Hello,

First post on the forum hoping someone knowledgeble is able to provide some recommendations or assistance on how to go about fixing the following. Images attached.

Issue: Noticed oil under the bike and wet spot near bolt in picture but it was dried after couple days of sitting.
Took the bike out for a ride, which caused more oil to spray out of bolts/shaft pictured below. If someone could identify the correct name for the shaft/long metal part attach to the bolt (#9), thank you.

The rubber seal on the rod looks in good shape, yet oil sprayed out in multiple directions around the screw when in high rpms riding the bike.

I ended up breaking one of the bolt heads (#10) on the left as seen on the picture, will need to drill that out.

Biggest concern is that the metal rod/shaft were the oil leak was coming from will not go back in. I looked inside the enclosure and it is not aligned, there is small piece of metal that obstructs it from allowing me to slide it all the way back.

Is this something that will require professional shop to fix or to take engine apart.

Bike Details:
2008 zx14 with 17K miles.

Appreciate all help.

Thank you

* Last updated by: MistZX14 on 9/7/2020 @ 3:52 PM *

Might have to remover the throttle body, but there is an access cover to service those balancers. Might have dropped the end washer, and that means drop the oil pan to find it. But it might be there sitting so you'd have to grease it to make it stay or work the shaft in. I could not find that shaft and oring on the net so you might need a dealer to chase that oring.

Whereas you measure the length of that [new] screw, see what you have left, then use a left hand drill to walk that screw out. If that didn't do it, you add some sort of washer device down the drill bit, so the shim stops, but pops out of the back of the stud. I find a hole thru the broken stud collapses or gives out, shrinks, whatever it does, the twist with an easy-out kind of helps it along. And if a left hand didn't do it, might want [first] heat the area if say they did use loc-tite.

Hub, thank you for the reply. I will take a look tomorrow see what i can do in the morning with some light, lights in my garage are not very bright. I believe that the washer it'sef is what stuck/misaligned inside preventing the balancer metal piece from going back in. I tried to use a screw driver to wiggle it but would not budge move to any side.

If that threaded portion stuck in there is more than a half inch, this is going to be a toughy. You might be better hauling the bike to a machinist before you muck it up trying to drill that bolt.

I do not think a reverse drill bit is going to anything but drill if the bolt was so tight it broke off at the head. I also do not think an easy out is going to do the trick unless most of the threads are hollowed out. DO NOT drill clean through or you have a few shavings go down inside...I don't know what they would fall on. The planetary gear probably. Might block oil passages since you do have oil coming out there.

The bolt needs to be drilled dead center and a lot of it has to be cut away. Unless you are up for a slow project drilling and needle filing that hole perfectly centered and then hope an easy out does it, I'd hand it over to a machine shop. This would be one I might tackle but I would expect 50-60 hours of careful work. This is one for a perfectionist and that's why a machine shop might be the way to go.

Just my .02

I would trust a good machine shop over a mechanic. Pay what they ask.

Was the engine hot when the head of the bolt twisted off?

Yeah Rook, I shoulda looked. No circle L next to the bolt's circle designation. Chapter 9 first few pages shows the blowouts, next page shows the balancer blowout and no Locker for either balancer shaft bolts. Also, only by removing the top cover knows it's closed. I think it's more a closed casting so you can bust thru the bolt and not make a hole in the case... you still have the dome's distance, thus shim the drill bit. If the hole was exposed to the internals, no locker, and no leak... has to be closed, right?

It's all about torsion loading, not one full-on continuous twist or else. 1/2 head socket breaker bar, step down 1/2 to 3/8 head, a 1/2 extension, a 12mm heat treated socket; and act the torsion bar.

You do the old wiggle-waggle, huh Hub? Good tip.

Yeah Rook, I shoulda looked. No circle L next to the bolt's circle designation. Chapter 9 first few pages shows the blowouts, next page shows the balancer blowout and no Locker for either balancer shaft bolts. Also, only by removing the top cover knows it's closed. I think it's more a closed casting so you can bust thru the bolt and not make a hole in the case... you still have the dome's distance, thus shim the drill bit. If the hole was exposed to the internals, no locker, and no leak... has to be closed, right?

