Oil drain bolt leaking and wont tighten.. sigh

[Diskman01]

I have been fighting my oil drain bolt for about 2 months now and I am getting tired of placing a pan under the ol '78 everytime I move it.

How much of a project is it to remove the oil pan? I have heard horror stories that the engine must be removed or that the centerstand is in the way.

Once it's out, I can regroup and see what the deal is with my threads. Seems that a PO stripped it and helicoiled it poorly. I can see the back "extra" threads in the pan but the helicoil appears crooked and the new bolt was bottoming out on the internal threads causing failure of the HC.

I was planning on removing the rear threads via die grinder and re-helicoiling a new plug.

Any input on the pan removal?

Planning on taking the bike on my trailer 500 miles to the 4th of July shindigs in Northern Minnesota. I have a week and 2 weekends to get something figured out or just keep adding 1 qt every day.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Diskman,
Options:

1) get a replacement pan form eBay.
2) the threads are much deeper than the bolt, so you may be seeing OEM threads down deep.
3) The pan can be removed without pulling the engine, but you may need to remove the exhausts.
4) If you have die/tap set, might be easier to just put a nut/bolt combo in the hole with large enough washers/nitrile washers to seal it up inside and out, and then just drill/tap a new hole elsewhere in the pan...I think Crazy Steve did this with his?

T.C.

[WMarshy]

If the threads arent holding then this wont help but it might help in the future... you should try going to the auto parts store and getting a new aluminum crush washer for under the head of the bolt. You can usually reuse them a few times but once they become compressed enough they lose their sealing ability... I just picked up a rubber/metal one to see if it will last a little but longer. You need to get a 14mm one... see here... might be a short term fix..?

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/par...er=103413_0_0_

[Diskman01]

So the pan is removable without removing the centerstand? I can undo the exhaust as I have to so that everytime I change the oil filter.. (4 into 1)..

[natemoen]

Center stand is not in the way.