Oil drain plug won't fully tighten

[Danny Crawdad]

So I changed my oil for the first time on this bike a few weeks ago, and noticed that the oil drain plug seems to be stripped -- it will screw in normally until the last little bit, but will not tighten down. It will tighten to a certain point, and then go loose again.

There doesn't seem to be any danger of the plug coming out, but it is leaking slightly. Is an oversized drain plug the right answer here?

[XS1100_OEM4ME]

Bolt

What do the threads look like on the bolt? The new bolts are still availble, and I would start there. If the bolt is not "perfect", replace it with new. I wouldn't leave it alone, even with a very slow leak, it could fail and dump all the oil leaving you stranded or much worse as all that oil will go strait to the back tire

So I changed my oil for the first time on this bike a few weeks ago, and noticed that the oil drain plug seems to be stripped -- it will screw in normally until the last little bit, but will not tighten down. It will tighten to a certain point, and then go loose again.

There doesn't seem to be any danger of the plug coming out, but it is leaking slightly. Is an oversized drain plug the right answer here?

[Danny Crawdad]

Just pulled the headers and drained the oil to find out . The bolt itself looks relatively normal and is the original short plug, but some of the threads are maybe slightly bent. BUT, when I pulled it out, it pulled out 2-3 good threads from the pan out with it. Not good.

So I know there are oversized plugs, and I have read about them on this site, but they have mixed reviews. Replacing the oil pan seems like a pain in the butt (I tried to pull it before, there are two bolts near the frame tube on each side that I can't seem to get to). Is this something I can throw an oversized plug into and keep rocking, or am I asking for trouble?

Have never had this problem, although I know it's been discussed a lot on this forum.

[bikerphil]

If you can find a longer plug of the same threads, IIRC there are additional threads in the pan that the stock bolt won't reach. JAT

[Lamric]

That plug is an M14 x 1.5 mm (fine thread) and the threaded length looks about 9mm.

If you need a replacement oil pan then one from any model XS1100 will fit.

[Danny Crawdad]

Ok, so I have done two things:

1) Ordered an oil pan + plug in good condition from eBay. This is my "final" solution but it will probably be a while before I can put it on, so I also:

2) Went to NAPA and got an oversized self-tapping plug. It is also about 5mm longer than the original. I have read mixed reviews, so I'm fully ready for this to ruin my pan or leak oil worse than the original

My (great) NAPA guy also had helicoils but if I'm going to go to that effort to remove the pan and install a helicoil, I'd rather just replace the pan.

[Danny Crawdad]

Sorry to bump my own thread, but I installed the new drain plug and I am shocked at how well it seems to have worked. I worked it in slowly, 1/8th turn at a time, and kept it oiled well. It snugged up well, and tightens like it should. I brought it back out and cleaned the aluminum shavings from inside the tap slots on the bolt, and ran it in and out another time or two and cleaned the shavings from the bolt and the hole each time.

It screws right in, and compresses the nylon washer like it should, and is much more comfort-inspiring than the one that was in there :P.

I still want to ultimately replace the pan, but this seems like it should hold me for a little while... right? It certainly seems secure.

[XS1100_OEM4ME]

Sounds fine

Sounds fine to me, if it tightens up to seal the washer and stops turning, should hold just great. I would check it often, but you should be good

Sorry to bump my own thread, but I installed the new drain plug and I am shocked at how well it seems to have worked. I worked it in slowly, 1/8th turn at a time, and kept it oiled well. It snugged up well, and tightens like it should. I brought it back out and cleaned the aluminum shavings from inside the tap slots on the bolt, and ran it in and out another time or two and cleaned the shavings from the bolt and the hole each time.

It screws right in, and compresses the nylon washer like it should, and is much more comfort-inspiring than the one that was in there :P.

I still want to ultimately replace the pan, but this seems like it should hold me for a little while... right? It certainly seems secure.

[skids]

I have done that to two of my xs11's. No problems. I recommend the use of nylon washers. They help prevent overtightening and seal well. The problem that I have is that the head (at least on one of them) is a bit larger and I need to remove the filter housing to remove the drain bolt.

[3Phase]

An old shift-detent bolt from any XS11 transmission makes a great oil drain bolt.

It's the hollow bolt that goes into the engine case and has a spring and plunger in it to hold the shift drum in place between shifts. It's long enough to go through both of the threaded parts of the oil pan.

90149-14117-00 SCREW, SPEC'L SHAPE

The part number is obsolete but they're easy to find used.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Danny,

I'm surprised the Napa guy didn't suggest the other solution. They sell a self tapping oversized bolt with another bolt within it, so that you can use Locktite to seal the oversized bolt into the case, and then you have the NEW smaller drain bolt within the larger one to use for draining the oil without putting wear and tear on the oversized bolt/oil pan case! JAT!

I sent one of these to a fellow in Germany(old eastern area) that doesn't have easy access to hardware stores and such....

T.C.

[Danny Crawdad]

They mentioned that, but didn't have one in stock -- is it worth ordering? I was surprised by how well this worked, so I kind of wish I had asked him to order it. I honestly expected the self-tapping bolt to fail. If the captive drain bolt works as well, it would definitely be worth buying and slapping some red loctite on it and forgetting about it.

[TopCatGr58]

The smaller bolt that screws into the large stationary one is a tapered fit and that seems how it seals vs. compressing a washer. You will need to place a wrench on the stationary locktited one to help hold it and keep loosening tension off of it while you loosen the smaller inner bolt.

Sounds like with the larger one you have installed, that it cut it's own larger newer threads, and it will probably work just fine, and that you can get by with just using a torque wrench along with the nylon washer to ensure that you don't overtorque and thereby re-strip the threads.

[XS1100_OEM4ME]

Enjoy

Enjoy, your temp fix is sound, you ordered a replacment oil pan with a good bolt in it. I wouldn't even be in a hurry to replace, as your current fix is working great, just check for leaks (and I don't think you will find any) RIDE and enjoy

[skids]

Enjoy, your temp fix is sound,

Yeah, you can't argue with success.