"no circle L" = service manual does not specify thread locking agent. No thread locking agent was supposed to be used in factory assembly (but sometimes they do even when the book says don't).

"only by removing the top cover knows it's closed."
You would need to remove the engine above the balance shaft to look down in to see if the bolthole goes all the wat through the case. I don't know that there is a top cover on this part of the motor. You might have to split the whole case apart in however many pieces it is.

"I think it's more a closed casting so you can bust thru the bolt and not make a hole in the case."
The bolt hole is drilled in a raised portion of the case. The hole probably has a bottom so it does not open a hole to the outside when the bolt is removed. If that's an M8 x 10 mm hex head bolt, don't drill deeper than 10 mm. I'd probably go 9 mm just to be safe. Washers on the drill bit can be used to make a stopper that exposes 9 mm of bit. ...or just a piece of tape but stop BEFORE the tape touches the surface, not when. Tape can slip and it's not real precise since it can get hot and pushed up the bit--now you have a 10.5 mm marker instead of a 9 mm marker.

I would use a drill guide on this. I think you'll find one that will fit right on that machined surface around the bolthole especially if you can pull the shaft all the way out. Carefully center punch it and definitely start with a small bit and work your way up. You might even want to use a drill guide every step. If it's off center, the only thing I can see is needle file it centered the best you can. You do not want to cut into the female threads in the bolt hole. I wouldn't attempt this without drill guides. It's not a very long bolt but I believe you will need to cut at least a 6mm hole down the center of an 8 mm bolt. Not much margin for the drill not being perpendicular.

"you still have the dome's distance, thus shim the drill bit. "
You still have the height of the bolt head to consider when drilling. The head is no longer there so don't drill deeper than the length of the threaded portion of the bolt.

"If the hole was exposed to the internals, no locker, and no leak... has to be closed, right?"
If the hole went all the way through the case, it would leak oil especially if it had no thread locking agent to seal the threads. If this bolt went all the way through, the SM would at least spec thread locking agent to seal the threads from leaking oil.

I'd still consider the machine shop. Get a quote, see how it figures with the cost of the tools you will need to buy and the time. I would not rush it. Possibly a couple weeks if you have to work too. If you are a perfectionist, you can do it and you will know it was done right. If not, machinist I say.

I'm glad you brought this up MistZX14. I was planning to go with balancing shaft blanks someday....I think that is the part we are looking at. Thought there was two of them.

* Last updated by: Rook on 9/8/2020 @ 8:00 PM *

Definitely DO check the thread length of the bolt. I'm just guessing at M8 x 10mm.

I'm guessing he broke the bolt by "over tightening" it trying to get the oil leak to stop.

Doubt any loctite on it.

I'd get in there and drill it. Only issue is drill might not fix
in that space?

Don't be scared. Should only take a few minutes.

* Last updated by: piken on 9/9/2020 @ 9:00 AM *

Thank you all for the great information. I have not had a chance to work on the bike yet due to work during the week. Should have some time this weekend to really get in there. After much researching i was able to find the correct part name for that metal shaft were the oil leak is coming from pictured above where the broken screw was holding in place.

Part: ZX14 OEM STARTER ONE-WAY CLUTCH GEAR SHAFT
Found documentation on replacement which mentions removing and taking apart the engine in order to replace it. pull the motor and split the case.

Not sure if anyone here has ever had experience replacing that and if it will actually be required to take out the engine to do so or another way to get around that.

If it does end up to where i need to have the engine pulled and split to replace the starter gear shaft. What can i expect in terms of labor hours/cost overall range.

* Last updated by: MistZX14 on 9/9/2020 @ 7:23 PM *

Got it. Go to crankcase and look at how the starter shaft and balancer are above the split. What you have to do is go to the dealer rather than stay on the phone, ask the service manager to look up that oring change. They will breakdown the flat rate numbers, and if it's a few hours it's not an engine pull. I'd see if the throttle body has enough room, meaning, if removing the body, the cover comes out, you got the rest covered.