rather then a steady force. I can't explain the physics of it but I've seen it work. You could try the same thing with a breaker bar and a hammer, but if you have welders you've probably got an air compressor and impact wrench.

Taking off the pan like bikerphil mentioned will work for sure, might even be faster then messing around with the rounded off stub of a bolt thats left. Just be carefull to only drill out the bolt, don't wana mess up the threads in the pan.

The link works for me, its just a picture of my bike on webshots.

[zookey]

Plug UNstuck!!

Thank You EVERYONE for all of your help.

My husband just came in the house covered in OIL!! He had been trying everything you guys had mentioned and even tryed some of them twice!!

He found a socket smaller than a 19 that he beat onto the stub of the oil plug and then put the impact wrench to it. His only problem was that when the plug let loose it came out really fast and he now needs a degreasing shower!!

Thanks again for all of your help!

[dbeardslee]

Zookey - Dawn dishwashing liquid works really good for degreasing spouses Glad you got it out.

[Toolmaker Tim]

Broken Posts

Which carbs have broken posts? They are numbered 1-4 from the left side facing forward on the bike. I have a set of carbs that have two good carbs and two with broken posts. If my two good ones match your bad ones, maybe we can work something out. I'm going to try a fix I dreamed up as soon as I get acess to a Bridgeport mill. Might as well fix four as two. If what I have in mind works it would be a repeatable setup.